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*The 2010 remastered edition is split across three sides: side 1 has A1 through A4, side 2 has A5 through B3, and side 3 has B4 & B5 along with "Get Down, Make Love" on the end.
==Recording and ''Purest Feeling''Early history of the album==
Working nights at Right Track Studio as a handyman and janitor, [[Trent Reznor]] used studio "down time" to record and develop his own music. Playing most of the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he recorded a demo. Teaming up with manager [[John A. Malm, Jr.]] they sent the demo to various record labels. Reznor received serious offers from many of them. He signed a deal with TVT Records who, until then, were known mainly for releasing novelty and television jingle records.
After the album was released, a [[bootlegs|bootleg]] called ''[[Purest Feeling (album)|Purest Feeling]]'' surfaced. It contains early tour rehearsal recordings of most of the tracks found on the album (including an early version of "Ringfinger" entitled "Twist"), as well as a couple that were not used ("[[Purest Feeling (song)|Purest Feeling]]" and "[[Maybe Just Once]]"). Demos that were likely sent to record labels Various sets of demo recordings also exist: some can be found on the ''[[Demos & Remixes]]'' bootleg ("Down In It", "Sanctified", "Kinda I Want To", and "Twist"); further tracks (. Versions of "Sin", "Terrible Lie", "Sanctified", "Twist", and "Down In It") are on an uncirculated cassette, one copy of which is privately owned by [[Martin Atkins]][https://exclaim.ca/music/article/early_demo_of_nine_inch_nails_pretty_hate_machine_hits_ebay] ; versions of "Down In It", "Sanctified", "Kinda I Want To", and "Twist" can be found on the ''[[Demos & Remixes]]'' bootleg; and a few more (another batch of assorted early tracks, including non-rehearsal recordings of "Purest Feeling" and "Maybe Just Once") were , was leaked in 2025. Some of the demos on the Atkins tape may or may not be from the same batch as those on ''Demos & Remixes''.
A 2011 dissertation by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame museum employee Jason Hanley[https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/b096437e-e280-48ed-8a6a-c4ed87b49736/content], written while a student at Stony Brook University, gave additional background info on the album's early stages. Unheard and unshared demos from Cleveland in early 1988 were played for him by original NIN drummer [[Ron Musarra]], and among these were a track called "I'm Not Listening" and an early version of "That's What I Get" entitled "I Can Make Myself Forget". Also included were versions of "Kinda I Want To" and "Purest Feeling". According to the dissertation, the next iteration of the album recordings took place in London with John Fryer, and it is implied in the footnotes that this set of demos is on the "Demos & Remixes" bootleg. It is therefore assumed that the demos on the cassetted owned by Martin Atkins are earlier.
==Recording==
''Pretty Hate Machine'' was recorded in various studios around the world with Reznor collaborating with some of his most idolized producers - [[Flood]] at Syncro Sound in Boston, Keith LeBlanc at Unique Recording Studios in New York, [[Adrian Sherwood]] at Roundhouse Studios in London, and John Fryer at Blackwing Studios in London. Flood was originally supposed to produce the entire album, but couldn't because of his prior commitment with Depeche Mode.[https://www.theninhotline.com/archives/articles/display/530] Reznor used his own journal entries as sources and inspiration for the album's lyrics.[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/21/trent-reznor-nine-inch-nails-youre-seeing-the-fall-of-america]
*Sleeve: Gary Talpas for Föhn Design
*Portrait photography: Jeffrey Silverthorne
*Thank you: Bart Koster (The Right Track), Mike Shea, Michael S. Toorock, Roz Earls, Seb Shelton, Bryan Grant, Larry Bole, Alison Fryer, Michelle de Frasia, Gerry Gerard, Martin Horne, Sioux Zimmerman, Paul Conelly, [[Ron Musarra]], Steve Woolard, Mark Jowett and all at Nettwek, Howie Klein, Preston Sullivan/Carlyle, Kevin Donoghue/Native, Frederic Wahleer/Sub Rosa
*Special thanks: All at TVT Records, James Dowdall and everybody at Island