10 Rock Music Albums Where One Person Plays Everything

3. Pretty Hate Machine - Nine Inch Nails

Similarly to Kevin Parker, Trent Reznor is just one of those guys who understands music in its purest form. You don't go from being in an industrial metal band to a Oscar-winning film composer by dumb luck.

Of course, The Social Network scorer got his start in the band Nine Inch Nails, of which he was the only official member from its creation in 1988 to 2016.

NIN's first album, Pretty Hate Machine, came out in 1989 and, in more ways than one, heralded the arrival of the '90s. It was dark, gritty, introspective, and shifted focus towards production techniques and studio magic. It marked a landmark moment in the evolution of rock music, so, naturally, it was basically all Trent's own work.

With some help from producer Flood and a handful of small contributions from other musicians, Reznor played, programmed, and produced everything on Pretty Hate Machine.

It was almost impossible for people to get their heads around the fact that such a ground-breaking album had come from the mind of one man, as Pretty Hate Machine set in motion a truly extraordinary musical career.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.