Better NIN Album – ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ vs. ‘Downward Spiral’

Which is the better Nine Inch Nails album – Pretty Hate Machine or The Downward Spiral? That’s the question at the heart of this week’s Chuck’s Fight Club on the Loudwire Nights radio show.

Nine Inch Nails’ career started in pretty spectacular fashion. Pretty Hate Machine turned a lot of heads in 1989 with its use of synths creating a heavily aggressive sound. Songs such as “Head Like a Hole,” “Down In It” and “Terrible Lie” oozed aggression with a danceable beat behind it and an industrial sound pulsing through your speakers.

With the excellent Broken EP in between, Nine Inch Nails would return in 1994 with the gloomy conceptual record, The Downward Spiral. Whether it be the animalistic groove of “Closer,” the punked out aggression of “March of the Pigs” and the raw emotional breakdown of “Hurt,” there was some pretty heavy music going on.

As with all Chuck’s Fight Club battles, host Chuck Armstrong will introduce the battle on Monday’s Loudwire Nights show in the 8PM hour. Individual arguments will be made for both albums in the 8PM hour of Tuesday and Wednesday’s shows while you continue to register your rankings using the voting tool at the bottom of this post. On Friday, the rankings will be tallied and the winning entrant will be featured in a rock block during the 8PM hour of the Loudwire Nights radio show.

READ MORE: The Best Alternative Album for Each Year of the 1990s

Just this reminder, Loudwire Nights with Chuck Armstrong airs nightly starting at 7PM ET. You can tune in anytime, from anywhere right here or by downloading the Loudwire app.