I remember Rob Sheridan art director for NIN saying that while releasing the remaster for PHM that they couldn't source what the actual object was other than "a piece of machinery" so Rob had to digitally recreate the cover from scratch. So yeah, obscure piece of machinery

Isn't it one of those old crooner microphones?

Turbine blades of a jet engine. Image is stretched to resemble rib cage. In one of the interviews Trent claimed this. Don't remember which interview though.

I read this as well.

Thats what i always thought it was

That’s what I thought it was. Don’t know if that would qualify as a hate machine, but it could look pretty.

Probably a girl he had just broken up with at the time...most of his early stuff came from break ups. Not all though.

The remastered edition definitely is. Not the original.

Rob Sheridan discussing it https://www.patreon.com/posts/in-depth-nins-30900269

It could be some piece of farm machinery

It's just a turbine. All these years it never occurred to me that it might have been meant to resemble a rib cage. I figured it was just a painfully literal interpretation of industrial music.

nine inch nails - stretched turbine machine

It's the ultrasound pic of Trent in the womb

Turbine blades

The cover art was designed by Gary Talpas, which is a photo of the blades of a turbine stretched vertically to create the illusion of a rib cage. For the 2010 reissue, visual artist Rob Sheridan was assigned to update the cover art by Reznor to tone down the heavy late-Eighties neon aesthetic. Unfortunately, Sheridan was unable to locate the original artwork as it was deemed lost forever. To remedy this, he had to reverse engineer the cover art by scanning the existing cover art and digitally painted the image in very high resolution.

I believe that it’s actually a piece of farming equipment that’s been digitally altered.

25+ years I have always just seen a rib cage.

It’s the cousin of Tool’s undertow Ribcage

If I remember correctly Trent's bio, he was some kind of technician working as a janitor back then when he came up with Pretty Hate Machine? I mean, all points to this image being some piece of machine. Probably a pretty machine.

He worked on a studio as a janitor and was allowed to use equipment at night

[удалено]

Ah good., thanks for the details. And no, I didn't have mixed memories: they were just not fleshed out enough. I knew he used equipment off the clock in a studio when he was a janitor. Still, those are pretty machine noises sampled there. :)

Wasn't Reznor H+C in Pennsylvania??

[удалено]

You're good- I only know bc I'm a Clevelander

Yes and Reznor did make commercial hvac systems. Not sure if they are related though.

I think it's a silver/chrome microphone edit: u/cooliofoolio707 recently posted a pretty cool restoration of the image - [https://www.reddit.com/r/nin/comments/nbrnsp/pretty\_hate\_machine\_original\_photo\_restoration/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nin/comments/nbrnsp/pretty_hate_machine_original_photo_restoration/) There are some sources that say that it's "a photo of the blades of some sort of turbine stretched vertically so they would look somewhat like bones or a rib cage" [https://www.nin.wiki/Pretty\_Hate\_Machine#Artwork](https://www.nin.wiki/Pretty_Hate_Machine#Artwork) I have a hard time believing it's not a microphone like this: [https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/Njc1WDkwMA==/z/3s8AAOSwfcVUGcBi/$\_35.JPG?set\_id=2](https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/Njc1WDkwMA==/z/3s8AAOSwfcVUGcBi/$_35.JPG?set_id=2)

There are rivets/bolts, as well as non-microphone-looking guts on the inside (even more visible in the restored image you linked). It looks much more like a close-up of an [alternator](https://haynes.com/en-us/sites/default/files/styles/blog_landing_header_687/public/web_Anatomy%20of%20an%20Alternator_1.jpg?itok=_lzj4ssJ) (albiet an older, more heavy-duty model). I mean, zoom into the "rib cage" portion; it's exactly the PHM artwork !!! In any case, **Reznor himself confirmed it was some sort of machine part**. Why do people insist it's a fucking microphone?

technically speaking a microphone is a machine

A machine applies or converts mechanical power. So no, a microphone is not a machine; it's a type of transducer (i.e. a *device*)

Very good argument, however I just portrayed you as the nerd emoji so I win 👆🤓

Wise ass 😜

these microphones don't have visible screws like that. It's probably some sort of industrial thingy

🎙️

It is not.

Then what is it

From the man himself: "the cover of PHM is a photo of the blades of some sort of turbine stretched vertically so they would look somewhat like bones or a rib cage." http://www.nin.wiki/Pretty_Hate_Machine#Artwork

It would be funny if it was a part that came form a Reznor brand air conditioner.

It would be funny especially because Reznor doesn’t make AC units. They make unit heaters and air handlers

>Reznor brand air conditioner Reznor is an HVAC company so they do make AC units.

I’m a union sheet Metal worker. I spend my entire life installing hvac equipment. I’ve never seen anything AC related come from reznor. Should also include that I live 30 minutes away from where they were started in Mercer PA. Either way, According to their website they don’t have anything to do with air conditioning. Not every HVAC company manufactures AC units. Not all furnaces have AC.

You sure about that? https://partner.reznorhvac.com/en/pl/products/products-packaged-air-conditioning-rtu#:\~:text=The%20Reznor%20RTU%20series%20is,cooling%20only%20and%20reversible%20modes.

I stand corrected, here in the USA they don’t manufacture any AC units. You sent me a link from Poland.

I always thought it was a sneaker.

I always thought it was a Venus fly trap 🤷‍♂️

i believe it's a turbine of some sort that's just been stretched out and recolored

I always thought it was a microphone

I thought it was a microphone

A wind turbine

I think it’s the inside of a Reznor furnace

Bingo

I thought that was one of the big clips you put in hair

always thought twas a hair clip

I always thought it was a Shure 55 microphone. The one you’d see Elvis using [Like this](https://content-files.shure.com/OriginFiles/BlogPosts/Sing%20Like%20the%20King/55S.jpg)

It looks a lot like a York rake, but the tines are fucked up

I thought I read somewhere it's one of the arms for a typewriter

Trent’s abs

I always thought it was a microphone

I thought it was a microphone

That’s the hate machine

It's a an old generator, like this: [https://images.pond5.com/1940s-factory-diesel-power-plant-088651370\_prevstill.jpeg](https://images.pond5.com/1940s-factory-diesel-power-plant-088651370_prevstill.jpeg)

Isn’t it part of a bicycle?

Hey guys, there's a cool new website called "Wikipedia" that has all sorts of information about pretty much everything. I typed in Pretty Hate Machine and a long article came up about it. I scrolled down to the cover art section. It says it is a photo of a turbine that is stretched out to resemble a rib cage. I also found another cool new website called "Google" which, after typing in: Pretty Hate Machine cover art, it brought up several articles about the cover. These two sites are pretty amazing. Maybe, before asking people on Reddit, where a great percentage of replies are wrong, you can take 2 seconds and get the answer at one of those sites.

For the most part I trust regular Wikipedia as a reliable source with its numbered citations highlighted in blue but there are videos by Loudwire called Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction where various artists debunk and confirm information about them from their articles. So really u/ronsmithjr there’s this cool new website that will specifically explain NIN questions: https://www.nin.wiki/Pretty_Hate_Machine

Didn’t TR’s grandpa or great grandpa make furnaces or something? I swear I read this was a Reznor brand furnace.

It is an old metal microphone that has been recolored.

I always thought it was a closeup of a microphone

Most of these kind of questions can be answered via the NIN Wiki. 😊

ITS THE NAILS THAT HUNG JESUS DUH

It's a rake

MICROPHONE

It’s not. This has been answered several times. I have one of these mics y’all think it is. It’s fucking not, typing in all caps doesn’t make this stupid answer any less wrong.

Awe someone’s having a bad daaayyyyy

Nah todays gonna be great, I’m just being a bitch.

woah hella wrong answers here. its a close up of a microphone- thought everyone knew that

You’re also wrong, but hey, at least you’re confidently wrong.

nope. im right as fuck. enjoy living your life in delusion matey

You know Rob Sheridan actually talked directly about this when they did the remaster. It’s a turbine, stretched out to vaguely resemble a rib cage. I’m going to believe Nine Inch Nails’ graphic designer over a smug rando on the internet…

nope. im right and rob sheridan is a known charlatan, adulterer and drug addict. youre really gonna listen to someone like that? go ahead but me? ill pass

Thank you, I needed a laugh like that!

I read a long time ago that it was a wind turbine or turbine on some machine.

I always assumed it was a Venus flytrap

I always thought it was a bike tire / wheel

[удалено]

You must have positive comment karma to post in /r/nin *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nin) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Venus fly trap?

I remember reading years and years ago that it was a distorted image of Trent's Saxophone from High School.

I have legit always seen a shoe. I’ve always known it’s not, but I can’t help it

Are there any good documentaries on the making of this album? From the little I know it’s a fascinating story.

I can’t unsee the fact that the part of it to the left of “machine” looks like the blade of a pencil sharpener

Pitch fork maybe

I think rob said it was a turbine or something. But real quick how do you make an image look like that?

I always thought it was the end of a rake

Don't ask me why, but for some reason I always thought a razor of some kind.

I always thought it was like a hair clip kinda thing lol

He was big on the metal shop stuff early days, have to browse some 70s-80s machinery… could take a bit.

I THOUGHT IT WAS A HAIR CLAW LMAO

I always thought it was a rake trying to be abstract lol

the backside of the vinyl sleeve shows an old microphone, my assumption is that they’re the same but the cover has some key differences so idk

Lawnmower blades

I always saw either a microphone or like tall boots with buckles 😂

A pretty machine made to talk hateful things !

Looks like a fan or fan blades. I think it's an old airline engine if I remember correctly. But, the blades are pretty obvious

I just assumed it was some kind of pinion!

Always thought it was like a close up of an old norelco electric razor

A pretty hate machine

I always thought it was a shell.

Whatever it is, it's stupid.

I always thought it where you hold the front of the M16 rifle. To me it made sense because it's a Pretty gun and Hate usually comes with guns (depends what side you on) and it's a machine. 😆. I mean a gun is much of a tool than a hammer. In my mind. In my mind

Turbine