the new incarnation of Pretty Hate Machine is indistinguishable from the original: no 5.1 surround-sound, no B-side/remix sweetening, no fishnet slipcase/bonus snuff DVD deluxe packaging. And with no garish extras, there's nothing to distract from what turns out to be a horribly dated album, just as awkwardly out of step with the mid-aughts as The Downward Spiral was unexpectedly relevant.
Not to keep beating this street date point into the ground by this release came out back on November 22nd, 2005.
Also check out this link to Ultimate Guitar who ran a small piece in early November about Trent's reaction to this no frills reissue. Needless to say the man isn't happy.
It takes some skill as a journalist to re-review a record that by alternative music standards is considered to be not just one of the key industrial records of all time but THE record that helped bridge industrial music as a genre to the mainstream. I am not surprised to read PFMs thumbs down response to this classic but I am a little disappointed at the attack of its original production value and style which according to PFM is "bumbling" and filled with "too many embarrassingly distinct time-stamps of 1989-ness to ignore".
HELLO this record was made in the late 80's! I don't think that even with the magic of modern day technology should anyone try to make Pretty Hate Machine sound 2000 something.
A path is formed one step at a time and this record is a key and vital brick in this path. Sounding dated needs to be put into perspective and I feel the PFM review failed to position this record accurately in modern music's timeline.
PFM ends their review with : "Unlike The Downward Spiral or Broken, Pretty Hate Machine's re-release reveals the album to be an artifact, perhaps historically valuable, but as anachronistic as Napolean in a water park."
Naturally a re-release which mirrors its original release is disappointing but PFM missing its value otherwise is shameful. You don't have to like the band to see / hear that.
PS: I think Napolean is spelled Napoleon.
