Head Like A Hole

If the last few decades have proven anything, it's that popular music is a cyclical animal. This applies double for Rock 'n Roll. For every popular musical trend that has occurred since the 1930's, there arose a backlash that sought to modify, reverse or even tear down what had gone before in the name of progress. This could manifest as anything from subtle change to a raging tidal wave. Remember, Sinatra was once a threat to Bing Crosby, who superseded Rudy Vallee. Sinatra's popularity was threatened by Elvis, who worried about The Beatles, who called it a day before the Rock industry got fat and bloated in the 70's, when Punk shook things down to the roots, and so it goes to this very day.

I really hope you didn't get ANY of these logos tattooed on you.

The very late 80's was an interesting time, as it was, in retrospect, very ripe for change. What is now referred to as Hair Metal was very popular and was selling truckloads of CD's, records and cassettes. Major labels, as they were prone to do, were signing up any band that looked glammy and sounded even remotely like Guns 'n Roses or Poison. Rock 'n Roll hedonism, or the appearance of it, was either at its peak or nadir, depending on your point of view. The larynx-crushing throat punch of Nirvana's "Nevermind", which almost single-handedly knocked Hair Metal into a glittery scrap heap of scarves and spandex, was still a couple of years away yet. But as the clock ran out on the 80's, one of the forebears of what was to come in the 90's and beyond came in angry and roaring on a small independent label.

Yep, it's sideways. That's how the CD booklet is oriented.

Written, arranged, and performed by Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails' first album "Pretty Hate Machine" debuted in 1989. Reznor and his co-producers expanded upon Reznor's initial demos by adding the soon-to-be singles "Head Like A Hole" and "Sin". Rolling Stone's Michael Azerrad described the album as "industrial-strength noise over a pop framework" and "harrowing but catchy music". Reznor simply proclaimed this combination "a sincere statement of what was in my head at the time".

"Head Like A Hole" was one of the last songs completed for the album. The song's title comes from a sample taken from a concert by another industrial noise band, Ministry, which Reznor had recorded and later used in the production of "Head Like A Hole". The album, "Pretty Hate Machine" eventually spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Top 200, easily achieving Platinum sales. This is a fairly angry song to have been the hit that it was.

Rack 'em up, soldier!

As Nine Inch Nails continued their musical onslaught into the 90's, Reznor would occasionally find time for a side project. In early 1996, Reznor collaborated with Id Software to help create the very dark, creepy music and sound effects to the first-person shooter computer game, "Quake". As a nod to his contribution, the entire Quake series featured the Nine Inch Nails band logo on ammo crates for the in-game nail gun weapon.

While playing the song, I'm sure you heard the repeated authoritarian lyric, "Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve", which relentlessly pounds against the rebellious spirit of the chorus. In musical and artistic circles of the day, there was quite a bit of venom directed at the first Bush administration's foreign policies and the fascistic overtones of Bush Sr.'s "New World Order". The band that directly inspired the formation of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, even had a music video entitled "New World Order" that got heavy play on MTV. But these musicians weren't necessarily doing something completely original. There's always a traceable musical ancestor to any seemingly new sub-genre, and in this case, that ancestor is none other than Devo.

Devo, circa 1980

Any mention of Devo will usually raise a chuckle of recognition, as most people remember them for goofy hits like "Whip It". But make no mistake, Devo had a dark side to their concept that was often the undercurrent of the same nerdy, seemingly harmless, tune.

The name "Devo" comes from the concept of 'de-evolution'; the idea that instead of continuing to evolve, mankind has actually begun to regress, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society. This idea was developed as a joke by Kent State University art students Gerald Casale and Bob Lewis as early as the late 1960s. Casale and Lewis created a number of satirical art pieces in a devolution vein. They met Mark Mothersbaugh around 1970, who introduced them to a pamphlet from 1924, "Jocko Homo Heavenbound", which includes an illustration of a winged devil labeled "D-EVOLUTION". This pamphlet would later inspire the archetypical Devo song, "Jocko Homo". But the 'joke' soon became very serious, following the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970. This event would be cited multiple times as the impetus for forming the band, Devo.

Rare promotional CD single of "Head Like A Hole"

Throughout their career, the spudmen of Devo have been no strangers to doing inspired cover versions of popular songs, dating back to their earliest releases. Their bracing cover of the Rolling Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and near-rewrite of Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" were both disturbing and highly original. They almost had a hit when their twisted take on Lee Dorsey's "Workin' In A Coal Mine" was featured in the 1981 animated movie, "Heavy Metal". So it makes perfect sense that Devo would take on the dystopian lyric and mood of Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like A Hole". The dance groove of the original is certainly intact and there's a new focus on money, but given the application of the whole D-evolution thing, the lyric about "Bow down before the one you serve..." becomes a tad more disturbing than perhaps even Trent Reznor imagined.

You can find nearly everything released by Devo at the corporate spud house known as Amazon. Devo's version of "Head Like A Hole" can only be found on a fine career-spanning anthology from Warner Archives, which contains all the essential stuff and many cool rarities, or, on the soundtrack to the 1996 Jackie Chan shoot 'em up, "Supercop", for which it was recorded. By all appearances, it's the high point of the album, unless the idea of Tom Jones covering "Kung Fu Fighting" appeals to you. I mean, after all these years, Tom's still the man, but... I dunno.

Amazon is also a great place to find the works of Nine Inch Nails, besides your local indie record store; especially the ones where even the store cat has black nail polish on. To be straight up honest, I'm not a fan. Art in any form is supposed to provoke a response, and my response to that music is that it doesn't work for me. I find most of Trent Reznor's music to be very dark, deeply depressing and unsettling. Maybe that works for you, and that's fine. Enjoy. Me? I'm gonna go play outside!