The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time: 'Pretty Hate Machine'

The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time

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'Pretty Hate Machine'

Courtesy of TVT Records

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Nine Inch Nails
TVT, 1989

When Trent Reznor made Pretty Hate Machine, he was just another New Wave synth dork who failed to hit the big time during the Eighties gold rush. His big claim to fame was playing back-up to Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett in the flop flick Light of Day. But in his studio fantasies, he became an industrial demon lord, barking commands over mechanical stun-beats: "Bow down before the one you serve / You're gonna get what you deserve!" With "Head Like a Hole," "Terrible Lie" and "Kinda I Want To," Reznor was the king of the goth dance floor.