POP MUSIC : Who Will Become 1992’s Nine Inch Nails?

On last year’s “Lollapalooza” tour, most people went to see Jane’s Addiction but came away talking about Nine Inch Nails, the industrial-rock band that more or less stole the show and launched itself into the forefront of championed alternative acts.

To illustrate the impact, before “Lollapalooza,” Nine Inch Nails’ lone album, 1989’s “Pretty Hate Machine,” reportedly had sold about 200,000 copies. Since the start of the tour last year, the album has sold about 700,000 copies.

So who will emerge as the Nine Inch Nails of “Lollapalooza ‘92,” the dark horse winner of the sequel tour that starts July 18 in San Francisco and concludes with three Sept. 11 - 12shows at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre (with a third date expected to be announced)

The candidates: Los Angeles’ funk-punk favorite sons the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Seattle bands Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, influential Scottish act the Jesus and Mary Chain, Chicago-based industrial-rock pioneers Ministry, controversial L.A. rapper Ice Cube and English newcomers Lush.

Pop Eye polled a panel of music industry staffers, and the answer came in no uncertain terms.

“Ministry, hands down,” said Kim Buie, a vice president of A&R; at Island Records.

With the headlining Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam already having big success and a common opinion that the Jesus and Mary Chain’s time may have already passed, the choice of Ministry was shared by more than half of the people surveyed. Ironically, Ministry is a veteran band that laid the artistic foundation for much of the growing wave of industrial-rock, including Nine Inch Nails. But up to now, its following has remained at something of a cult level.

“Lollapalooza ‘92” is expected to change that.

“They’re stunning live,” Buie said. “(Frontman) Alan Jourgensen is one of the most intense performers anyone will see. He’s possessed. Anyone who has never been exposed to Ministry will be amazed.”

KROQ deejay Richard Blade also picked Ministry for a big “Lollapalooza” breakthrough, noting a big club-level buzz on the band, with word-of-mouth already spreading on its new album, “Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs,” which will be released July 7.

“I’ve been playing their records at clubs for a long time and people go crazy,” Blade said.