thevoid99's Full Review: Head Like a Hole [Single] by Nine Inch Nails
(Note: Originally done on 11/10/00 but now re-edited and extended.)
In the 1990s in the age of Alternative Rock, there’s always been that one song that was considered the best rock anthem of the 1990s. In the end, it was Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana that ended up as the greatest rock anthem of the 1990s. While Smells Like Teen Spirit was a great song, there were other 90s classics from other alternative rock contemporaries like Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many more bands. Another famous track that could’ve been a great rock anthem if it wasn’t released to obscurity in 1990 nor if Smells Like Teen Spirit had came out was the Nine Inch Nails song Head Like A Hole.
The famous NIN song from their 1989 debut release was an underground hit in the college circuits along with industrial rock clubs but the single didn’t gain any momentum until NIN went on tour as part of the Lollapalooza festival with Jane’s Addiction in the summer of 1991. There, the song was popular in the growing alternative rock circuits thanks to its blend of metal-blazing guitars, industrial-driven metal-bashing beats, droning synthesizers, and Trent Reznor’s angry and angst-ridden lyrics that was relevant among a crowd of outsiders who had enough of pop-rap, hair-metal, and dance-pop that was overly dominant in the early 90s.
When the single was released in 1990, the maxi-single featured five remixes of the song Head Like A Hole along with two mixes of Terrible Lie, and three mixes of Down In It that were previously in the Down In It single along with a demo version of the song. The first track of the Head Like A Hole single is a remix of the song known as “(slate)” that is dance remix made by Trent Reznor and producer Flood that removes the original intro in place of chorus of “Bow down before the one you serve/You’re going to get what you deserve” and then comes the full song where the original drum track of the song is removed in place of different drum mixes that are more suitable for club beats along with a pulsating and rhythmic synthesizers track that removes the original synthesizers in order to make a dance song but the vocals and guitar parts still stay in this four minute remix.
The second remix known as “(clay)” is the single version that has been played on the video version of the song that features the chorus vocal intro that was in the previous remix but the original drum and synthesizer tracks stay in the song but they’re edited it to make it shorter as the song continues with its hard-hitting industrial drum tracks and droning synthesizers along with its metal-blazing guitar tracks that stands at four-and-a-half minutes that is thirty seconds shorter to the original song. The third track is a remix of the song Terrible Lie in which the remix is known as the “(sympathetic mix)” where the original high-pitched synthesizer tracks are removed in favor of the soft synthesizer background from the original song but the original drums, guitars, and vocal tracks stay in this remix.
The “(copper)” mix of the song is really an extended mix of the “(slate)” dance mix that lasts for about six-and-a-half minutes with an opening intro along with the original drum tracks and extended instrumental breaks from the synthesizers and rhythmic dance beats along with more guitar and synthesizer breaks that makes the remix somewhat unspectacular and predictable at times. You Know Who You Are is another mix of Head Like A Hole that is a really an instrumental remix that lasts for more that five minutes that begins with a pulsating synthesizers and soft drum machine introduction that lasts for over a minute until droning synthesizers and the original drum tracks come in to dominate the track for the remaining minutes of the track that are dominated by pulsating and brooding synthesizers and drum machine tracks that can become very pretentious and repetitive.
The “(soil)” is another extended six-and-a-half mix track that takes the original “(clay)” mix and add an instrumental intro of synthesizers and drum tracks and during the whole mix, the original synthesizer and guitar mixes are removed for about four-and-a-half minutes until emerges for the mix while the rest of the track is dominated by pulsating and ominous synthesizer tracks along with an instrumental synthesizer and drum machine break in the middle of the mix that lasts for a minute-and-a-half.
The next track is another remix of Terrible Lie known as the “(empathetic mix)” which is a six-minute mix that shortens the instrumental intro of the song that follows the chorus of the song Terrible Lie while it’s being followed by its high-powered and throbbing synthesizer tracks that leads to the previous “(sympathetic mix)” version of the song with a more extended synthesizer track in the middle of the mix until Reznor sings again like in the original song and when he finishes singing, the original synthesizer solo at the end of the song is extended for about two minutes. The next two tracks are the remixes from the Down In It single that appears in this maxi-single as pretty much fillers for the single.
The tenth and final track is a demo version of the Down In It made completely by Reznor in late 1987 that pretty much sounds like a demo of the classic NIN song. The track is pretty much very undeveloped because it’s mainly dominated by a cheap drum machine track accompanying Reznor’s vocals along with scratchy and bleeping synthesizer tracks and a guitar break in the middle of the song that is in a way laughable and proved that Trent had a long way to go to make this classic. After the song finishes, there’s a rough audio of a then-unknown Kelly Ripa from Dance Party U.S.A. praising NIN back in 1989.
(The following paragraph is new content from 2/22/09):
From an imported, U.K. 3-track single of Head Like A Hole is a remix of that song known as "(opal)". The five-minute, 18-second remix that features throbbing, pulsating beats and quiet, whispering vocals with warbling bass lines. With techno breaks filled with pulsating synthesizers and rough vocals for the chorus. It's easily the best remix of the song as it moves back and forth in its presentation with different vocal mixes.
By the time of the single’s release in early 1990, NIN was touring with bands like the Jesus & Mary Chain and Peter Murphy until they became a popular club attraction by late '89 & early '90. The video for the song wasn’t as controversial as Down In It due to the fact that NIN was playing in circle that looked a bit like a circus while Trent Reznor was hanging upside by his feet at the end of the video. The video was popular with the alternative rock crowd who watched every time on MTV’s 120 Minutes and it would become a more popular video when NIN was doing the Lollapalooza tour.
During the club tours NIN was doing, Reznor started to collaborate with some of his heroes in the industrial music scene including Al Jourgensen of Ministry. Reznor not only did remixes for Jourgensen and played a small role with the Ministry side-project the Revolting C*cks, but also contributed to another Jourgensen side-project known as the 1000 Homo DJs where Reznor contributed vocals to the Black Sabbath song Supernaut. There is where Reznor’s trouble with his label TVT begins as TVT learned that Reznor was doing remixes and getting involved with projects that wasn’t on the TVT label. When Reznor learned what was going on, Jourgensen remixed Reznor’s vocal track of the Supernaut song to make it unrecognizable for TVT while some of the remixes and contributions Reznor did would be uncredited that would lead Reznor to sue the label in 1991.
While the Head Like A Hole single is a good single for NIN fans, in comparison to the other NIN singles, it’s the weakest out of all of them. The extended remixes and filler tracks are the main reasons why the Head Like A Hole single is the weakest out of all of the NIN singles and why it’s somewhat unspectacular on some levels. This is a single that’s only for the hardcore NIN fans like myself and fans of remixes. It’s available on some stores for around $7.99 but you should really own it if you’re a true fan.
Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) - (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (NIN/Jane's Addiction/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater)
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