Celebrity Skin

Beavis: Check it out, Butt-Head…our 69th album just got generated. Butt-Head: uh-huh-huh, you said “69”. Beavis: oh, yeah, I guess did….heh-heh… Butt-Head: so, uh…what is it? Beavis: Uhh…69 is the sex number, Butt-Head…Jeez Butt-Head: I know what 69 is, dill-weed. What record are we, like, supposed to listen to? Beavis: oh…yeah, cool…I knew that…uh, it says we’re supposed to listen to Celebrity Skin by Hole. Butt-Head: uh-huh-huh…Hole. Beavis: yeah! and it’s, like, our 69th record, Butt-Head…Heh-heh…69…heh-heh-heh…Hole…Get it? Butt-Head: Whoa…that’s cool. This generator must know we’re, like, super cool badasses who like to score. Beavis: uhh…Butt-Head? We, like, don’t score very much at all. Butt-Head: Uh…speak for yourself, butt-munch. Ladies love the Butt-Head…Now go put on that Hole record, you wuss. Beavis: oh, yeah…sure thing, Butt-Head. [they listen to the record] Beavis: Hey, Butt-Head? Butt-Head: Uhh….yeah, Beavis? Beavis: Is it just me or does this record kind of suck? Butt-Head: yeah, Beavis…it sucks. She’s, like, singing about seeing God and stuff. Beavis: Yeah…singing about God sucks. This is lame. Butt-Head: We should, like, leave a bad review and demand the Generator give us a new album that’s, like, cool to listen to for number 69. Beavis: Yeah! This sucks! I want a refund or I’m gonna find the Generator and, like, smash it with a baseball bat…and then, I’m going to take all the pieces, gather them up and set them on fire! Yeah, fire! FIRE! Heh-heh…that’ll teach them to make us listen to things that suck. Butt-Head: uh-huh-huh…Breaking things is cool. Beavis: It sure is, Butt-Head…It sure is.

I had no idea Courtney Love’s music was actually good! I’d grown up just knowing she had a band and was married to Kurt Cobain but had wrongly assumed the band was trash. This whole thing sounds so full and the melodies are as catchy as they come while remaining powerfully aggressive. Love it!

Easily Hole's biggest release (and their last), Celebrity Skin is a powerhouse alt-rock album. It's got everything you could want from a rock album in '98. It has bad-ass female power vocals, chunky riffs, meaningful lyrics, and all the attitude you can eat. It's a great album.

I've been waiting for this generator to give me more stuff like this. This is my groove, my era. I want to live inside the 90's and never leave. This album hits every level of alt-rock greatness and just demolishes.

Great grunge album. Not every song is a winner, but the ones that are bop.

Someday soon (possibly even while I'm still going through all of these albums), there are going to be serious arguments about either Courtney Love or Hole should be elected to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. I'm not saying her or the band will make it, but the two albums deservedly on this list sure make a good case for election. Both "Live Through This" and "Celebrity Skin" come close to being perfect for their genres and time. I find myself preferring this one, and not because it's more accessible. Courtney leans more into a polished pop sound (similar to what Liz Phair did post Guyville) that seems to suit her more. Some dissed her for that, suggesting she sold out. Courtney could never do right in her critic's eyes. As far as "California Albums" are concerned, I'll put this up with the Beach Boys, Eagles Byrds and Doors similar conceptual albums. Maybe by the time she and Hole are eligible for the Rock Hall, voters will judge Courtney on her musical contributions and forget that she had anything to do with killing Kurt Cobain (allegedly, don't @ me).

Meh. I prefer "Live Through This". To me, it has a more raw feel and grunge was about "raw".

I didn’t Courtney Love it, but I did Courtney Like it 👍🏾

Solid but middle of the road, probably unnecessary for me to listen to prior to my ultimate demise.

I'd like to publicly apologize to Courtney Love for just dismissing her as a tabloid time waster. I hadn't listen to any Hole music on principle until now. My loss. I'm sorry. This was really excellent.

Awful, Northern Star, Reasons to Be Beautiful are all excellent. Northern Star is the masterpiece I can’t believe I haven’t heard before.

Celebrity Skin is a great power pop album and an interesting way to depart from the grunge style from previous albums produced by Courtney Love's Hole. The changes in the line up and production style resulted in a album about California that works very well as a single theme record. Love's lyrics are at her peak, exploring themes of superficiality and sexism that fits very well with the California motif. "Celebrity Skin" and "Malibu" are alt rock classics and great late 1990s songs.

A perfect distillation of that nineties sound, Hole were kind of alt / kind of pop, tabloid fodder lead singer / artist with integrity, cynical / sell out - holding all these contradictions together in the one hole. And accordingly, it’s one of the best albums of the nineties. It captures that mood so perfectly - disaffected rich kids, LA is so shallow but means the world.

A somewhat uneven album, that doesn't quite contain the passion/angst of live through this and adds a layer of polish that dilutes the predecessors energy. Awful and Celebrity Skin are highlights.

Courtney Love is a genuine rock star. Intense, angry, articulate, unpredictable, controversial, ambitious, unfiltered, strong, damaged, impulsive, charismatic. She has copped a lot of flack over the years, some self-inflicted damage, but a lot of grief for being crime of being a woman. This album came at an interesting time when a major label would drop significant coin on a very abrasive band from the punk tradition to record like they were Fleetwood Mac (a comparison that they would acknowledge themselves, following their cover of Gold Dust Woman on the Crow soundtrack). This has all the hallmarks of a major label blockbuster production; big name producer, 9 months of sessions in various expensive studios across multiple continents, high profile songwriting collaborations, replacing the drummer's tracks with a session guy, drama, drugs, balancing an acting career, etc etc. If you had asked me five years earlier if Courtney Love and colleagues had a big shiny major label rock album in them, I would have scoffed. They were an angry, shouty punk band, with a controversial point of view, and I was chuffed that they had been given enough money and support to make 'Live Through This', which I regard as their artistic peak. A great sounding record, but still true to who they were and what they did best (energetic, noisy, uncompromising). While Celebrity Skin is still, I believe, true to Courtney's vision and voice, although I think it is a bit uncomfortable and a stretch of her abilities to try and make a mainstream hard rock record. But try and succeed they did, and this was a substantial success. The singles are pretty listenable, but, to my own tastes, I prefer it when Courtney gets a chance to really cut loose. For me, Live Through This was the perfect balance between decent production and wild abandon. This record, by way of contrast, aims for the radio play (which they achieved) and mainstream sales (which they achieved). It's just not as much to my taste, but a successful effort at what they were aiming for. As a coda, I think you can really see that this was the beginning of the end for the band. The process of recording the record effectively forced Patty Schemel out of the band, and interviews with Melissa auf der Maur and Eric Erlandson suggest that maybe this approach wasn't quite their preference. While Courtney achieved her ambition of producing a mainstream success, I don't think this satisfied her (in retrospect), and the band (in this form) never made another album. Be careful what you wish for, Courtney, you might get it.

1/13 Great album with a real seedy, shady, Hollywood vibe to it. Standout Tracks: Awful, Dying, Use Once & Destroy, Northern Star, Playing Your Song

This follow-up to Hole's best album 'Live Through This" is warmer, shinier and has what I imagine to be a Los Angeles feel. Every track is great. I don't understand the hate for Courtney Love but I suspect it has something to do with latent misogyny.

Courtney Love called out Harvey Weinstein before most people said a word.

Energetic, heartfelt, and rock and roll to its core. I listen to so much music like this nowadays that I can't help but wonder how much Hole has influenced this generation's indie rockers. I don't know if they largely invented this sound or not, but regardless, they know what how to make it strong and moving.

One of the staples of the "alt music with lead woman who sounds like she doesn't care"

Kicks off very strongly with "Celebrity Skin", but gets a bit lost in the middle of the album. A good album and screams 'the 90s'

Not a fan.

My second favourite album by my favourite band. I have loved Hole since I was a teenager and now in my late 30s I still listen to them several times a week. This album reminds me of being a teenager in the 90s and trying to pretend I didn’t like this album because Courtney Love had “sold out” and made a pop album but secretly I loved it. Listening to this album now still makes me dream about moving to California.

I'm a bit biased, because this album came out when I was 16 and I was crazy for it. I bought it on release. I was *there* for it. But 25 years on, I still think this album is fantastic. There's some elements of it that feel a little "filler" ("Playing Your Song"), but for the most part, this is a wonderfully melodic, brutally personal album from Courtney and Eric (and Billy Corgan).

I was honestly blown away by this album. Song for song, just a ton of great rock songs. Courtney is such a great front woman, and every hook hits for me. No lulls, no filler, just great track after great track. I will 100% come back to this.

Holes outstanding legacy in my opinion. Courtney Love kinda sucks but damn can she write some good music.

When I got this album I said to my listening buddy, “I can sing you this entire album start to finish, without accompaniment” I loved it then and I love it now.

Finally listened to the Hole album haha! Kick ass lead vocals and grungy tunes. Nothing to dislike here.

i bet Kat Stratford loved this album

Surprisingly good but nothing special

Le chat persan ci-présenté a une jolie tête ronde et des joues bien développées. On notera cependant que le front paraît trop large et les yeux trop proches du nez, ce qui est un défaut que l'on trouve souvent chez les persans trop racés. Note générale : 3/5

Aujourd'hui je remarquais avec satisfaction que le generateur faisait peau neuve, en offrant un classement des reviewers les plus populaires. Or, stupeur, ni mon camarade roblumière, ni moi, ne figuront dans ce top 10. Si il est évident de comprendre pourquoi rob ne figure pas dans ce top, étant donné la qualité minable de ses commentaires, ma non présence a fait l'effet d'une bombe dans le petit monde du générateur. Des émeutes ont été recensées à New York, Sidney et Bangkok, pour protester devant ce traitement infâme imposé par le Diktat de Robert. J'appelle tout le monde à garder son calme, nous allons tenter de trouver une solution pour palier à ce coup de trafalgar infligé par Robert.

Songs are good enough, but this album was made in 98 and grunge was already dead and this sound played out. It's all generic and been done already. It was fun to revisit/reevaluate the Courtney Love drama as an adult, I feel a bit more empathy for her in hindsight.

I love "live through this". I always had to defend the album to my male friends. It's shrouded in some controversy, but it holds up. I remember being deflated when this came out. I could not have been any less into power-pop at the time. The singles just screamed "sell out". I never listened to the album. I'm shocked by it's inclusion and glowing reviews. It's not as bad as I was expecting, but there is no way a younger me would have like this. Way too polished.

Not awful. But pretty generic stuff

It’s 50 minutes long. I could only hack 40. It sounds like kurt in drag but saccharine sweet and over produced. Maybe Kurt sounded like her though. It reminded me of when I used to think Latoya Jackson was Michael in drag.

Boring, flat. A lesser album than the other hole album on the list, no idea why it's on here.

Great

A wonderful album that I really enjoyed when it came out, and still do today.

I adore this album. When I first listened to it, though, I thought Live Through This was better. I was wrong! This album is basically if Live Through This was more polished, and I respect the artistic decisions to do that. Billy Corgan wrote some of the album’s songs, and it’s pretty cool to see all of them be good songs. That’s why I think this album deserves a 95.8%, or a 4.79/5. Fav: Boys on the Radio Least Fav: None

This album is great. I used to think it was the weakest of their albums, but listening to it now years later I think it is really strong. Definitely worth a re-listen.

Нормально, могло быть и лучше

Definitely has that 90s sound.

Stevig album met wat grunge-invloeden

Innovative

holy moly Hole is easily THE discovery for me off this list. I knew they were good but these are two perfect albums.

A record that surpasses the grunge boundaries. Sounds fresh and direct.

Love the sound, love the energy, love the voice and the writing.

Tell you what, finding out that I like Hole was one of the more painful moments of my life. (Phrasing). Favorite track: Heaven Tonight

Super surprised about how 90s this is and how forward looking it feels. Some of the choruses are quintessential 90s grunge, but the eponymous song (Celebrity Skin) feels very 2000s alt-rock. The final bridge in Awful is a hilarious angsty teen surprise, and Petals gives (oddly enough) real Monkeys energy with the brooding baseline. I'm sure in the context of today, most might find this album boring, but as a big alt-rock/grunge junkie, I was really surprised how much this album touched upon the various motifs in the genre.

Un muy buen disco de post-grunge de la mano de la musa más grande de Kurt Cobain. El trabajo, sumamente pegajoso, no teme mezclar el rock, el pop y los sonidos más pesados para construir quizá uno de los álbumes más sólidos de los '90s, que probablemente influenció el sonido de las guitarras femeninas en el rock.

I did not think I would enjoy Hole. Don't know why. Loved rocking out to this record.

Legal. Divertido.

There is a distinct lack of females in this list so far and I'm glad Courtney and her band are here to fix it.

This is exactly the type of rock music I adore to play live and to listen to. Heavy guitars, melodies, great vocal delivery, perfect runtime. The songs belong with one each other, they flow well from one another, and are all produced the same. Courtney delivers puts the lyrics to life, singing straight from the soul.

Very nice

i think i like the more polished sound a little better than live through this. really great album, easily five stars, everything i liked about live through this and a little more.

Toppen! Mycket bättre än nirvana?

Ох. Ну и Кортни. Ай да молодец.

I think imma give this one a 5! I like the sound of the band a lot, lyrics were interesting and I could see myself jamming to almost all the songs. The singers voice was really nice also

Smashing album, I had never really listened to much of Hole but Courtney Love is so much more than the paramour of Kurt Cobain. Fun and feisty, yes!

Honestly it was awesome I liked it way more than I thought I would, definitely out of my comfort zone but was really cool

Brilliant

This album is pure late 90's nostalgia. I've never heard this album before, but it is tapping into my memories of being an punky teen girl.

Just a classic for women who wanna fight the patriarchy

Feels very dated but it's a good vibe.

Great Album, her voice fits great to the music and there is not a single bad song on the album

Actually the greatest grunge album?

When I started this I didn’t realize that “Celebrity Skin” is one of those songs that I recall really loving decades ago but whose name or artist had never stuck with me. So I was thrilled to hear this song again, and I love it still! The rest of this album is up to that standard. Fantastic! Now that I’ve loved the albums Live Through This and Celebrity Skin, I guess I should dispel those lingering feelings of doubt when I think about listening to Hole.

Great album but you have to wonder was Kurt giving pointers

Stunning, what a solid record start to finish! Love it.

This is great. Have power, noise, attitude, all rocks in it. Just love it.

I’m at a (slightly biased) 4.5 that I think I’m gonna go ahead and bump up to a 5. This is the general soundscape I’ve kinda been waiting for – I have a lot of love for like, the Goo Goo Dolls or Matchbox Twenty, so this album finally hit around that sound, and it does it super well. The guitar work in particular, while occasionally way too loud in the mix, is really good throughout this whole album. Courtney Love’s vocals, which I’ve never really heard before now, have a great tone to them, especially when she holds notes on the lower end of her register; there’s just a deep grit there that really makes the lyrics pop more. It’s just a really solid album where everything clicked for me, and I just liked almost every track here; obviously, there’s a number of references to Kurt Cobain, and Courtney’s reputation and image in light of what happened. This album, I believe, was her first chance to really respond with some music, and what emerged is an album that fits right alongside some of its contemporaries for 1998. I feel good bumping it up to a 5; I just enjoyed it that much.

10/10 god DAMN! I’ve listened to some Hole before but this one really blew me away!

Slaps

4 sterren van mij en een extra ster voor Klaske. Hole is een van haar lievelings bands

Je regrette que les gens laissent leur opinion de Courtney Love influencer leur perception de Hole. Les textes sont excellents, toujours d’actualité pour les femmes. La musique n’a rien à envier aux autres groupes de l’époque, vraiment de bons riffs de guitare.

Loved it.

Just nice hard rock, lovely punk feminist aesthetic.

Wow what a great 90s rock album. Front to back this has everything I like in a rock record. Great guitar tone. Production as a whole is actually quite nice. Light angst, good pace. This is one of the few times I’ve felt genuinely compelled to listen to more of the bands music. 5

I Am A Feminist.

I loved this album. I love Courtney Love’s vocal style and lyrics. It’s got a raw honesty even if it’s sometimes hard to admit. I’ve given Live Through This a couple listens and liked it but this was truly amazing

Celebrity Skin is a great song. This album fucking rocks. See: Reasons To Be Beautiful. Northern Star is a good one. You can really tell Billy Corgan's fingerprints on this album.

I still listen to this all the time, so yes, I could listen to it weekly.

Fantastic

"Celebrity Skin" is the third and final album before Hole's 2002 dissolution. It was produced by Michael Beinhorn and purposefully a move away from grunge and noise to a more rock-pop. And, to me, is one of the best albums in that rock-pop category: great melodies and choruses throughout. The band was struggling writing and recording; hey brought in Billy Corgan to help with the arrangements. Courtney Love wrote all the lyrics which supposedly used California as the American dream as a theme. The Go-Go's Charlotte Caffey and Blinker the Star's Jordan Zardorozny also were contributors. The album went on to be Hole's biggest commercial succes. The title was named after a T.S. Elliot poem "The Wasteland." The album starts off rockin with their first single "Celebrity Skin" and a rippin' guitar intro. Great guitar melodies throughout. About fame and fickleness (autobiographical?). References from Dante Rossetti and Shakespeare too. "Awful" continues the great song run in a more pop way. Great melodies as well and a rockin' edge. A Neil Diamond reference! The song is about music's treatment of girls and has a killer line "If the world is wrong, yeah, you can take it with one song." Their second single "Malibu" continues continues the great melodies and lyrics about getting away from someone (Cobain?) and escaping to Malibu. The second half of the album does not dip in quality either. "Boys On the Radio" starts with an acoustic guitar intro and kicks into classic rock-pop. The song was supposedly initiated by Courtney's reaction to the drowning of Jeff Buckley and is about self-destructive pop stars specifically Evan Dando and Brian Wilson. Maybe my favorite song on the album and its most rockin' (third time used) is "Playing Your Song." It's most likely about Kurt Cobain and selling out. Courtney tears it up with screaming and searing vocals. I love the first side of Hole's previous album "Live Through This" but then I think it takes a slight dip. "Celebrity Skin" does not take a dip and is my favorite Hole album. It accomplishes exactly what they tried to do and is one of the best albums of the late 90's.

Never expected it to be so melodic... Loved it.

Nice album. Good songs. I really liked it.

Pleasantly surprised by this. Catchy melodic grunge-rock. Interestingly, the vocal delivery in the slower songs reminded me of Lucinda Williams.

good album; this is one of the top albums that i had not heard previously

I liked this a lot. Never listened before because: Courtney Love Jingly jangly indie guitars rather than grunge, so that appeals to me as an indie fan, but also quite melodic, especially Malibu.

No doubt this benefits from a hefty nostalgia bonus - probably my fave Hole album! Fave track - the title track maybe? It's a fantastic album opener. "Northern Star" is great too....

Trigger warning. This is a perfect album. With the exception of Smells Like Teen Spirit every track on this album is better than anything Nirvana recorded.

I was already a fan of Celebrity Skin and Malibu, but this album outperformed my expectations. I really like it when Courtney uses her voice differently, like the power pop sound of Awful or the Kurt inflection of Northern Star. When I read that Billy Corgan had contributed to this album I knew I'd like it. This album is a gem. One question. Surely Boys On The Radio is an REM track? The lyrics are a bit too direct, but the sound comes straight from Athens, Georgia.

The vibe from the end of the 90's is nice !

Incredible late riot grrl/alt rock/power pop with so much energy and attitude and an absolute joy to listen through the whole way

☺️

4.6 - I had no idea that this was courtney love and i'm really glad I didn't before I listened to it. I loved it and thought it was such a solid great album. Great vocals and felt like it was a mix of so many great bands. 100% going to listen to going forward. Separating the art from the artist here I think cos doing heroin when you're pregnant is really fucked

Really enjoyed this one! A pleasing combination of grungy female vocals and rock instrumentals. Can definitely sense some of Courtney Love's hurt trying to escape through her lyrics Had only heard "Celebrity Skin" before - thank you generator for unlocking the rest of the record for me!

I wasn't into much music in the 90s (too young), but still this album feels like a great reminder of that era. This album had everything I wanted and more. Angry, badass, rocking female vocals and lyrics, great guitarwork, and a feeling of nostalgia. Hole didn't have enough albums for my taste; I wish they had stuck around longer, but I understand why they didn't. Some of my favorite grunge (even though this is less grungy than the previous albums) out there.