‘Head Like a Hole’: The Nine Inch Nails experiment that made industrial music accessible
Through centuries of linguistic evolution, the term “industrial” has expanded from its original association with industry to describe anything resilient, enduring, or capable of withstanding significant force. Its first recorded usage in English dates back to the early 17th century. However, the Industrial Revolution, which began in 18th-century Great Britain, spurred a dramatic increase in the term’s usage, as it became synonymous with the shift from manual craftsmanship to a mechanised world reliant on machinery for mass production. Of course, industrial rock had yet to emerge during this transformative period.
However, by the 1980s, music was undergoing an Industrial Revolution of its own, and new technologies were rapidly changing the shape of popular music. There are very few hits from this period that don’t utilise either a processed drum sound or synthesiser, and very few acts were sticking to analogue recording methods now that early forms of digital workstations were beginning to emerge. It was a huge turning point in the history of sound recording, and one that still shapes pop music to this day.
Not all music of the ‘80s was being described as industrial, though, as that was a term strictly reserved for a style of music that combined both definitions of the word ‘industrial’. Industrial music was not only shaped by technological advancements, but it was brutal and aggressive in the sense that it felt like a behemoth that the listener had to muster up great strength to be able to stomach. There were many early innovators in the world of industrial music during the ‘80s, with the likes of Foetus and Front 242 leading the way alongside the genre’s figurehead, Al Jourgensen, who was a member of many bands, including Ministry and Revolting Cocks.
Towards the end of the decade, one group that would emerge in industrial rock and reshape everything that the genre had previously achieved was Nine Inch Nails, a project spearheaded by Ohio native Trent Reznor. The bandleader was heavily inspired by Ministry, even going as far as to name his project after a quote from Jourgensen: “Listening to Ministry is like having a nine inch nail hammered into your head like a hole.”
Not only did the name of the project stem from this quote, but so would the band’s breakout single, ‘Head Like a Hole’, taken from their 1989 debut album Pretty Hate Machine. There were all sorts of mechanised sounds across the album, but the gut punch delivered on the aforementioned opening track is the perfect introduction to how Reznor incorporated studio experimentation. The pummelling drum beat and evil-laden bass synths were typical of the industrial music that predated Nine Inch Nails, but one thing that separated the band from the rest of the crowd was how immediately catchy it happened to be.
It was still sinister like other industrial acts of the period, but it had some of the pop sheen that acts like Depeche Mode brought to their gothic take on new wave. Reznor was also heavily influenced by the production work of Prince, who was noted for having played all of the instruments on his albums – something that Reznor himself wished to emulate. While there was a sense of aggression about his music, it wasn’t fully attempting to be as counter-cultural or abrasive as their contemporaries.
‘Head Like a Hole’ remains one of industrial music’s finest moments and a turning point that is regarded as having brought the genre mainstream attention that it hadn’t previously garnered due to the inherently harsh nature of some of the movement’s earliest proponents. In the years since Reznor broke into the spotlight with the track and Pretty Hate Machine, the project has gone on to cement themselves as the most widely celebrated industrial rock acts, and Reznor has gone on to prove his talents as a producer and film composer – something that it’s reasonably impossible to imagine Jourgensen ever being able to achieve.
