Editing Nine Inch Nails (section)

===''Pretty Hate Machine'' (1988–1991)===
{{See also|Pretty Hate Machine|Down in It|Head Like a Hole}}
Written, arranged, and performed by Reznor,{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=41}} Nine Inch Nails' first album ''[[Pretty Hate Machine]]'' debuted in 1989.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=35}} It marked his first collaboration with [[Adrian Sherwood]] (who produced the lead single "Down in It" in London without meeting Reznor face-to-face)<ref name = "AP90" /> and [[Flood (producer)|Mark "Flood" Ellis]].<ref name="NIN Spin 1996" />{{rp|42}} Reznor asked [[Sean Beavan]] to mix the demos of ''Pretty Hate Machine'', which had received multiple offers for record deals.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=38}} He mixed sound during Nine Inch Nails' live concerts for several years,{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=207}} eventually becoming an unofficial member of the live band and singing live backup vocals from his place at the mixing console.<ref name="SoS">{{cite web|url=https://www.soundonsound.com/people/classic-tracks-nine-inch-nails-closer|title=CLASSIC TRACKS: Nine Inch Nails 'Closer'|first=Richard|last=Buskin|magazine=Sound on Sound|date=September 2012|access-date=January 23, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207014730/https://www.soundonsound.com/people/classic-tracks-nine-inch-nails-closer|archive-date=December 7, 2017}}</ref> Flood's production would appear on each major Nine Inch Nails release until 1994, and Sherwood has made remixes for the band as recently as 2000. Reznor and his co-producers expanded upon the Right Track Studio demos by adding singles "[[Head Like a Hole]]" and "[[Sin (song)|Sin]]".{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=44}} ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s [[Michael Azerrad]] described the album as "industrial-strength noise over a pop framework" and "harrowing but catchy music";<ref>{{Cite magazine |last= Azerrad |first= Michael |author-link= Michael Azerrad |title= New Faces: Nine Inch Nails |magazine= [[Rolling Stone]] |date= February 22, 1990 |issue= 572 |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/new-faces-nine-inch-nails-19900222 |access-date= February 1, 2015 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150212172131/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/new-faces-nine-inch-nails-19900222 |archive-date= February 12, 2015}}</ref> Reznor proclaimed this combination "a sincere statement" of "what was in [his] head at the time".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lindsay|first1=Cam|title=Trent Reznor Further Down the Spiral|url=http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/trent_reznor-further_down_spiral|website=[[Exclaim!]]|access-date=February 3, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203183257/http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/trent_reznor-further_down_spiral|archive-date=February 3, 2015}}</ref> In fact, the song "Down in It" spent over two months on ''Billboard''{{'s}} club-play dance chart.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Popson|first1=Tom|title=Music: Dancing through disillusion with Nine Inch Nails the insider|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=January 26, 1990|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/01/26/dancing-through-disillusion-with-nine-inch-nails/|access-date=November 9, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20171109123126/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-01-26/entertainment/9001080016_1_nine-inch-nails-trent-reznor-dance|archive-date=November 9, 2017}}</ref> After spending 113 weeks on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]],<ref name="PHM 200">{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_LRIEAAAAMBAJ|date=July 11, 1992|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_LRIEAAAAMBAJ/page/n74 75]|publisher=Nielsen Business Media|issn=0006-2510}}</ref> ''Pretty Hate Machine'' became one of the first [[independent music|independently released]] records to attain [[RIAA certification|platinum certification]].<ref name="AMG" />
[[File:Trent Reznor Lollapalooza 1991.jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=A man caked in mud screaming into a microphone.|Reznor during the 1991 [[Lollapalooza]] festival]]

Three music videos were created in promotion of the album. [[MTV]] aired the videos for "Down in It" and "Head Like a Hole", but an explicit video for "Sin" was only released in partial form for ''[[Closure (Nine Inch Nails VHS)|Closure]]''. The original version of the "Down in It" video ended with the implication that Reznor's character had fallen off a building and died in the street.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=47–48}} This footage attracted the attention of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.obsolete.com/convulsion/interviews/convulse/1.5.html| title = Nine Inch Nails| access-date = April 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081115015943/http://www.obsolete.com/convulsion/interviews/convulse/1.5.html|archive-date=November 15, 2008|last=Bains|first=Jon|work=Convulsion Magazine}}</ref>

In 1989, while doing promotion for the album, the band members were asked on what shows they would like to appear. They jokingly replied (possibly while intoxicated) that they would like to appear on ''[[Dance Party USA]]'', since it was the most absurd option they could think of at the time. Much to their surprise, they were booked on the show, and made an appearance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gawker.com/5897544/heres-video-of-nine-inch-nails-performing-on-dance-party-usa-22-years-ago |access-date=November 9, 2017 |title=Here's Video of Nine Inch Nails Performing on Dance Party USA 22 Years Ago |publisher=[[Gawker]] |date=March 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121161619/http://gawker.com/5897544/heres-video-of-nine-inch-nails-performing-on-dance-party-usa-22-years-ago |archive-date=January 21, 2014 }}</ref>

In 1990, Nine Inch Nails began the ''Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series'', in which it toured North America as an opening act for [[alternative rock]] artists such as [[Peter Murphy (musician)|Peter Murphy]] and [[the Jesus and Mary Chain]].<ref name="NIN Spin 1996" />{{rp|41}}<ref name="AMG" />{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=54–55}} Reznor began [[Instrument destruction|smashing his equipment]] while on stage; ''Rockbeat'' interviewer Mike Gitter attributed the live band's early success in front of rock oriented audiences to this aggressive attitude.<ref name="Rockbeat">{{cite web |title=The Man Behind the Machine |url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart198.shtml |first=Mike |last=Gitter |work=Rockbeat |year=1992 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210952/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart198.shtml |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |access-date=January 14, 2015 }}</ref> Nine Inch Nails then embarked on a world tour that continued through the first [[Lollapalooza]] festival in 1991.<ref name="NIN Spin 1996" />{{rp|42}}