Head Like a Hole
Encyclopedia
"Head Like a Hole" is a song by the American industrial rock
project Nine Inch Nails
. A song influenced by industrial metal
group Ministry
, it was released as the second single from the group's debut album Pretty Hate Machine
. The song received an almost overwhelmingly positive response from critics, and has been noted as the best track on the album.
"Head Like a Hole" was Nine Inch Nails' first single to chart on Hot 100 Singles Sales
and enjoyed heavy rotation on the radio at the time. It has also been covered by New Wave
band Devo
, Christian rock band Showbread
, indie rock band Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives, punk rock
band AFI
and nu metal
band Korn
.
wrote "Head Like a Hole" in 1988, after touring with Skinny Puppy
. Flood, Adrian Sherwood
, and Keith LeBlanc
were co-producers of the song, and it was recorded in 1989. "Head Like a Hole" was one of the last songs completed for the album, since Flood did not arrive to the studio until the completion of Depeche Mode
's Violator
(1990).
The title of the song comes from a sample of a Ministry
concert in 1987, which Reznor recorded on a video tape
camera
and later used in the song's production. The name of his project, Nine Inch Nails
, which according to Reznor has no "literal meaning", was also taken from the same tape, during a portion where Al Jourgensen
compares Ministry to a man with a tall nail
hammered into his head, creating a hole there:
song, "Head Like a Hole" takes its influence from Ministry, as well as the thrash metal
genre (especially Metallica
). The tempo is 115 BPM
, and it is played in the tuning of E. Lyrics to the song are a fictional relationship between Reznor and Godmoney.
The chords of this song are similar to the project's debut single, "Down in It
". In contrast to "Down in It", "Head Like a Hole" has a longer intro, lasts roughly one minute longer (the song is five minutes long in its aggregate length
), is heavy metal music
-oriented, and has no rapping
. "Head Like a Hole" is also the opening track on Nine Inch Nails' 1989 debut, and is one of the two Nine Inch Nails songs produced by Flood to appear on Pretty Hate Machine
, as seen in the album booklet's liner notes.
A well-known line in the song, "you're going to get what you deserve," is a recurring
element in a number of Trent Reznor-written songs, both in same and altered forms. For example, in the ninth track of 2007's Year Zero
, "Meet Your Master", the first verse ends with the same line, quickly before the chorus begins.
. The single release is longer in duration than the album itself. The single peaked at #28 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
A three-track version of this single was released in the UK. This version contains "Head Like a Hole (Opal)", which is not included on the US release, and starts using the beginning of "Tamborine" by Prince
, taken from his 1985 album Around the World in a Day
; it continues using a drum loop sampled from "Release It" taken from another Prince
record, the soundtrack
to the Prince-directed movie Graffiti Bridge
(1990). The saxophone in "Release It" can be heard before the drum loop begins. "Head Like A Hole (Copper)" samples the looping drum beat from "Body Language", a track off of the Hot Space
(1982) album by Queen
. The first track is mistakenly listed as "Head Like a Hole (Slate)" on the CD. "Down in It (Shred)" and "Down in It (Singe)" were previously released on the Down in It
single. The latter track has been extended by 18 seconds. The unlisted eleventh track is Kelly Ripa
yelling "Let's hear it for Nine Inch Nails! Woo! They're good!" This is a sample from Dance Party USA
during an appearance by the band on the show.
The 11-track United States
version of "Head Like a Hole" has recently been re-packaged and re-released. This version was also released in the United Kingdom
, where it failed to reach the Top 40 Finally, in Germany
, the single was released as "You Get What You Deserve." This release includes four tracks.
In a retrospective review of the song, Allmusic described "Head Like a Hole" as "grand theater", elaborating further by commenting the "backing music was immaculately crafted and produced". In its review of the single, the author was largely positive towards the song selection, even saying that the inclusion of "Head Like a Hole", "Terrible Lie", and "Down in It" "renders Pretty Hate Machine mostly unnecessary". As for the other tracks included on the single, Allmusic was less positive, adding "This is one case where quality definitely would have sufficed without the quantity."
was made for the "Clay" remix of this song. It was directed by Eric Zimmerman, released in March 1990 and later in 1997 on the Closure VHS. The video became popular on MTV
and helped fuel NIN's early success. A slightly different edit of the video was also released for Flood's remix of the song, which is 17 seconds shorter than the "Clay" remix. The video features band members Trent Reznor
, Richard Patrick
and Chris Vrenna along with guest drummer Martin Atkins
performing in a cage.
In the beginning of the video, a black
and white
sample of a person hopping on one foot while spinning a staff fades in and out againist a background of "blurred colors." A distorted video of walking football
players is also featured. Clips of Reznor putting his head in a bucket
of water, and an off-screen person using the same bucket to make Reznor wet, were taken by a video camera
before filming a performance of the song from Nine Inch Nails as a live band
.
The guitar Reznor used in the video is a Jackson
Dinky. It is first seen in first chorus, when Reznor, appearing to be dirty like the other band members (He had long hair
and wore gritty clothing during production), bangs his head
twice while singing the song. He does not use the guitar for the climax of the video, where wires tied to him slowly pull him up, leaving the frontman spinning upsidedown insanely. At the same scene, Vrenna destroys his drum kit
by throwing a bass drum
of Atkins' drum kit torwards the object. At a shot occurring prior to that point, broken Zildjian cymbals and a drum machine
can be seen as parts of Vrenna's kit. Reznor has used multiple other guitars, many of them which he destroyed. A Jackson guitar that Reznor broke at the end of a February 1991 concert
was auctioned on eBay
at the price of US$
1,900 dollars, and was sold in early 2009. The guitars that he uses for the majority of Nine Inch Nails' music are manufactured by Paul Reed Smith
Guitars. Patrick uses a similar guitar, eventually singing backing vocals for "Head Like a Hole's" second chorus in the video, though his voice is not heard in the final version. Danny Lohner
also uses PRS Guitars.
There are images that are shown for a few frames like "HEAD
," "16 SOUND
START," "S M P T E UNIVERSAL LEADER
" and "PICTURE
." Other images included a white dot set againist a black background, a mirrored presentation showing the words "REEL
№ PROD
№ PLAY DATE
" colored in yellow
, one with the words "PICTURE START
," and a frame consisting of "C C F F" placed near a outlined ring. The latter screen had an alternative version that was accompanied by a white number 3, also seen in the video. There are also visuals of four incomplete rotating mechanical models of human heads; one with film stills, another with a modified motherboard
and other technology
, the purple, wire
d, head with a blue screen showing an eye and various computer hardware
, and the last containing blue skin, orange-pupil eyes, and a lightbulb. The former two were filmed in black and white, while the latter two in full color
. All four are shown intercut with shots of people spinning baseball
bats.
The song has been the encore for most NIN shows (especially the Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series
), or the last song before the encore if an encore took place. After the song was performed, band members destroy their instruments. A reference to this is mentioned in the title of Broken (1992), Nine Inch Nails' second major studio release. There are live videos of "Head Like a Hole" on the DVDs And All That Could Have Been
and Beside You in Time
.
During Lollapalooza
'91, Dave Navarro
, Eric Avery
, Gibby Haynes
and Ice-T
joined Nine Inch Nails live performances
on-stage as additional guitarists for "Head Like a Hole".
For the Nights of Nothing mini-tour in 1996, Richard Patrick
made a brief return to the band to perform guitar and vocals on "Head Like a Hole" at the Irving Plaza
show in New York along with Clint Mansell
, who joined NIN on this song at all three shows of the tour.
In the June 7, 2006 radio performance at Atlanta, Georgia
, Trent Reznor and Peter Murphy played a reworked version of "Head Like a Hole".
Lisa Kennedy Montgomery
once sang the song loudly to Reznor to win a $20 bet. To express the evolving state of his values, Reznor said in 1997 that "I don't want to be singing "Head Like a Hole" at age 50."
-based grunge
band HLAH
is named after the song. The name is sometimes abbreviated in order to avoid copyright infringement
issues.
"Head Like a Hole" is the most widely covered Nine Inch Nails song. In 2005, The String Quartet Tribute
released an cover album
of reworked versions of Pretty Hate Machine, including "Head Like a Hole". Other bands who covered the track include punk rock
band AFI
, rock
artist Ryan Star
, new wave
band Devo
, indie rock
band Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives, gothic metal
band Lullacry
, nu metal
band Korn
, post-industrial band PIG, and Christian rock
band Showbread
.
"Head Like a Hole" generated controversy after the September 11, 2001 attacks
, when Clear Channel Communications
placed it in a 2001 list of post-9/11 inappropriate song titles not for radio airplay.
Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
project Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
. A song influenced by industrial metal
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...
group Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
, it was released as the second single from the group's debut album Pretty Hate Machine
Pretty Hate Machine
Pretty Hate Machine is the debut album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released October 20, 1989, on TVT Records. Pretty Hate Machine is compiled of reworked tracks from the Purest Feeling demo, as well as tracks recorded after its recording...
. The song received an almost overwhelmingly positive response from critics, and has been noted as the best track on the album.
"Head Like a Hole" was Nine Inch Nails' first single to chart on Hot 100 Singles Sales
Hot 100 Singles Sales
The Hot Singles Sales chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures sales of commercial singles and is one of three component charts, along with the Hot 100 Airplay and the Hot Digital Songs, that determine the chart positions of singles on the...
and enjoyed heavy rotation on the radio at the time. It has also been covered by New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
, Christian rock band Showbread
Showbread (band)
Showbread is an American Christian rock band originating in Guyton, Georgia. More specifically, the band lives in a small community within Guyton called Marlow. They formed in 1997. The band has gone through numerous lineup changes since its formation but maintains its two founding members, Josh...
, indie rock band Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band AFI
AFI (band)
AFI is an American alternative rock band from Ukiah, California that formed in 1991. They have consisted of the same lineup since 1998: lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backup vocalist Adam Carson, with bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget, who both play keyboard and contribute...
and nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
band Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
.
Recording
Trent ReznorTrent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
wrote "Head Like a Hole" in 1988, after touring with Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
. Flood, Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Sherwood is an English record producer best known for his work with dub music as well as for remixing a number of popular acts such as Coldcut, Depeche Mode, The Woodentops, Primal Scream, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sinéad O'Connor, and Skinny Puppy...
, and Keith LeBlanc
Keith Leblanc
Keith Leblanc is an American drummer and record producer, and is a member of the bands Little Axe and Tackhead.His record, "No Sell Out", was the first sample based record. His career started out on Sugar Hill Records recording with rap pioneers, Grandmaster Flash and Melle Melle...
were co-producers of the song, and it was recorded in 1989. "Head Like a Hole" was one of the last songs completed for the album, since Flood did not arrive to the studio until the completion of Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
's Violator
Violator (album)
Violator is the seventh studio album by the English electronic group Depeche Mode, released by Mute Records on 19 March 1990.Preceded by the hit singles "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence" , Violator propelled the band into international stardom. The album yielded two further hit singles,...
(1990).
The title of the song comes from a sample of a Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
concert in 1987, which Reznor recorded on a video tape
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
and later used in the song's production. The name of his project, Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
, which according to Reznor has no "literal meaning", was also taken from the same tape, during a portion where Al Jourgensen
Al Jourgensen
Alain David Jourgensen , is a Cuban-American musician best known as the founder and frontman of the industrial metal band Ministry. He is sometimes credited as Alain Jourgensen, Alien Jourgensen, Hypo Luxa , Dog, Alien Dog Star and Buck Satan...
compares Ministry to a man with a tall nail
Nail
Nail may refer to:* Nail , toughened keratin at the end of an animal digit* Nail , a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip of some bird beaks* Nail , the pin-shaped fastener used in engineering, woodworking and construction...
hammered into his head, creating a hole there:
"Listening to Ministry is like having a nine inch nail hammered into your head like a hole."
Music and lyrics
Although classified as a industrial rockIndustrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
song, "Head Like a Hole" takes its influence from Ministry, as well as the thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
genre (especially Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
). The tempo is 115 BPM
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
, and it is played in the tuning of E. Lyrics to the song are a fictional relationship between Reznor and Godmoney.
The chords of this song are similar to the project's debut single, "Down in It
Down in It
"Down in It" is a song by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released in 1989. Released as the project's debut single, the song was the first to be written by Trent Reznor, the only constant member of the act. It was released as a teaser single prior to the group's debut album, Pretty...
". In contrast to "Down in It", "Head Like a Hole" has a longer intro, lasts roughly one minute longer (the song is five minutes long in its aggregate length
Length
In geometric measurements, length most commonly refers to the longest dimension of an object.In certain contexts, the term "length" is reserved for a certain dimension of an object along which the length is measured. For example it is possible to cut a length of a wire which is shorter than wire...
), is heavy metal music
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
-oriented, and has no rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
. "Head Like a Hole" is also the opening track on Nine Inch Nails' 1989 debut, and is one of the two Nine Inch Nails songs produced by Flood to appear on Pretty Hate Machine
Pretty Hate Machine
Pretty Hate Machine is the debut album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released October 20, 1989, on TVT Records. Pretty Hate Machine is compiled of reworked tracks from the Purest Feeling demo, as well as tracks recorded after its recording...
, as seen in the album booklet's liner notes.
A well-known line in the song, "you're going to get what you deserve," is a recurring
Recurring
Recurring means occurring over and over and can refer to several different things:*Recurring expense, an ongoing expenditure*Curiously recurring template pattern , a software design pattern...
element in a number of Trent Reznor-written songs, both in same and altered forms. For example, in the ninth track of 2007's Year Zero
Year zero
"Year zero" does not exist in the widely used Gregorian calendar or in its predecessor, the Julian calendar. Under those systems, the year 1 BC is followed by AD 1...
, "Meet Your Master", the first verse ends with the same line, quickly before the chorus begins.
Release and reception
Labeled as "Halo 3," Head Like a Hole is the third official Nine Inch Nails release, containing remixes of three different songs from Pretty Hate MachinePretty Hate Machine
Pretty Hate Machine is the debut album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released October 20, 1989, on TVT Records. Pretty Hate Machine is compiled of reworked tracks from the Purest Feeling demo, as well as tracks recorded after its recording...
. The single release is longer in duration than the album itself. The single peaked at #28 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
A three-track version of this single was released in the UK. This version contains "Head Like a Hole (Opal)", which is not included on the US release, and starts using the beginning of "Tamborine" by Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, taken from his 1985 album Around the World in a Day
Around the World in a Day
Around the World in a Day is the seventh studio album by Prince and the second by The Revolution, released on April 22, 1985 on Warner Bros. In compliance with Prince's wishes, the record company released the album with minimal publicity, not even releasing an accompanying single until almost a...
; it continues using a drum loop sampled from "Release It" taken from another Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
record, the soundtrack
Graffiti Bridge (album)
Graffiti Bridge is the twelfth studio album by Prince and the soundtrack to the 1990 film Graffiti Bridge.The album was much better received in sales than the film, reaching #6 in the US and #1 in the UK. Nearly every song on the record was written by Prince despite the handful of artists...
to the Prince-directed movie Graffiti Bridge
Graffiti Bridge (film)
Graffiti Bridge is a 1990 drama/musical written, directed, and starring Prince. It is a sequel to his first film, Purple Rain, though notorious for its relatively low quality and poor performance at the box-office...
(1990). The saxophone in "Release It" can be heard before the drum loop begins. "Head Like A Hole (Copper)" samples the looping drum beat from "Body Language", a track off of the Hot Space
Hot Space
Hot Space is the tenth studio album by British rock band Queen, released in May 1982. Marking a notable shift in direction from their earlier work, Queen employed many elements of disco, pop music, R&B and dance music on Hot Space, being partially influenced by the success of their 1980 hit...
(1982) album by Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
. The first track is mistakenly listed as "Head Like a Hole (Slate)" on the CD. "Down in It (Shred)" and "Down in It (Singe)" were previously released on the Down in It
Down in It
"Down in It" is a song by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released in 1989. Released as the project's debut single, the song was the first to be written by Trent Reznor, the only constant member of the act. It was released as a teaser single prior to the group's debut album, Pretty...
single. The latter track has been extended by 18 seconds. The unlisted eleventh track is Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa is an American actress and television host. Since February 2001, she has served as the co-host of talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, along with Regis Philbin and now solo host of Live! With Kelly...
yelling "Let's hear it for Nine Inch Nails! Woo! They're good!" This is a sample from Dance Party USA
Dance Party USA
Dance Party USA is an American dance television show that aired on cable's USA Network from April 12, 1986, to June 27, 1992. It was originally a half-hour, but was expanded to an hour in 1987....
during an appearance by the band on the show.
The 11-track United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
version of "Head Like a Hole" has recently been re-packaged and re-released. This version was also released in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where it failed to reach the Top 40 Finally, in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the single was released as "You Get What You Deserve." This release includes four tracks.
In a retrospective review of the song, Allmusic described "Head Like a Hole" as "grand theater", elaborating further by commenting the "backing music was immaculately crafted and produced". In its review of the single, the author was largely positive towards the song selection, even saying that the inclusion of "Head Like a Hole", "Terrible Lie", and "Down in It" "renders Pretty Hate Machine mostly unnecessary". As for the other tracks included on the single, Allmusic was less positive, adding "This is one case where quality definitely would have sufficed without the quantity."
Music video
A music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was made for the "Clay" remix of this song. It was directed by Eric Zimmerman, released in March 1990 and later in 1997 on the Closure VHS. The video became popular on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and helped fuel NIN's early success. A slightly different edit of the video was also released for Flood's remix of the song, which is 17 seconds shorter than the "Clay" remix. The video features band members Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
, Richard Patrick
Richard Patrick
Richard Patrick is an American rock musician. He is the frontman for the band Filter, a founding member of the supergroup Army of Anyone, and has served as a touring guitarist for Nine Inch Nails....
and Chris Vrenna along with guest drummer Martin Atkins
Martin Atkins
Martin Clive Atkins is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Pigface, and Killing Joke...
performing in a cage.
In the beginning of the video, a black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
and white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
sample of a person hopping on one foot while spinning a staff fades in and out againist a background of "blurred colors." A distorted video of walking football
Football
Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
players is also featured. Clips of Reznor putting his head in a bucket
Bucket
A bucket, also called a pail, is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone, with an open top and a flat bottom, usually attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail. A pail can have an open top or can have a lid....
of water, and an off-screen person using the same bucket to make Reznor wet, were taken by a video camera
Video camera
A video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in...
before filming a performance of the song from Nine Inch Nails as a live band
Nine Inch Nails live performances
Nine Inch Nails, an industrial rock band fronted by Trent Reznor, did various live performances throughout the world, including tours in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Japan, and China. While Reznor controls the creative and musical direction of Nine Inch Nails in-studio, the...
.
The guitar Reznor used in the video is a Jackson
Jackson Guitars
__FORCETOC__Jackson is a renowned brand of electric guitar that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson.-Early years:Grover Jackson obtained ownership in Charvel's Guitar Repair of Glendora, California in the 1970s with a promise to bolster Charvel's business...
Dinky. It is first seen in first chorus, when Reznor, appearing to be dirty like the other band members (He had long hair
Long hair
Long hair is a hairstyle. Exactly what constitutes long hair can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair in some cultures may be said to have short hair, while a man with the same length of hair in some of the same cultures would be said...
and wore gritty clothing during production), bangs his head
Headbanging
Headbanging is a type of dance which involves violently shaking the head in time with the music, most commonly in the rock and heavy metal music genres.-Origin:The term "headbanger" was coined during Led Zeppelin's first US tour in 1969...
twice while singing the song. He does not use the guitar for the climax of the video, where wires tied to him slowly pull him up, leaving the frontman spinning upsidedown insanely. At the same scene, Vrenna destroys his drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
by throwing a bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
of Atkins' drum kit torwards the object. At a shot occurring prior to that point, broken Zildjian cymbals and a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
can be seen as parts of Vrenna's kit. Reznor has used multiple other guitars, many of them which he destroyed. A Jackson guitar that Reznor broke at the end of a February 1991 concert
Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series
Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series was a series of tours in support of Nine Inch Nails' debut album Pretty Hate Machine. The series took place over much of North America and Europe from 1989 to 1991...
was auctioned on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
at the price of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1,900 dollars, and was sold in early 2009. The guitars that he uses for the majority of Nine Inch Nails' music are manufactured by Paul Reed Smith
Paul Reed Smith
Paul Reed Smith , is a luthier and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars.Smith is originally from Bowie, Maryland. He made his first guitar while at St. Mary's College of Maryland, and continued to build guitars after he finished college, making them one at a time, one a month...
Guitars. Patrick uses a similar guitar, eventually singing backing vocals for "Head Like a Hole's" second chorus in the video, though his voice is not heard in the final version. Danny Lohner
Danny Lohner
Daniel Patrick "Danny" Lohner , frequently known as Renholdër, is an American rock musician who plays bass guitar, electric guitar, and keyboards. He worked with Trent Reznor on numerous occasions, both with Nine Inch Nails and on the now defunct Tapeworm project...
also uses PRS Guitars.
There are images that are shown for a few frames like "HEAD
Head
In anatomy, the head of an animal is the rostral part that usually comprises the brain, eyes, ears, nose and mouth . Some very simple animals may not have a head, but many bilaterally symmetric forms do....
," "16 SOUND
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
START," "S M P T E UNIVERSAL LEADER
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
" and "PICTURE
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
." Other images included a white dot set againist a black background, a mirrored presentation showing the words "REEL
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
№ PROD
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
№ PLAY DATE
Calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...
" colored in yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
, one with the words "PICTURE START
Introduction
Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to:* Introduction , an opening section of a piece of music* Introduction , a beginning section which states the purpose and goals of the following writing...
," and a frame consisting of "C C F F" placed near a outlined ring. The latter screen had an alternative version that was accompanied by a white number 3, also seen in the video. There are also visuals of four incomplete rotating mechanical models of human heads; one with film stills, another with a modified motherboard
Motherboard
In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple...
and other technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, the purple, wire
Wire
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...
d, head with a blue screen showing an eye and various computer hardware
Computer hardware
Personal computer hardware are component devices which are typically installed into or peripheral to a computer case to create a personal computer upon which system software is installed including a firmware interface such as a BIOS and an operating system which supports application software that...
, and the last containing blue skin, orange-pupil eyes, and a lightbulb. The former two were filmed in black and white, while the latter two in full color
Colorization
Colorization or colourisation may refer to:*Film colorization - a process that adds color to black and white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images...
. All four are shown intercut with shots of people spinning baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
bats.
Live performances
Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series
Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series was a series of tours in support of Nine Inch Nails' debut album Pretty Hate Machine. The series took place over much of North America and Europe from 1989 to 1991...
), or the last song before the encore if an encore took place. After the song was performed, band members destroy their instruments. A reference to this is mentioned in the title of Broken (1992), Nine Inch Nails' second major studio release. There are live videos of "Head Like a Hole" on the DVDs And All That Could Have Been
And All that Could Have Been
And All That Could Have Been is a double album released by Nine Inch Nails in 2002. The live album contains music recorded during the Fragility v2.0 US tour in 2000; Disc 1 is a live album of their normal set list of the time, while disc B contains a studio album titled Still containing...
and Beside You in Time
Beside You in Time
Beside You in Time is a live home video release by Nine Inch Nails, issued in Europe on February 26, 2007, and the United States on February 27, 2007. Beside You in Time is also the title of a track on the NIN album With Teeth. The video documents NIN's 2006 Live: With Teeth tour, and is available...
.
During Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
'91, Dave Navarro
Dave Navarro
David Michael "Dave" Navarro is an American guitarist who plays in the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction and cover band Camp Freddy. He has also played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Panic Channel, and many others.- Early life :...
, Eric Avery
Eric Avery
Eric Adam Avery is an American musician and is the former bass player for the rock band Jane's Addiction. Avery played in Jane's Addiction initially from 1985 to 1991, and rejoined the band in 2008 before departing again in 2010....
, Gibby Haynes
Gibby Haynes
Gibson Jerome "Gibby" Haynes is an American musician, radio personality, and painter, and the lead singer of the group Butthole Surfers.-Early life and career:...
and Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
joined Nine Inch Nails live performances
Nine Inch Nails live performances
Nine Inch Nails, an industrial rock band fronted by Trent Reznor, did various live performances throughout the world, including tours in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Japan, and China. While Reznor controls the creative and musical direction of Nine Inch Nails in-studio, the...
on-stage as additional guitarists for "Head Like a Hole".
For the Nights of Nothing mini-tour in 1996, Richard Patrick
Richard Patrick
Richard Patrick is an American rock musician. He is the frontman for the band Filter, a founding member of the supergroup Army of Anyone, and has served as a touring guitarist for Nine Inch Nails....
made a brief return to the band to perform guitar and vocals on "Head Like a Hole" at the Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza is a 1,200-person ballroom-style music venue at 17 Irving Place and East 15th Street in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
show in New York along with Clint Mansell
Clint Mansell
Clinton Darryl "Clint" Mansell, is an English musician, composer, and former lead singer and guitarist of the band Pop Will Eat Itself....
, who joined NIN on this song at all three shows of the tour.
In the June 7, 2006 radio performance at Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Trent Reznor and Peter Murphy played a reworked version of "Head Like a Hole".
Lisa Kennedy Montgomery
Lisa Kennedy Montgomery
Lisa Kennedy Montgomery is an American political satirist, radio personality, and former MTV VJ...
once sang the song loudly to Reznor to win a $20 bet. To express the evolving state of his values, Reznor said in 1997 that "I don't want to be singing "Head Like a Hole" at age 50."
Legacy
Since its commercial maxi-single release, "Head Like a Hole" continues to generate an impact on other musicians and bands. New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-based grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
band HLAH
HLAH
HLAH is a rock band from Wellington, New Zealand.-History:HLAH formed in Wellington, originally consisting of Nigel Regan, Mark Hamill, Nigel Beazley and Andrew Durno....
is named after the song. The name is sometimes abbreviated in order to avoid copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
issues.
"Head Like a Hole" is the most widely covered Nine Inch Nails song. In 2005, The String Quartet Tribute
The String Quartet Tribute
The Vitamin String Quartet is a group of Los Angeles musicians widely known for its series of tribute albums to rock and pop acts. Their albums are released through Vitamin Records and primarily performed by a string quartet, though other instruments have been used...
released an cover album
Cover Album
-Tracklisting:#Misono to Utaou! Animedley I # #...
of reworked versions of Pretty Hate Machine, including "Head Like a Hole". Other bands who covered the track include punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band AFI
AFI (band)
AFI is an American alternative rock band from Ukiah, California that formed in 1991. They have consisted of the same lineup since 1998: lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backup vocalist Adam Carson, with bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget, who both play keyboard and contribute...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
artist Ryan Star
Ryan Star
Ryan Star is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Long Island, New York. He was also a reality television contestant on the CBS show Rock Star: Supernova.-Biography:...
, new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
, indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives, gothic metal
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
band Lullacry
Lullacry
Lullacry is a melodic band with gothic metal influences that hails from Helsinki, Finland. The band recorded their first demo in 1998 and in a short time they had enough of a following to safely attempt a full-length album – Sweet Desire – recorded in 1999. This got the attention of Spinefarm...
, nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
band Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
, post-industrial band PIG, and Christian rock
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
band Showbread
Showbread (band)
Showbread is an American Christian rock band originating in Guyton, Georgia. More specifically, the band lives in a small community within Guyton called Marlow. They formed in 1997. The band has gone through numerous lineup changes since its formation but maintains its two founding members, Josh...
.
"Head Like a Hole" generated controversy after the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, when Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
placed it in a 2001 list of post-9/11 inappropriate song titles not for radio airplay.
US version
UK version
Releases
- TVT RecordsTVT RecordsTVT Records was an independent US record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 25 year history the label released some 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, Underworld, The KLF, Sevendust, Brian Jonestown Massacre and...
TVT 2614 – US 12" Vinyl - TVT RecordsTVT RecordsTVT Records was an independent US record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 25 year history the label released some 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, Underworld, The KLF, Sevendust, Brian Jonestown Massacre and...
TVT 2615-2 – US CD - Island RecordsIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
12 IS 484 878 893-1 – UK 12" Vinyl - Island RecordsIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
CID 482 878 893-2 – UK CD
External links
- halo three at nin.com, the official website
- Head Like A Hole at the NinWiki
- halo three at NIN Collector