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Celebrity Skin
Hole
1998
Wikipedia
Reviews
Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!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.
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.
Meh. I prefer "Live Through This". To me, it has a more raw feel and grunge was about "raw".
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'
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.
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
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.
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.
Solid but middle of the road, probably unnecessary for me to listen to prior to my ultimate demise.
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
Great Album, her voice fits great to the music and there is not a single bad song on the album
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.
Holes outstanding legacy in my opinion. Courtney Love kinda sucks but damn can she write some good music.
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
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.
Awful, Northern Star, Reasons to Be Beautiful are all excellent. Northern Star is the masterpiece I can’t believe I haven’t heard before.
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!
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.
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.
Not quite Live Through This, but it's really quite good. I respect the ability of Love and company to read the room and do a tasteful pivot from grunge to late-90s alt rock in a way that maintains an edge. Some great hooks here too. Nice!
This album starts off real strong with "Celebrity Skin" and "Awful". It meanders just a bit imo into that 90s grungy sound, and then hits back hard with "Northern Star" and "Boys on the Radio". I'm overall pleasantly surprised, I did not expect to enjoy Hole, thinking they were just another 90s grunge band.
Enjoyable, late 90's power-pop with grungey guitars and memorable hooks. I didn't pay much attention to it back in the day, but I might do it now.
I think I can admit, to my own shame, that it's likely I haven't really listened to Hole because of the patently sexist media narratives peddled about Courtney Love. Everything I heard made it seem like her music wouldn't really be worth listening to. Boy was I wrong. This is some grade A 90s alt-rock in the realm of Smashing Pumpkins, Breeders, and their ilk. It's particularly striking the way Love's lyrics about rage, desire, and inequity really speak to the unfair way she's been painted. The double standard is a damn shame, too, because this record kicks. There's some really lovely melodies and I even hear shades of Bruce Springsteen on "Boys on the Radio". Favourite songs: Awful, Northern Star, Boys on the Radio 4.5/5
This is just about the best radio alt. rock I've heard. Great melodies and lyrics from Courtney Love, all focused around California life. I haven't heard much Hole before this record, so I didn't have any expectations other than maybe this would be a grunge record, but I was pleasantly surprised at the big pop production of "Celebrity Skin". Fav Tracks: "Awful" and "Malibu"
To my surprise I really enjoyed this album. Not sure what I expected from my first listen to Hole but it is a great album. It seems much more power pop focused when I expected grunge. The tight harmonies brings a 70's focus to this album, it reminds me somewhat of some of girl some of the great girl bands and Fleetwood Mac vocals. The overall feel is more mainstream. It has peaked my interest to delve further into their earlier albums. Favorite Songs: Boys on the Radio, Awful.4 stars
What a powerful pair of opening tracks! You can really hear Billy Corgan's influence in this album. All the tracks work together as an album; feel like this could easily be the soundtrack to my life in the 90s.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, really interesting stories behind the band as well. Courtney Love -- front woman of the band -- was married to Kurt Cobain, but who influenced who?
I really, really enjoyed this album. I recognize a couple of the tracks, and they really fit together in a lovely vibe.
A more influential album that I had realized - punk/grunge making way for the neopunk pop sound that would continue through the 2000s.
Some high-mark grunge rock on this album. Courtney Love may not be at the level her husband was, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t rocking out in her own right. This album has Fuck You attitude all over it, and the singles are great to boot.
I was surprised to see 2 albums from Hole on this list. I never though Hole was that great of a band (still don't) and I don't think they made much of an impact on music. But there are so legitimately good songs on here...
I am glad that we were prompted to revisit this album. When it came out I was an angsty teen who had an axe to grind and perceived slights where there were none. I had a lot of, somewhat, unjustified notions about Courtney Love and immediately dismissed this album as selling out for its slick pop sound. Additionally, I had heard that she fucked over her long time drummer during the recording so I refused to give it anymore attention than the two hits on the radio constantly forced me to. My feelings about Courtney Love as a human being have not changed at all and, perhaps, have calcified but, though often disingenuous, her lyrical abilities are undeniable and I have grown to like the sound. I am not all that comfortable giving this 4 stars, but I am rating it after having already listened to the next days album and this is a hell of a lot more enjoyable than the Rolling Stones album which, spoiler, will be getting a 3.
Hole is a great band. Each song on this album is great. Great vocals, melody, and lyrics. Great alt. rock entry.
From the satirical look at the cult of celebrity to orgasms and rehabilitation clinics - and that's just in the first four songs. Courtney Love really knows how to get the world bopping without paying too much attention to the lyrics. It is a testament to the alt-rock-pop sounds throughout this album. Overall a listen that takes you back to the sounds of high school teen movies from the very late 90s and very early 00s. Best: Malibu; Petals Worst: Dying
Didn't know Courtney Love was actually a good musician. Power pop with post-grunge sound. You can tell she had an artistic vision with most of these songs, utilizing experimental sounds and techniques that I don't think are complete but prevent this album from having a reptitive sound which could be common among most power pop albums. The catchy songs are on the first side, but that doesn't make the second side any less impactful. Great vocals and great backing sounds that make this an enjoyable experience.
It's so good to listen to an album that sounds like the band really enjoyed when it was recorded. I'm really not sure if they were really into it, but the album sounds like they were. "Hole" is a band that I knew very broadly and, because of the 2 albums on this list (until now) I'm on the way to becoming a fan
Went down the rabbit hole about the drummer. Love the whole album forgot how heartbreaking it is.
shame i never really listened to hole much earlier than this as the whole way through i was thinking about courtney love smothering alan partridge in chocolate mousse. some good some bad. its better than a 1 hit wonder album so that deserves commendation because they do have one mega hit and not much else. the album is 80% listenable on its own merit. Mousse from a bowl is very nice, but to put it on a person is demented.
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.
This is a good album. Some great punk inspired guitar rock. The songs are a bit generic sounding and the tempos are pretty consistent from song to song. But the songs are good and the melodies are pleasant and enjoyable, and fit my ear. 4 🌟
Though not as explosive as their previous album, Celebrity Skin shoes that Hole was one of best rock bands of the late 1990s. Courtney Love’s vocals are as amazing as ever and the music is solid.
A bit poppy for me but title track and Petals were good. Also can hear similarity to Nirvana.
Extremely well-produced, competent album. The A-side was pleasant to listen to but didn't really make my ears perk up, while the second half became much, much stronger. On balance, not exactly patchy, but neither is it forgettable nor excellent. Solid 3.4-3.5. I would go gaga over a similar album that kept the sonic experimentation up for the whole length.
That sort of ok if semi-bland mid to late 90s American rock that you would find in every teen movie/tv series of the time. Nothing awful, nothing great. The kids hanging outside Todds in their black hoodies and pink hair would love it
I don't think a list of 1001 albums for requisite listening before death genuinely needs 2 hole albums but there it is. My comments on the prior one are fine for this one too.
Pas vraiment ecoute, pas tro0 mon style et on dirait que ca vient d’une autre epoque. 3
“Celebrity Skin” by Hole (1998) There’s a lot of pain, frustration, anxiety, and writer’s block in these lyrics, as if Courtney Love just wants to get it over with. Here we have a superior poetic intellect that doesn’t quite succeed In reaching its potential. As a lead singer, Courtney Love’s approach to pitch is to execute lazy looping slurs, hopeful that the correct note is in there somewhere. It usually is. But I wouldn’t want to listen to this voice everyday. If I were forced to, I’d probably end up shooting myself. Very good use of rhythm electric guitar effects (chorus, sustain) that help stabilize an otherwise marginal performance. Very good drum work by Patty Schemel (or whoever). Nice production elements make some tracks rise above the barely listenable. This is competent rock, but not a classic. 3/5
Pleasant enough, but aside from a few tracks that caught my ear there is nothing here that is drawing me back.
Immeasurably better than the other Hole album we had, they are a lot more melodic and less shout.
I didn’t realize how many times I’ve thought “it’s too early for that dress” about someone over the course of my life. I liked this a lot more than I remember liking it at the time it came out.
A fun girl rock album. Great ripping guitars and angsty vocals. It didn't keep my interest the whole way through, but there's some good stuff on here. Favorite song: Celebrity Skin
Well polished production and a very accessible, poppy, sound, make this a decently enjoyable listen. The tracks I have lukewarm feelings towards, are those that go aggressively heavy on the guitars and drown out a more subtle and pleasurable sound . It just goes too heavy on the teenage-angst that I am not keen on, but there are enough extremely catchy tracks that I have trouble getting out of my head. When it's more mid-tempo, with great hooks and a thin layer of aggression, I find myself enjoying this record. Standout tracks are Awful, Malibu and Petals. 3/5.
Mostly it was boring. The first two songs, however, left me wanting more. Celebrity Skin and Awful have been stuck in my head since I first heard them a few days ago. Awful feels like the perfect mix of angst from Nirvana and the production value of Smashing Pumpkins. For that, I'm rating the album a three just because I love these two songs so much. Otherwise, I find the songs to be boring and just more nineties songs. Highlights: 1, and 2.
First half be some playing need for speed on the xbox when your parents arent home vibes, second half has more variation but it gets grating towards the end. Solid album tho
Listening to this, I got the feeling that it’s time we revisit the narrative around Courtney Love and start giving, because in hindsight, a lot of the flack she took around Cobain’s death seems fairly misogynistic now, and this album shows she really was a unique female voice in alternative rock. That being said, the album feels a little of its time now, with a lot of stop-start, quiet-loud, glitzed-up grunge dynamics. The “wall of guitars sound” production also made it feel samier than it provably needed to.
The core of this album is made up of songs, starting with Celebrity Skin and Awful, that repeat the same pattern: soft melodicism over a male beat and melodramatic riffs. (6/10) Favourite Tracks: Celebrity Skin, Malibu
Courtney gives us a post-grunge/pop album and the singles are absolute bops."Celebrity Skin" appropriately soundtracked the opening sequence to EA's NHL Rock The Rink on the PS1 (really underrated game btw). "Malibu" and "Aweful" are both pretty damn catchy. The last half was a bit dull though. Given it's Canada Day as I type this and Melissa Auf der Maur is slappin da bass on here...its getting a generous 🌟🌟🌟
This album is good-ish. The inclusion of Malibu, which is a song that I absolutely adore, brings the score up. Hole goes pop-ish. But Malibu is fantastic. Malibu.
This album had some good tunes and an overall pleasant feel. I liked the grungy feeling it gave me.
Decent punk/grunge/pop album. A couple snoozers but mostly solid. I do quite like Love's voice. Lara says "I didn't particularly care for it".
90'er alt rock. Til tider noller tekstunivers. Komposition og motiver ret fine. Use once and destroy er god. Meget blandet oplevelse ellers. Bliver nogle gange lidt for meget soundtrack til emotionel amerikansk teenagefilm. Men satme også nogle numre med go' geddar!
This Hole album reminds me of my freshman college roommate. She really liked Courtney Love. I, however, have never been able to separate this artist from the work, and Love has always seemed like a garbage human.
This is another album that, while I've never previously listened to it as a whole (pun intended), I have a hard time giving it unbiased consideration. My memories of this album when it was released were (A) seeing Celebrity Skin on TRL and (B) hearing the media blast Courtney Love for using her husband's death to gain fame. Even then I was a little grossed out by that description and I've never been fond of defining women by their relationships with men. On the flip side, Courtney Love's reputation precedes her and it's hard not to see her as at least a tid bit on the difficult side. All that said, I tried to give the music an impartial listen and tried to pay attention to the lyrics. My conclusions? Celebrity Skin is still a banger. Courtney Love has a shit singing voice. And this music almost certainly inspired bands that I enjoyed in the early aughts, but I found this album overall dull.
Not much here imo. Kind of just a generic post-punk alternative album. I think it starts off strong, but just doesn't keep it going for all of the album.
This is super 90s but I don't mind that. It's probably not going to my regular rotation but it's not bad at all.
Power-pop is what killed heavy guitar music by making it refined enough to be popular and paving the way for all the post-grunge nickelback music we loved when we were teenagers. Compared to the early Hole albums this one is way lighter... and, oh my god, I hate the stillborn almost sample-like production.
This is Hole's third album, their most popular one, and the last one before the band parted ways 4 years later. It's an alternative rock album from the 90's so it's pretty "grungy," but Hole also went with a more mainstream alternative sound. The title track became a number 1 hit single and the album was certified platinum just a few months after release. I thoroughly enjoyed all of this album and am shocked I've never heard of this band or their songs before. It is a nostalgic look back at 90's alternative music.
Didn't mind it actually. Courtney Love has always struck me as the kind of person who you would catch flash frying roadkill and raw dog food on the floor of your dad's garage at 4am in an attempt to woo him into sucking on her nipples for half an hour.
Not bad actually. Not a fan of Hole per se, but it was more listenable than I expected.
I like but don’t love this album. A little more pop than Hole was in their earlier albums, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Couple of GREAT songs, but some filler, too.
I can definitely hear Billy Corgan in this album. This is pretty angsty, very feminine pop rock. It's a very 90s sound, something one could have listened to on the MTV
First song is the best and most recognizable for me. The rest of the album is more “generic” late 90s. It’s fine but pretty skippable. I’ll be generous with a 3.
Not bad. Punk rock always gets a little stale for me after a few songs, but this album does do a good job of switching up the sound of each song, instead of each just being a wall of guitars. 5/10
,,celebrity skin" starts with energy (eletric guitar) and nice female vocal, you can feel kinda 90`s/2000`s vibe ,,awful" cool rock female vocals, also has energy, familiar vibe ,,hit so hard" calmer(?) nice drumps in the background, like u can hear instruments ,,malibu" i like the voice here, i think i like it the most as far ,,reason to be beautifull" strong guitar, still liked the previous one more, vacals good, and i like the moments when eletric guitar goes quaieter ,,dying" nice beginning, the beat/drumps gives a vibe, a little diferent than the previous ones, less energetic music lines and vocal. i like it. ,,use once & destroy" starts good, sometimes gets a nice vibe and deeper energy ,,nothern star" without that energetic guitar in the background you focus more on the voice. i liked it definitely calmer, (sometimes the voice rise) ,,boys on the radio" i like the vibe, i kinda liked it more than some of them from before, myb i`ll came back to this ,,heaven tonight" i think i like this too (?) not over energetic ,,playing your song" more energy that you can hear from the drumps and the strong vocal. after 1:30 to 2nd minute it got cool ,,petals" good beginning i like it. i feel like its just not my thing, from the firts track has a strong vibe 90`s/2000`s (like, bc it`s album from 1998) that is not my favourite, i prefer older rock/alternative music. the female voices with that eletric guitar in the background is kinda cool tho. i think my favourite would be,,dying" but also liked ,,malibu", ,,boys on the radio" and ,,petals", it wasn`t hard or unpleasant to listen but i don`t think i will go back to this album a lot (or not at all). just not my vibe.i had an impreesion that the songs here don`t really differ from each other. nothing amazed me. i wasn`t really paying attention to the text, my bad (bc spotify didn`t made lyrics there yet). i don`t have a strong opinion on this one.
Grunge är kanske min största antites, men det är inte helt värdelöst tack vare Courtney Loves röst.
i fuck with this aesthetic. the music was okay ish. it sounds good i guess but i cant get into it.
Ripping opener title track, then downhill from there. Often mediocre and dreary. I remember quite liking 'Live through this', their debut, but in this they see, to have swapped energy and personality for production values. The lyrics are still pointed and bitter but a lot of the music, especially in the middle parts, is just bland.
It's a well-suited title... There's a special cardinal sin allocated to counter-culture bands who sell out. This album, especially for the first 4 tracks, feels a lot like Hole decided to throw in their chips in the Grunge/Punk scene in favour of stadium-friendly pop rock. Hole are wearing that superstar skin here for sure, but it doesn't fit and it doesn't suit. It does pick up considerably in the middle, to be fair; Reasons to be Beautiful is a pretty good tune. On this, they finally get to the grunge, and it showcases a pretty good lyrical and vocal performance from Love. I'd say it's the best track on the album, and they know it - comes in at over 5 minutes which almost breaks a law in Grunge/Punk. It nearly starts to drag, but just about gets away with it. Enjoyed this. Dying starts off strong too, with another interesting and surprisingly understated vocal performance from Love. Pretty cool rhythmic beat in the background, and it's a pretty solid track until it reverts to stadium content in the last minute and a bit. Use Once and Destroy is OK too - again, they're at their best at their Grungy roots, but this song is trying too hard to hit stardom. And I actually really like the guitar riff and string arrangements on Northern Star. Given the opening, I'll admit these 4 tracks pleasantly surprised me. But it's back to naff on Heaven Tonight. Really not good... The riff on Playing Your Song is cool, pretty spacey effects thrown over it and the song is heavy as balls. Nothing special though. The last few tracks are somewhere in the middle - feels like Hole had kind of lost a spark somewhere, and didn't know how to go back and dig it out, or drive on and create something new.
(Un)regrettably, my opinion of Love never allowed me to appreciate this album. Some great hooks, though. My loss(?)...
2 stars. I think Kurt Cobain killed himself because he had to listen to this…. It’s actually not that bad but why is it on this list? The lyrics are bland, the music is not interesting enough to stand out, and Courtney’s voice isn’t good
Late 90s moaning. Music to listen to on a wet weekend with a girl who wears bowling shoes and a ballerina dress. Best Tracks: Celebrity Skin; Awful; Malibu
I remembered really liking this album when it came out. There was a lot of talk of the "softer" Hole and about Billy Corgan writing on the album. Revisiting it now I'm less impressed by it. I'd say the singles hold up but the rest of the album is so so.
It felt like I was suffocating my ears with nonsense. It's just guitars playing chords with a drum set and sometimes a bass. And there's a singer there too. There's no substance in the album. The only songs I enjoyed were the acoustic ones, and it's because it was only the singer contributing to the mediocrity.
Kolejna dziura na liscie, jak zawsze nie zawodzi, mialkosc tego albumu jest nawet wieksza niz na live throught this, oba albumy dziela 4 lata roznicy, a czas ten nie byl zmarnowany przez bande, ktora odeszla od grania garazowego i punkerskiego darcia mordy, na rzecz alternatywnego rokowania w najbardziej popowym odcieniu, pojawiaja sie nawet chorkowania, sklad bandy pozostal niezmienny, ale tym razem kto inny pomogl w pisaniu songow, bo pan kobajn juz dawno gryzl ziemie, to na pomoc pani courtney przyszedl kolejny kuk, tym razem byl to billy corgan, znany chocby z the smashing pumpkins, nie wiem z ktorej strony celebrity skin ma miec w sobie cos unikalnego, jakosciowego, artystycznego, ze znalazl sie na liscie, ale wydaje mi sie, ze autor listy musial byc mocnym fangejem bandy lub kolejnym kukiem od love, tym razem to juz chyba ostatni raz zegnam sie z hole, bo trzeci album grupy juz nie osiagnal znaczacego sukcesu komercyjnego, no ale wydany ponad dekade po ostatnim, wiec to album kombekowy raczej, a z takim brzmieniem ciezko o kombek w tak zmieniacej sie nurcie muzyki popularnej, na plejce laaduje kawalek napisany przez pana erlandsona, ktory jest jedynym meskim pierwiastkiem w tej babskiej bandzie, to jest northern star
Boring, flat. A lesser album than the other hole album on the list, no idea why it's on here.
Fuck Courtney Love. Billy Corgan wrote all the good songs on this album, and when I say all, I mean just the one.
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.