Reviews (page 5 of 10)
Hole are underrated - which is odd as they are pretty famous. Scuzzy 90s. My second favourite album by them … but still low 4/5
So glad that you could make it into the 1001. This is radio friendly Hole, and a great sounding album.
There are some tremendous, monstrous singles on Celebrity Skin. I like that pop rock from the late 90s was fronted by tough, uncompromising figures like Courtney Love. People wanted some rough and tumble from their radio music and happy to oblige, Hole delivers several smacks to the face. The first and last thirds of this LP go especially hard. Love is a powerful singer, and one of a dwindling number of chaotic rock stars. While I would not want to return to that era, you can’t deny that frontwomen like Love have a certain aura of cool about them.
Low 4 for me on Hole, really enjoyed all of this, great production, good hooks, the whole lot
It’s been odd having been around for Courtney’s various transformations and whatnot, seeing her barely make it through a Hole festival set, just...not great...and then younger gens seize on her as An Icon, usually in the context of this album. Which, when it came out, just seemed to be one part of the Courtney Love Experience, second or third to her acting career and time in the press. If anything, working with former beau Billy Corgan seemed to further substantiate the idea that she couldn’t really write her own material and that Kurt likely played a similar role in the creation of Live Through This. Whatever the authorship, Celebrity Skin is a deliberately radio-friendly slick piece of rock craft, and that enough turned me off; as much as I may have not ever bought Love’s persona, I thought Live Through This got the balance of ferocity and melody right, with a throughline of hurt. Celebrity Skin, otoh, was all in on being a Rock Star. Nearly 30 years later, my read is largely the same, tempered some by distance from the indie rock sellout moralizing that informed much of the music experience in the late 90s. I still can’t hear it as anything other than an attempt to sell a whole lot of records and buttress Love’s quest for idolatry. Is it any good as the product of that? Somewhat? But it’s so anonymous, when trying to recall various songs I get them mixed up with material from Garbage, Bush, and Veruca Salt. It’s no wonder that when it came to folks playing at rock star games, I favoured britpop at this time. At least they were honest about it.
I own this one
Good stuff
Goood
Surprisingly compelling at times but it never quite hit its stride for me. It felt like there was emotion bubbling away under the surface, either coming out in blasts of moody grunge but at other moments it was a bit morose. But there was enough going on to keep it interesting and a decent entry.
I guess a kind of folk grunge but has a heavy dose of pop about it too which confuses things slightly. The "jolly" pattern of pop emerges and is a little too intrusive for my liking overall. The theme is around celebrity and the "rot" that comes with it but that doesn't always translate. It's quite telling when you get a grungy injection with say "Playing Your Song" and prior a delight of a raw expression in "Norther Star" but songs like "Boys on The Radio" could just as easily be something you hear as a soundtrack to a sitcom like Friends. Just doesn't hit as hard as it could and it's a shame they didn't blast the folk grunge in my opinion. It's this glimmer that makes it worthy and interesting as a concept. Plenty of interest and merit on balance though and framed by this excellent female vocal expression. Makes we want to see what else they did. Didn't know I knew them but instantly recognised the opening track.
This was a pleasant surprise. A very well executed, albeit fairly middle-of-the-road grunge album. Surprising only because they are a nineties band and I had never heard of them. I enjoyed the female vocals, making a refreshing change in a male dominated genre. There were no stand out songs, but it still managed to keep me engaged for the full 50 minutes. It's a simple formula, but it's well recorded and is very listenable. I'm surprised that this didn't make it onto the Tony Hawks Pro Skater soundtrack. On the fence with the rating but given some benefit of the doubt, this is a low four.
I can't say this album is actually bad in any particular way: The songwriting is fine, with some cool riffs here and there, and the studio crew put some A+ work on display here with the production/mixing. Unfortunately, I can't say anything in particular really wowed me? I'm just not the exact target demo for this late 90s grungy alt. rock, I guess. 7.5/10.
Strong sound but it doesn't really innovate past the halfway point. Favourite track: Celebrity Skin
8.5/10 Really good production and vocals all around, will definitely come back to it.
Hmmmm. Never was a massive fan, perhaps early albums have a bit more drive in them. The commercial placement and production, diffuses what was a great sounding band. It was hard to get through
Nothing special, it's okay
One good song. Not even written by the main songwriter.
Smash
The kind of rock even haters of the style could tolerate, for better or worse. With its clean and non-challenging sound, its catchiness-by-virtue-of-predictability and Courtney Love's competent but not very characterful voice, you could have fooled me that some of these tracks are straight from a 'The Victorious Cast goes Rock!' album.
Huh. I don’t like punk and I don’t particularly like 80s power pop groups. This seems like a mix of those things… that I liked? I’m kind of surprised by this. Nothing too extreme but especially towards the front half, there was some good stuff.
There were parts of this album that sounded like what I had wanted the Go-Go's album to sound like. Walks the fine line of pop tunes and grinding alt-rock bleakness mostly with success. However, I'm not sure how often I'll be returning to this glorious Hole.
I appreciate it the grungy/pop punk take on a California album, and it does a good job of melding glitz and glamour with seedy underbelly, but I just don't love grunge or pop punk. 2.5
Gostei mais da primeira e da última...
Title track was catchy, the rest didn't stand out
I anticipated this to be a rough listen, but actually ended up ok.
I always like Hole more than I think I will and less than I probably should. They have a good sound and some interesting lyrics. I'm bouncing between 3 and 4 about midway through with Dying pushing me higher. Naw, it's just a 3.
#100 over here!! Celebrity skin, my second Hole album! I'm about 10% done! It's crazy to think it's gonna take years to complete. Years!!! I wish I could, like, ask for a new album when my album of the day is one I already know! I might have gotten through this in a year or a year and a half! I've got shit to do ya know!!! I have not heard Live Through This too much in my life besides through this list exercise, this seems to be more pop than that one, which would probably be a bad thing for me if not for the fact that I'm not into grunge! I like plenty of 90s alternative rock grunge adjacent albums, but nothing too grunge really, and Live Through This wasn't quite Rid Of Me let's say, still good thought. ... Celibrity skin is a really good song and I like it so far! Like the dynamics of Dying! The vocals are great on this one too! Oh I've just learned that there is a YMG cover on Live Through This, I did not notice, Colossal Youth that's an album that should be on here isn't it? Malibu I did not care too much about, Northen Star and Boys on the Radio I much prefer, I'd have chosen one of those over Malibu for a single personally. Boys on the Radio is so power pop, it's like a Cheap Trick song or something. It is good, it is good! Heaven Tonight I do not like, worst on the record for me! Petals a great choice for a closer! Ok so 3 1/2 maybe? Idk? It's the100th so I'll round it up this time!
Always preferred the other Hole album since it's more raw and punkier. The album has more pop sensibilities. Either way a fine listen.
This was fine. I've heard some Hole songs before (including the singles from this album) but never a full album before. I think I had the impression they were more grungy, and there were some songs on here where I could feel that influences in the composition of the tunes. Production-wise, though, it felt very crisp and shiny. Not a bad thing, but I imagine this was an album where they decided to "level up" in some way, or take the next step in their progression as a band. I wish Courtney's singing voice was like %15 better. When she's belting lyrics out, she sounds great, but there are a lot of times where she just sounds... bored of this project. I guess a lot of grunge singers probably did too, and I'm trying to remember that it's easy to shit on Love and trying to be fair in my analysis. I generally like her, but it just didn't hit consistently for me here. It sounded nice, and I enjoyed it alright, but I probably won't listen to it again. I'd check out the earlier albums, though.
it's so 90's. As someone who was born in 1997, this was music that would come on the radio or teenagers above me would play this and everyone would jam out. It's punk, it's a bit rebellious, and it wants you to headbang. It's not my taste, but I can dig it for a day. Also, she was married to Kobain??? RIP
Favourite song: Northern Star
Great punk album
Such an incredible album with no skips.
++: Hit So Hard, Use Once & Destroy, Heaven Tonight +: Awful +-: Celebrity Skin, Malibu, Dying, Playing Your Song, Petals -: Reasons to Be Beautiful, Northern Star, Boys on the Radio 4,0/10
Du plaisir sur la 1ere pièce, ensuite c’est un style qui ne me rejoins plus. Un peu trop pop comme alternatif. Pas assez lourd et/ou rechercher comme musique.
This was unexpected. I don’t hate it like I expected to. It’s very slick. I’m sure the grunge heads hated the fuck out of it. It’s just a commercial rock record, but it’s got some moments for sure. The bummer is it goes on too long. Those fucking late 90s’ and early 00s’ LPs that go on too long. Cut 3 or 4 tracks and it’d be better.
Some good songs, but i wouldn't say it's a no-skip album. (def would revisit to see if my opinion changes) I didn't really like it cause it's just not my style, but if you're into that freaky friday, grundgy, singing slightly off key in your mom's garage type vibe, then this is a 100 % for you
love itttt chadore😼
This Hole album was definitely more well received by me. My previous album by them was "Living Through This" and I thought it was absolutely abhorrent music, with it earning the one of the few 1 stars I've given out up until this point, being 276 albums deep and all it's quite impressive and was exceptional in being horrendous. But this one is a ways better than the previous one. Even though this one is poppy, it's honestly not half bad. I'd previously liked and known "Malibu" so I suspected hat the Celebrity Skin album would sound a bit like "Malibu." And the suspicion was true (to an extent.) Highlight Song/s: "Celebrity Skin", "Awful" and "Malibu"
2.5/5, began with a lot of energy but when you realize half the songs sounds the same and the singing feels so dragging, I just can't I can't with this singer singing every song the same, but I guess I just don't like the style
Better, more original, than the first Hole album.
I’m not really a fan of Hole, but I went in open-minded and I didn’t hate it! So, there’s that. I don’t know what else to say except I find the music unremarkable and not sure why it’s on this list. Oh well. Standout: Reasons to be Beautiful 01-29-2026
I knew who Hole were, and the backstory, but had never listened to the music. It’s not bad. The better tracks are the less hard-rocking ones.
I've not heard of Hole before. Musically a little repetitive with little chord variation but made worse by the vocals that sounded partly stoned and mostly strained by trying to sing/shout too loud. Probably intended to make it seound heavier but to me it didn't succeed.
Have to hand it to Love for carving out her own place in music history
Holy! ‘Awful’ is a good track that rips into terrible men. ‘Malibu’, ‘Use Once and Destroy’ and ‘Northern Star’ are songs that I really enjoyed as they intensified the post-punk / alternative rock atmosphere set out in the opener ‘Celebrity Skin’. Alongside that the blunt lyrics sung by Love which speak to the experience of womanhood, depression and the idolisation of the ‘celebrities’. I enjoyed the visual imagery brought out in ‘Northern Star’ with “Charity and gratitude. They run to the pines. It's black in here blot out the sun. And run to the pines. Our misery runs wild and free And I knew, the fire and the ashes of his grace. And I wait staring at the Northern Star” To conclude this album like many others I have reviewed will enter my go to albums or self-described ‘Music Emporium’ going forward. Ratings wise this is a solid 4/5 once again. - GEMV (28.12.2026)
Can see why leant on Kurt…
This album is trash. Literal garbage.
Hole is the 90s. i <3 Courtney Love
Good one. Courtney gets a lot of hate, but I have always liked Hole.
Definition of middle of the road. It’s “fine”. One really solid song but the rest of the album all sounds the same.
8 - GOOD
אלבום נחמד, אין לי כוח לפרט יותר בשלב זה של חיי, לא אלבום מדהים מאוד
Okay
Title track is a smackdown perfect banger. Overall I think this is a great rock record. Reminded me in turns of Liz Phair and even Neutral Milk Hotel. This is not as noisy as Hole’s other two records - there’s some acquiescence to pop structures and sunny melodies that I personally think really works. I’m not surprised this is their most commercially successful endeavor. Love’s writing is sharp and her unwavering, unmistakable vocals hold it all together.
Title track is a banger, and probably kicked ass when it came out, and who didn’t have a thing for Courtney love back in the day. Sadly I wasn’t into the rest of the album, I can understand why they were big, mainly because of the whole Courtney/kurt. Personally I thought they were a one hit wonder anyway and this really consolidated it, I do like the alt rock girl band set up specially from the era, abit like no doubt and bands like that. I just think like no doubt we’re a lot better and a lot more influential than this band. Must mean nirvana will be popping up at some point atleast
Takes me back this album , well saying that I think the main singles celebrity skin and Malibu were on constant repeat when I was a wee nipper and my sister was big courtney love fan so those songs on circulation a lot on good old days of MTV As a hole …. No pun intended liked the album , as said before celebrity skin was a big hit straight off the bit your in with the big in your face power chord riff great catchy verses and choruses love the production for what it is really smashed mix reminds me of butch vig There’s a few songs that stand out in this record for me Malibu I always enjoyed again Courtney delivering some great lyrics and the blend of acoustic guitars and then into the heavy choruses on guitars really stand out on this Think my pal Joe Horner mentioned Billy Corgan helped compose this album and can tell with some of the smashing pumpkin like heavy guitars The song awful again really catchy I found and definitely delivers great hooky. Melodies carries the mood nicely Hits so hard - really like the bright guitars and how it’s been picked in the verses just nice arpeggiated chords nice catchy chorus Reasons to be beautiful - nice fat drum groove got the Dave grohl vibe going on , powerful vocals can tell corgan given some input to this , just typical Courtney love style singing she’s slightly off but that’s what makes it so raw she’s showing her hurt in her vocals and it sounds real The backing vocals stood out for me In the choruses really nice how they build up and sit underneath There’s a couple more I found really good northern star loved the instrumentation the timpani drum rolls every so often made it atmospheric some great picked acoustic guitar Love how Courtney goes up the octave for the chorus at the end Used once and destroy enjoyed the intro and Tom Tom groove like a NIN track some awesome guitar effects too I don’t want to give this a full 5 rating but think definitely worthy of a 4 , just loved it for me it’s a nostalgia trip and , really catchy rock album one of Holes Best
Dunno about celebrity skin but i definitely burned a hole in my trousers looking at this album cover with my rager
All I know of Hole is her association with Kurt and the fallouts with Dave Grohl etc. Celebrity Skin is an instantly recognisable track everyone's heard from the radio play back then, a well made pop song, it can't be denied! Notes for me: Second track well written pop too, I'd probably have more of an affinity to it if I had listened to it back in my teenage days, but this is first listen. Third track feels like Billy Corgans touch, I'd not be surprised if he's lent a hand on this one Hit so hard my favourite so far Malibu also decent with the guitar parts and cool engineering Thinking this is probably a good band I didn't give enough attention to because of all the negativity around them back then, but its a decent listen so far. Malibu into reasons to be beautiful great transition. Thoughts been put into this album as a work of art as an entire album, how tracks flow into each other Promised me has a lot of dynamic range, saves you from just walls of guitars blasting your ears off every track Use once and destroy feels middle of the road, little boring musically, funnily enough this is a track Corgan has not had his hand in, maybe the title of the track are actually instructions for what you should do with it? Northern star immediately reminds me of an REM track, like a bad cover with hints of tonight tonight by the pumpkins with its tom rolls. Overall enjoyable listen, nothing smashing it out of the park for me as a whole but thanks to the hell they had songwriting its hard to deny this has some bangers on it. I would have given it a 3 but I would bump up it to a 4 because of its influence its had, and 3/4 of the players on this record are women its influenced a lot of young girls to give this a go, but I'll stick with a 3
I was initially skeptical, perhaps even swayed by the drama surrounding Courtney Love, but Celebrity Skin completely won me over. It’s a polished that trades the unrefined noise of grunge for slick, melodic power-pop without losing the band's emotional potency and the record feels grand and cinematic, delivering undeniable hooks in tracks like "Malibu" and "Northern Star" that have aged beautifully into late 90s classics. While it’s definitely a glossier and a more radio friendly departure than their previous work, it doesn't feel like a hollow sell-out, rather, it showcases Love's sharp lyricism and commanding vocal presence in a new light. Looking back, I realise I slept on this album for too long, it’s a masterclass in alternative rock that proves Hole was much more than just a grunge footnote, earning its place as a quintessential soundtrack of its era regardless what the likes of Dave Grohl and Kat Bjelland say...
Did you like the 90's? Congrats, you'll like this album
rip kurt
Höga toppar, djupa dalar. Svag fyra
I’m sure I heard most of these songs back in ‘98, but really only recognized the title track. Really love female lead vocals, especially over grungy rock like this (had no idea this was Courtney Love until reading other reviews).. Solidly 4.25/5 almost 5 stars
Too grungy. Lol. Not my thing
Hole is pretty alright in my books.
Don't care for Courtney Love but this album is pretty good. Prolly a 3.5
Sweet spot for hole
90s sound. I enjoyed it then, but moved on. Pleasant to revisit it but that's it.
I really like this. Hole deserve to be talked about more when it comes to 90s alternative bands. Really good pop songwriting, and some of the references to Kurt hit me pretty hard. Favourite tracks: Celebrity Skin, Hits So Hard, Malibu, Reasons To Be Beautiful, Northern Star, Petals
Ok.
Good girl rock
Springt mich an, wie schon Mal gehört. Wie The Offspring oder sowas. Das ist also immer noch Grunge? Dann sind The Smashing Pumpkins auch Grunge. Finde ich jedenfalls unterhaltsamer als kürzlich das MTV-Werk ihres verstorbenen Mannes.
Mislim da ima malo boljih angry girl bendova ali i ovo je sasvim ok za slušati.
4 out of 5. This album rocks.
Girl power rock can be so epic!
Who would have thought the songs co-written by Billy Corgan would be the best? Me. I would think that.
Their earlier albums are more to my taste
I have fond memories of some of these songs but now the genre feels commercial
Listening to this album made me teenaged for fifty minutes. I listened to it and read about the band at the same time. And then I read about CL. I know what power pop is now. Kind of. John said his favourite Hole album is Live Through This. I’m listening to it now.
I focused on the tambourine on most tracks. they use them a lot. I'd like to hear billy corgan cover the songs he co-wrote. there is no reason to hear this before you die.
I think Hole is overall decent. But nothing more. I can see why they are on this list. But she still killed her husband
Better than I anticipated, less harder rock and more poppy than I expected as well. Flowed well throughout, good range of style, not as samey as expected. Not sure why I hadn't listened before. The single 'Celebrity Skin' was obviously well known but enjoyed the rest too.
Excellent 90s alt rock
that opening track
Good, solid hard rock - good music, good vocals. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
As someone who hadn't listened to much Hole ever before (partly due to ignorance and partly due to an irrational avoidance of Courtney Love), this was a very pleasant surprise. The album kicks off with a high power title track, and the great instrumentation and lyrics carry on through the rest of the album. My favorite track is probably Reasons to be Beautiful, but there are a fair few great songs on there. Hole is still a stupid name for a band, though.
Sagde til hende at hun var en wannabe og tvivlede hendes kunstneriske udtryk efter at grungen døde. LAvede med power-pop som et angreb mod medier med giftige tekster og vrede. Kan godt lide guitaren og kan godt lide vokalen og jeg kan godt lide attituden så det er rigtig fint, men heller ikke rigtig mere end fint for mig.
Raw & emotional, dare I say underrated 90s grunge album from Courtney Love & the gang.
I haven’t listen to a lot of Hole but I did enjoy most of the songs on this album. The musicianship was terrific.
I'm sure that I heard Hole back in the day, but only in a passive sort of way. This record comes off as a clearly second or third tier band. Not terrible, but there's really no reason to put this on if you have any of the better bands' albums around. Still better than I expected.
Ágætis 90s hart popp.
A bit uneven. There are some great tracks here (particularly on the A Side), but there's also quite a lot of generic-sounding filler. I'd be comfortable splitting the difference with a 3.
This was the fivest five to ever five. It’s a five, folks. Five.
Not bed
It's a fucking shame that Courtney Love isn't a super famous rock star all on her own, she's made for this
Solid record. Comes out of the gate hot, solid mid-way through, and finishes on another real high note. Takes me back to the late 90s in a fun way. Revisited to bump this up, as I've come to embrace my "enthusiast" label.
Shamed I never listened to this earlier. I’ve known about Hole for a long time but just never bothered to actually check them out. I feel like so much of their reputation nowadays is tied to Nirvana and Courtney’s relationship with Kurt Cobain but they deserve better than that
Love this album, brought me back
Liked it more than I thought I would. There’s just as much Breeders/ Belly going on (melody and 60’s vibe) as there is Mudhoney/ Nirvana.
This was better than I thought it was going to be. It was a fun listen for sure. I am not sure I would listen to it again but wouldn’t turn it off if a Hole song came on.
Pretty decent, good 90's stuff here
Me gustó, sabía quien era Courtney Love pero nunca habia averiguado sobre ella y fue grato saber que esta es su banda. Le pongo un 6/10 porque no creo reescuchar el álbum realmente a pesar de que es de mi géneros predilectos.
toll
Tenía ganas de pop rock así que vino en un momento indicado. Ya había escuchado a Hole pero aquel trabajo no me gustó tanto como este, es muy disfrutable.Me gusta mucho la escritura, tanto los temas como la manera de desarrollarlos.
You know what? I'm going to say it. Courtney Love gets way too much hate. I have seen far too much unjustified vitriol thrown her way and I know that that's been the case for over 30 years, which is unfortunate if you ask me. Is she perfect? Of course not. She's made some pretty big mistakes in her life, sure, but she's not a monster, she didn't "ruin" Hole, and most importantly of all, SHE DID NOT KILL KURT COBAIN. I can not believe that there are still people who perpetuate this disgusting myth! I'm genuinely convinced that most of the hatred for her stems from either subconscious or, more often than not, conscious misogyny. People just love to have a woman to hate on, don't they? Anyway, let's talk about the album now. This is my first time listening to Hole and I'd say I had a pretty good time. I think Courtney Love is a solid frontwoman. Her voice is good for the songs and her writing is pretty strong as well. There's songs like things about fame and love and such, and there are even a few songs that one could interpret to be about Kurt! I mean, it makes sense. Good stuff. The songs are all enjoyable. The title track at the beginning is fun. "Malibu" is very good. Pretty consistent album all throughout. I guess I should mention that Billy Corgan helped write a good couple of songs on the album. that's neat. Good thing he's not singing on the album though, am I right? Nah, I jest. I don't hate Corgan's voice as much as others do. That's kinda the theme of this review, I guess. I don't hate this as much as some do. In fact, I actually enjoyed this album quite a good deal. It's great. Decent 4/5.
Fantastic. Muscular grunge with big hooks. Courtney Love is a great frontwoman. I really enjoyed this. I should be listening to Hole way more often. This is the second album of theirs on the list, and I thought both were great.
"Celebrity Skin" is a hell of a song, and is extra great when played really loud. I'd argue that this song is maybe even worthy of a spot on a "top songs of the 90's" list. It's dynamic, it's heavy, it's incredibly catchy and memorable, and Courtney Love has an incredible voice and presence behind the mic. Maybe it's sacrilegious to say, but I can hear some Kurt in her voice when she gets a little more raw.. other people hear that too right? I also think you can hear it a little in early Foo Fighters tracks, almost like they picked up a little technique from him. "Malibu" is a nice track too, and it makes me really miss this type of rock where bands were really dynamic and had lots of guitar tone changes and vocal tone shifts. This is a good album and a really hard one to rate. I don't feel right giving it only a 3, but it does feel a little short of a 4. 3 is just way too low though, so i'm giving it a 4.
Was very pleasantly surprised by ‘Live Through This’ so curious to see how this one lands… What an opener to an album. Such a great song. Used to listen to this on repeat. Got a bit bored as the rest of the album played out. Okay enough, but just kinda standard (3.5)
One great song. One good song. Rest is fine
Not as bad as you think it might be
Very nice album.
Hole are a decent band but felt the material was a bit weak here. Felt like they were going for that big cross over hit album and it hasn't really worked 2.5*
This was one of those where I knew one of the songs - the first track - but wouldn’t have been able to guess the artist. An interesting listen.
It’s been 925 albums since I reviewed Live Through This, and here on Christmas Eve is Hole’s Celebrity Skin. I thought Live Through This was fine, and I gave it three stars, and I expect that this album probably won’t venture far from that rating. Looking at Celebrity Skin’s track listing, I only know the title track, which I think is an outstanding song. I’m not sure if the rest of this album is going to sound like “Celebrity Skin,” but if it does, I think I’m going to be in for a treat! I thought Celebrity Skin was really good, despite its sound was a bit of a departure from Live Through This. However, I thought the more pop-forward sound worked really well for Hole, creating an album filled with excellent guitar work, solid production, and some incredibly catchy hooks and riffs. I was a bit shocked to see that “Celebrity Skin” was the leadoff track to this album, because its sound was such a departure from the grunge sound of Hole’s previous album. I thought the title track would be an outlier on this album, and having an outlier as the lead-off track would be an odd choice. However, it wound up being the perfect opening song, because it really established the direction this album would take. From there, “Awful” and “Hit So Hard” were also really great. All three of these songs had some beautifully melodic guitar parts. Emotionally, all three of these songs brought something different to the table, but the overall sound of this album still suited these three songs really well. Billy Corgan’s influence on this album was really easy to pick up on, but this album never felt like his influence and work on it took over. I really loved the emotionally vulnerable lyrics on this album as well. Before starting this project, I didn’t know much about Courtney Love, other than tabloid stories and cruel middle-school jokes about how she caused Kurt Cobain’s death, but Hole’s two albums on this list have made me see how talented she is as a musician and lyricist. Those first three songs were easily my favorite part of the album, but “Malibu,” “Use Once & Destroy,” and “Northern Star” were very good as well. Overall, Celebrity Skin is a really good album, full of great guitar playing and some really great songwriting too.
I didn't know Hole was the major musical basis of Courtney Love's career, having only heard of her name being an icon in the rock scene through the 90s. "Celebrity Skin" is a great track and I can see why she garnered her reputation as a musician. A pretty solid grundge rock album.
Use Once & Destroy going triple platinum in my room fr
Isn't it interesting how none of the Gen-Z Disney Channel refugees who ape Courtney Love's aesthetic ever, ever, *ever* want their actual *voices* to sound like hers? How they never want to go to any of the downright *ugly* places she goes vocally, at great cost to herself? Don't let the glossy Michael Beinhorn production fool you here - inside the candy shell there's pure poison. The handwringing over the sonic slickness at the time was, and remains, misplaced - this album rocks plenty hard, and Love herself has always been clear about the El Lay influences she felt, from Nicks and Buckingham on down. Nothing here stops her from writing some of the most haunting lyrics of her era ("Love hangs herself/ With her bedsheet in her cell" is an all-time great opening line). The truth is that everybody wants to remake this album but nobody *really* wants to remake this album - nobody wants to really go where she's been, describing utter physical and emotional and spiritual abandonment on "Northern Star" so matter-of-factly, like she's giving directions to someone from out of town, before she finally goes up an octave and shreds her vocal cords like only she can. Well, could - she can't anymore, having given everything she had to the music her critics always claimed wasn't hers to begin with. Better to burn out than fade away indeed.
I was a sophomore in college when Kurt died and the anti Courtney movement was in the highest point. I didn't like Live Through This at the time and haven't revisited in 30 years. I've never heard this one. Surprised at the vocal complexities and orchestrations. Really enjoyable listen and even threw a couple on some lists. Good, good stuff.
Celebrity Skin is the third and final studio album from Hole, Courtney Love's band. The album is generally well-regarded, and is the band's most successful work, both critically and commercially. It's a move away from the grunge/noise sound of their earlier work, towards a more produced, alt-rock sound. The album includes two of the band's biggest singles, "Celebrity Skin" and " Malibu." These songs feature Love's distinct voice, and the saturated guitars typical of 90's alt-rock. It is a collection of good songs, but a collection of fairly limited range.
This is a perfect example of why each artist should get one record on the list. Celebrity Skin is a very good 90s pop record. It’s also a fraction as good as Live Through This, an exceptional 90s rock album. So why do we have multiple albums by so many artists? It speaks to the narrow view of the authors imo. These are the artists we like and we must include every one of their good records. Sigh. It’s a good record but it doesn’t belong on this list
This is a pretty good album from Hole that’s stood the test of time well, still sounding great after all these years. It’s more alternative rock, moving away from the grunge of their earlier stuff. You even get some songwriting input from Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, which adds something special.
This is good! Generally solid throughout, maybe with a bit of a dip in the middle (?) but for the most part these are some great, upbeat rock tracks with some good melodies and hooks. I like the punky vocals and I like the guitars, and you can't deny the title track in particular is an absolute tune. 3.5 rounded up.
Good album but overstayed its welcome a bit
rock, melodiös gespielt. nichts ausserordentliches.
Solider Gitarrensound
Decent listen.
A good album, I liked Celebrity Skin, Awful and Use Once & Destroy the most.
More fun than I expected.
Good.
Great album. 5
I liked that way more than I thought I would - more polished and less grungy than I expected.
Good, not great
Only two of the album touched me. The others are just normal and little boring. But I can feel the California style from this band.
хоул это пас. не помню сколько альбомов мне уже ставили, но возможно был момент когда я сказала что она на удивление по нотам поёт - вот тут всё-таки нет, намеренно под нотами, такое я один раз могу послушать
Nice
Album No. 0093 on my list. Hole is one of those bands I’ve never listened to much, even though according to my demographic background I would kinda match the target audience of the band. Maybe it’s the whole Courtney Love thing, I don’t know. Anyways, I’ve known the title track before (and unconsciously a few other songs) but “Celebrity Skin” was a rather fresh album for me. I actually enjoyed listening to it! It’s solid grungy rock, well produced, powerful. It was actually much better than expected (again possibly due to the whole Courtney Love thing). Not all tracks were top notch, but most of them are pretty solid and there are some very good ones on this. In particular: “Celebrity Skin” (as already mentioned), “Malibu”, “Reasons To Be Beautiful”, and “Use Once And Destroy”. Good one! 4/5 stars.
Yeah, ts shit is good. Really enjoyable, Listened to it twice in a row. I always have a weak for some good rock. Prob like a 4/5.
I enjoyed this more than "Live through this", but besides the title track, nothing really stuck with me. Melissa Auf Der Maur's first solo album left a much more lasting impression on me than this ever could, for some reason.
<3
O did not.loatem to this album when it came out except for the lead single which was on MTV all the time. I have to rethink my opinion of Courtney Love because this is a really well done and musically varied album. I look forward to the other Hole album on the list.
Really solid album but I don’t think I like it as much as its predecessor. There are a few killer songs and the rest of them aren’t bad either. I enjoy the album cover as well. Rating: 4.3
MALIBU! I F wit this. 7.4/10, banger banger banger album. not the best album thus far. but I think the one i was most surprised by? I think I heard celebrity skin and thought "oh yeah these guys" without realising just how strong their back catalogue was. anyways. deffs one for future me to come back to.
First song is great. The rest is fine.
Gonna listen to a lot of these tracks much more. MALIBU and CELEBRITY SKIN are properly fantastic and more well know, but glad to listen to the remainder of the album. PLAYING YOUR SONG was delightfully cool.
Good enough to run back another time. Between a 3-4 so I’ll give it the nod
Definitely a cool album. I had never actually heard of anything by Courtney Love (constantly got Hole confused with Garbage - common mistake I'm sure) but this was better than I had expected
Enjoyed this from the jump. Great vocals and music.
Once again this generator has generated a mediocre record from the 1990s that might have reasonably stayed put.
The best of the Hole bunch, which isn’t saying much. Honestly, can’t we all admit they got their fame from the notoriety of the famous hubby? Otherwise, average grunge band. Courtney is the weakest link; voice is crap, and her guitar work is shit. Have you seen the vid of her guitar isolated during a live performance? They basically turn her guitar off. She can’t play. Good thing their shows are loud; hides her glaring flaws. Yes, I was a kid from Seattle. Saw Nirvana and Hole live. Kurt killed himself blocks from my home. Listened to Courtney at the fountain as she sobbed about failing to save him from himself. Poor little Courtney. The rest is painful history. Courtney’s a tramp who capitalized on Kurt’s death, then continued to fuck her way up the ladder. Yuck. Can’t like this. It’s got her stink on it.
Enjoyable
= the Beatles Team Kathleen Hanna
This is a good but fairly generic 90s rock album. The songwriting is a step above the numerous crappy one-hit wonders of the era, but not as good as Alice in Chains or Soundgarden. They sound like a female-led Foo Fighters on this album. I am partial to this genre, but this album just lacks the "X factor" that makes a truly great band.
Again, an artist whose albums I have never listened to. I think it's a pretty decent album, it doesn't totally grab me but I do like it. I think I only recognized one song on this album.
Ah, the 90s, the era where everybody thought that all you needed to make a record was a bunch of crunchy power chords and a layer of glossy production. *Celebrity Skin* follows that formula to the letter, resulting in generic and monochromatic record, utterly devoid of memorable hooks, riffs, or really any distinct sonic character at all.
I guess unfairly maligned as "Mrs Kurt" there's some really excellent stuff here. I'm not sure I like it quite enough to go for the full-5, but the opening to "Celebrity Skin" (the track and indeed, the album) means a minimum 4 alone. "Oh make me over" bwang, bwang, bwang, bwang, bwang BWANG.
Tycker det här rätt bra. Courtney är en betydligt bättre låtskrivare än hon får kredd för. Som sångerska och frontfigur har jag heller ingenting att invända. Det finns ingen indie eller ens nåt alternativt med Hole, i Bangles anda är det är kalifornisk rock rätt och slätt. Tom Pettyrock i trasiga strumpbyxor liksom, lyssna på "Malibu", hade platsat på vilket Pettyalbum som helst efter 1986. Singlarna funkar utmärkt och det finns fler låtar i samma "middle of the road-ådra" som är bra. Någon enstaka gång försöks det larmas på lite mer än nödvändigt och försöker vara något det inte är. Men mest hålls det i strama tyglar och när Hole bejakar att man är ett 90tals Bangles är man oväntat bra. Klamrar sig över trestrecket
Beverly Hills 90210-kompatibel grunge light. Kurt skulle rotera i sin grav om han hörde detta.
Indierocken från 90-talet och början av 2000-talet har inte stått sig särskilt väl (obs, stor skillnad på indierock och indiepop). Allra minst den amerikanska som låter oerhört mycket highschool. Hålet är inget undantag. Jag har genuint svårt för soundet. Melodierna är inte mycket att hänga i granen och CLs röst är inget man jublar över. Det är inte Pearl Jam-dåligt, men ser för den skull inte vad man ska det till. På gränsen att nå en tvåa men inte tillräckligt.
Tråkrock. Förlagan till Pink! och annan tuff på ytan-musik.
Like admiring a perfectly airbrushed billboard that can’t hide the faint outline of rust beneath the paint this Alternative Rock album feels dated.
Really quite good
Not that bad
Just never really go into this vibe but it's not bad.
Power pop songs with post grunge arrangements. Full of great melodicism and vocal harmonies that go with Courtney Love's forecful throaty delivery, that cut through a mix of heavy, sludgey, buzzsaw distorted, and bright jangly guitars. I only ever knew the title track, but there's a ton of good stuff going on this album. Favorites: Awful, Malibu, Heaven Tonight, Petals
pretty good! lots of very good hooks. a bit too smoothed over for me to like a lot.
The album: rocks. The unhinged reviews on here: do not rock. Calm down. Courtney Love isn’t your ex or something! Go to bed, gramps!
Courtney Love is not a very good singer and to me this album mostly sounds like 90's radio pop with bad singer. 'Use once and destroy' is the exeption and is a clear stand out track for me.
It's hard to imagine that Hole was classified in the alternative rock category. The whole term alt-rock just seems so vaguely stupid. The whole album is pretty pop. Halfway through the album I wondered if this album could offer anything new or interesting. It didn't, even though it's a perfectly decent album in a category that's nice to listen to without the need to ever return to the album again.
It's Hole gone pop and Hollywood, for the foreseeable sales I imagine. It's calculated grunge gone mainstream with all the punk fukt off, hired producer to smooth out the rough with buckets of vanilla to drown out the interesting and reel in the average listener. The only thing I find enjoyable on this record is Melissa Auf der Maur's playing.
Não é ruim ou desagradável, mas não trás nada a acrescentar.
Very much of its era. If you’re a fan of the mid-late 90s grunge rock, you’ll almost certainly enjoy it
Almost every song is fantastic. Good shit.
i thought this would be crap but courtney love is actually class lowk
Enjoyable rock
I really enjoyed this. First 5 songs are just brilliant. The second half is not quite up to that level but still very good and keeps your interest piqued. This is more alt rock than grunge (even bordering on some pop in cases). It is beautifully well produced and it is even almost general population accessible (hence the popularity of songs like Malibu). There were maybe 2 or three songs that were a bit poppy (heaven tonight I am looking at you) I dismissed Courtney Love a bit back in the days thinking she was producing music on the coat tails of Kurt Cobain, but the two albums I have heard beg to differ. She is an great musician and this was perfectly stereotypical alt rock from that era . I really like her voice. Boys on the Radio might well be my standout track. I might want to own this 4 stars
just so good, really masterful divergence away from grunge into more alt rock which is so quintessential late 90s. love her or hate her Courtney Love is an icon!
Courtney love could kill me and frame it as an overdose any day
I had only heard the first song before and was like wow this is gonna be a great album if that is just the opener!!!
I think I'm probably just craving any alt rock at all, but this was great.
Have listened to this one a lot. Celebrity Skin is unfortunately such a strong opening track that the rest of the album suffers but there are still real heaters thrown about here. Still, you're not beating the "hooker/waitress/model/actress/oh have you ever felt so used up as this?" bit. The whole thing has a generally agreeable 90s riot girl sound to it that is amenable to my ears. This is a regular throw it on and eventually it'll be over. Highlights: Celebrity Skin, Reasons to be Beautiful, Hit so Hard, Nothern Star
I liked it a lot!
Hole is so underrated. Great album.
I never listened to Hole in the 90s. I’ve always wondered if I’ve been missing out. I’m happy to confirm I have not been. It feels like it’s trying too hard to sound like something it’s not. Just feels hollow and meh.
This entire album is very vanilla. Basic. Plain. Meh. The music itself is good, but there is little emotion (other than depression) to latch onto with the songs. This may be harsh to say, but if Courtney Love had never married Kurt Cobain, Rock & Roll wouldn’t know her and/or the band Hole.
I mean, it’s fine. Nothing unique or remarkable. For me, It’s hard to get past the way everything sounds the same and the vocal delivery that lacks nuance. Courtney Love will always believe her music and her thoughts are much more important than the rest of us do. She cites her poetic inspirations as T.S. Eliot and Shakespeare for this album, and compares the musical style here as a deconstructed Beach Boys or the Doors. I’ll suggest this might be loftier company than Hole should ever be mentioned amongst. And I guarantee that bringing Billy Corgan into the mix on any album will DEFINITELY NOT make things less pretentious. So, yeah, it’s just whatever… nevermind.
Easy to roll your eyes when it comes to Courtney Love, afterall she is batshit crazy. Like, legit crazy to this day, but why is that bad? Lots of Rockstar's are batshit crazy, who cares. I didn't listen very closely this morning so I decided to listen to this album a second time (don't judge, i was traveling with more than a little time on my hands). This second listen with no prejudice toward Courtney and I ended up liking Celebrity Skin far more than I expected to. Not a great album, but there are certainly some very high points, and the lows are not the worse you'll hear. It's imperfect, but this isn't American Idol, it's okay to be a bit pitchy dog, or flat, as is the case here. I say big fat hairy deal to that, the passion is there and that matters most. This is good grunge, and that's enough for me.
as 90's of a sound as it gets, also a Smashing Pumpkins with woman lead vibe at times.. The nostalgia I have for the underlying sound here is working against the album rather than for it. It's not a bad album though, just not for me. On the first listen, there'd be like three seconds where I'd think "wow this sounds just like [ other song ]", and then feel disappointed when it was inevitably different. This would be a 2.5 with a half star system.
A venn diagram of things I dislike: "girl rock", pop punk, 90s music, thin production, syllable bending to fit the rhythms instead of using the proper lyrics, over-dubbed backup vocals while claiming to be "gritty", songs built out of a single uninspiring guitar riff, one single f bomb to be "edgy" but still Pg13. Blegh
Meh. Couple catchy songs.
A Classic.
A bit too shouty, and sounds a bit dated now.
It had that one song on it...
Enjoyed this one, some solid catchy rock that does feel foretelling of some of the 2000s rock to follow. On second listen I enjoyed it even more, guitar riffs and harmonies are just so nice. Title track is definitely my favorite, just has some really great lines in there (“I’m glad I came here with your pound of flesh” is a favorite of mine).Glad I listened to this and got an introduction to Courtney Love and Hole, hadn’t actually listened to them before this so this was a nice glimpse into her style.
The grunge is real. Dug it.
Ms. Love continues to impress. This album is poppier & less raw than the previous Hole album I rated. But it’s still very strong with interesting lyrics and characters. It’s a 3, but could become a 4.
Not heard in full before. Will definitely listen to again
something about kurt and hole living rent free in his head
Every Hole (album) is a goal (for catchy social critique).
you go girl 🖤
my high school self believed that courtney and i were going through the same hell
vibing
3/5 i don't remember this outside of i think one song
Nice
Wow I slept on this album when it came out. I had never made it past the first single but I really enjoyed this.
Blech
Good but mid, it s one of those albums that at first i m like wtf emm sure dont really care about it but as you listen to it you start liking some songs and the vibe but overall not anything spectacular, two good songs tho.
Enjoyed it, felt 90s teen film at the start but was ready for it to finish by the end. One of the songs made me think of Smelly Cat, the dubbed version.
Ok but not something I’ll listen to regularly
good enough! Nothing that made me feel moved, but i think it had some good stuff
Pop with a grungy childhood. It’s catchy, like glitter on a switchblade. You can feel its fingerprints all over later pop rebels like Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus, who clearly took notes on how to snarl through the sparkle.
these guys made generic AI music the hard way: hours and hours of studio time spent on riffless, shapeless power chord slop and vague, opaque lyrics about "Los Angeles and the state of California" (their words). the title track is at least memorable because it has an actual riff. there have been some duds on this list, but none of them have been as anonymous as this.
Not my Hole
sux
This album was a lot more alternative than grunge. It is a decent album but I thought it started strong and waned. I also got bored with Courtney's singing as it went on. This is not one I would seek out to listen to again and if I did would just use streaming.
I didn’t listen to Hole in the 90’s because I don’t like Courtney Love. Boy did I miss out! This band is amazing!
Courtney Love, I owe you an apology. I was unfamiliar with your game.
It's good: just listening to the music, it's solid 90s alt rock and she has a great, raspy voice.
Sheryl Crow with reverb. Doesn’t sound as fierce as originally did.
Fantastic songwriting and arrangement especially in the first several tracks. Corgan’s influence is apparent, especially concerning the latter. I wish he and Love had collaborated more. It dips a bit in the middle, but ends well.
Liked it pretty much. Not on my recurring list thoough
Patiko. Geras balsas, geras rokas. Žinojau vieną dainą, bet kitos irgi neblogos.
Супэр. Лучшая песня - Celebrity Skin.
Quite listenable
an incredible followup to live through this. i thought this was unfairly poopoo'd when it came out, it's got some all timers on it and none of it is ever worse than pretty good
One of those albums I put on and before I even really notice, it's over, because I enjoyed it and it all slid into each other really well.
Tämmöistä köyhän naisen garbagea. Muutama viisu oli jopa ihan hyvää, mut meni aika läpisoittona läpi. Kyllä tässä taas kuuluu tämän ajan kuva
Bändin toki aina tiennyt koska Kurtin vaimo Courtney "Kurtin vaimo" Love, mutten oikeestaan koskaan kuullut jotain random biisiä enempää. Tämä oli yllättävän mukiinmenevää shittiä töiden ohessa. Paiskataan siitä hyvästä kolmosella
Tämmöstä aika perusrenkutusta, ei jatkoon.
Joo ei tää vaan oikein lähe. Pari ihan jees hittiä, mutta jotenkin vähän liian kliinisen laskelmoivaa. Ei nyt ihan nolla eli reikä eli hole ehkä enempi arshoul eli kakkonen.
Musisoinnissa on tarpeeksi rosoista särmää ja Courtneyn ääni kruunaa kokonaisuuden. Vaikka ei tee mitään ihmeitä, niin on esimerkillinen tapaus omassa genressään.
Varmasti epäsuosittu, ja kenties jonkun mielestä provosoivakin mielipide, mutta itse olen vilpittömästi sitä mieltä että Courtneyn bändi on paljon parempi kun edesmenneen miehensä bändi. Ihmisenä varmasti enemmän perseestä kuin vähemmän, mutta tässä on jo Kanyen ja Jerry Lee Lewiksenkin ansiot humaanilla puolella unohdettu, niin tehdään se rouva Lovenkin kohdalla. Oikeasti ihan kivaa peruspoppista vähän raskaammalla poljennolla. Helppoa kuunneltavaa, ja en näe mitään syytä miksi en tätä jatkossakin kuuntelisi. Ei ehkä koko levyä, mutta esimerkiksi Malibuhan on ihan soittolistakamaa. Tarttuva biitti ja hyvä melodia. Helppo kolme tähteä.
This is just too generic and average. Overrated.
When I first heard Celebrity Skin I had written it off as far inferior to Live Through This, almost unlistenable, I think I ditched listening to it halfway through. Funnily enough, purely by chance the last thing I listened to yesterday before going to bed was Live Through This, from start to finish, a perfect five star album. Giving this a fresh play through, it's actually not a bad album at all. It's just not anywhere near as good as their previous album. There's moments where it all comes together, but they're mixed in with moments where it sounds too much like the Smashing Pumpkins, too much pop and polish. I'm going with a low four stars, which surprises me, as I figured this would be a two star album when I saw it come up today.
Previously rated: #425 - Live Through This (3/5) ************************************ Album #954 I liked this one a bit better. Only knew the title track going in. Pretty solid, catchy grunge-pop all the way through.
It’s much better than i expected- catchy melodies, badass vocals and authentic 90s vibe
I liked this album more than I thought I would. I was familiar with Celebrity Skin and Malibu, both of which I think are decent tracks, but I was pleasantly surprised by the first four tracks of the album as a set. Favorite songs that were new to me are Awful and Northern Star. I might put Awful in my general rotation of favorite singles.
This was nice to have in the background playing. Nothing in particular was mind-blowing or bad. Overall, I feel pretty neutral to this one.
A bit whiny
Good alternative rock/power pop album by the Hole, a lot less grungy and more radio friendly but nevertheless a fun album from a time where alternative rock wasn't really 'in' in the late 90s. 3.5 stars.
Expected something mediocre but it's actually pretty good. Would listen to it again.
Enjoyed it more than I expected. I've obviously heard of Courtney Love but never listened to her music.
When this popped up my first thought was, if I never have to see the words 90s, American and alternative-rock together again I would die a happy man. But I was wrong. This record is fantastic. It has the same wild frenetic, raw, angry spark of a young P J Harvey or Liz Phair. Really, really enjoyed this one, so much more than i thought.
Album a gradual downward slope in quality and listenability. Was over it by the time I hit Northern Star
I liked it! I hadn't listened to much Hole but I enjoy their sound
A surprising four-star album that has held up rather well.
Album starts off strong, but then meanders around and loses the edginess.
Fine enough. Hole's Live Through This was profound, much more "real," and a really tough act to follow. I enjoy Celebrity though it doesn't knock my socks off, even though I quite enjoy a couple cuts (Northern Star, Boys On the Radio).
A couple of great tunes - celebrity Skin and Malibu. CL being very meta-CL. I preferred Live Through This but I was into this. Not a 4 but a high 3.
There is just something so fundamentally unauthentic about this music to me. Off key vocals by design. Love seems to have imagined what she wanted her musical persona to be and is then acting it out. I have a sneaking suspicion she's a better vocalist than she lets on. And it's not just her—it's the entire band. I'm not a fan.
Maybe I didn't give this the attention it deserved because i see so many positive reviews. My opinion was this the other Hole album was waaaaay better. This one seemed tame by comparison, and often downright annoying. DIdn't seem worthy of inclusion.
I had higher hopes for this.
Quintessential 90s sound. I sort of recognized one song, but knew it was from the 90s before I looked them up.
Listened a couple times, pretty good. Oscillated between more intense and less intense which gave my ears a little break. Not sure what any of it was about.
Have you ever seen a cripple dance? Seriously? I did not listen to Hole back in the 90s and now I know why. I’m all for power pop. Just not this power pop.
Vapid, over-produced nonsense!
5/10
I love a good girl punk band and Hole is one of the classics. I've never really thought about it beyond that!
Some good tracks, some not so good, but overall not bad. 6/10
ok
Solid songs, solidly performed. I prefer the live through this rawness. Anyway, lady had some talent, and did bald billy cowrite some of this. Anyway shit's tight. Swing low.
meh
I liked this more than I was expecting to. It sounds “produced” but I’m not sure I’d say overproduced. And yeah maybe sounds like it belongs to that era, so somewhat derivative too. But not bad.
Ça fait plaisir d'entendre une voie féminine sur du rock ! Le timbre était cool, et la vibe m'a parfois un peu fait pensé aux Cramberries - j'ai trouvé quelques éléments très intéressants mais au global ça me manquait un peu d'une signature propre, j'ai trouvé l'ensemble un peu "soupe" ; un 2,8 dans son genre je dirais.
un type de rock que j'apprécie mieux, même si (i) j'ai toujours du mal à distinguer les éléments qui font le "bon" rock pour ceux qui s'y connaissent plus, et (ii) je suis pas méga fan du timbre de Courtney Love. l'album rappelle un peu l'ambiance qu'on peut trouver dans Mauvais Joueurs de Joan Didion --mais le ton presque monotone (et prévisible) sur lequel sont posées les paroles pourtant intéressantes (peut-être dû à la métrique souvent courte) rend le tout un peu trop lisse pour moi. dans l'ensemble une écoute plutôt agréable, même si pour moi Petals est le son qui ressort le plus en termes de sonorités par rapport aux autres sons qui ont tendance à se confondre entre eux.
Album’s namesake quite good, but apart from that just OK.
not bad top songs 2+
courtney! erste song e huuuere wand. grunge aver bitz poppiger. awful au echli so. mega catchy rock. grunge gitarre mit meh tempo und schellechranz? malibu sehr 90s standard alternative rock. d bridge isch super d gitarre töned sehr cool. aber chli soft das ganze. ui sie zitiert de kurt bi reasons to be beautiful. its better to (..?..) that fade away. glaub. boys on the radio slappt zimli. petals au no cute. sehr edgelord. aber glaub s album git nume e 3 i'm sorry courtney. isch nöd so musig wo viel mit mir macht. aber da het meh mitem genre ztue.
GEIIIIILLL han eifach echli angst, dass de grund, dass es uf de liste "ja nachane hend sie sich ufglöst :(" isch, aber mal luege! celebrity skin isch nüt augeöffnends aber macht easy spass banger after banger bis jz malibu isch na nice mitem hindergrundgsang aber isch jz schochli sehr radiofründlich iwie isch vlt en fuule verglich aber d giti bi reasons to be beautiful erinneretmi recht ah nirvana dying findi megaa, sehr ruhig und melancholisch au use once and destroy isch MEGA nirvana..aber vlt ghöris au eifach willi druff sensibel bin boys on the radio findi megaaaa, iwie warm? jöö heaven tonight isch iwie au so herzig playing your song nomal chli zum abgah😝🤟 poah würkli nöch am 5i. schlussendlich vlt echlii z wenig "speziell" aber s album macht megaaa spass
I was surprised how good this album was. Some really good alternative/punk songs on this LP. The title track is really good.
Celebrity Skin is an absolutely fantastic album that i enjoyed the whole way through. I was already sure i was going to like it but this album still kept taking me by surprise with all the things it tried. The album could show many different styles from hard and rebellious like the title track or epic and melodic like Northern Star. And of course it is all backed up by some absolutely sublime music with some awesome guitar riffs and great vocals from Courtney Love. There was also never a song which went anywhere close to being bad as it was just banger after banger for this whole album. This is easily one of the best albums on this project. Best Song: Playing Your Song Worst Song: Malibu
Man, I missed out on so much by having my head up my ass in the 90s.
This is what grunge arrived at in the late 90s: overproduced, commodified crap that was the point of grunge in the first place. This feels a long ways away from the raw power of “Live Through This.”
Nej
An alright alternative album, sounded kind of generic for the 90s.
Glad I listened, made me reavaluate the band
Really enjoyed this. I already knew a couple of the songs and I think this would grow on me to be 5 stars in the future.
Magnificent opening track, great swaggering bass and chopping riffs, snarling vocals - but the rest of the album is rock ordinaire 3 stars, just - elevated by the bass on Celebrity Skin itself.
I absolutely think this holds a candle to Live Through This. It's different, sure, and its production doesn't match the raw goodness of its predecessor's, but it still packs a solid punch. The band sounds great, and Courtney is in fine voice. Her songwriting is both lyrically and melodically rich, and this batch of songs is more than diverse enough to make for an engaging listening experience. 4/5
classic. Never listened before and totally loved it.
Mid in comparison to Live Through This. Not bad
Glad to see Hole on this list, but I would certainly have put Live Through This ahead of Celebrity Skin Over the course of three albums Hole have gone from Teenange Whore to Malibu, and while things have become a little easier on the ear during that journey, it feels like maybe a few too many rough spots have been ground down to make this more of a mass-market product for teenage girls who like to dabble with a rebellious look at the weekend
naja
Would usually go to Live Through This when listening to Hole, but this album deserves more attention. Very good!
Courtney Love would like to thank Mr A Hitler for pushing the standard of 'History's most hated artist' just slightly out of her reach.
I am pretty sure that if that album was made by a man, or even a less "controversial" figure than the lead singer, Courtney Love, this would be mandatory listen to any music fan. It is wonderfully diverse in sound, full of hooks, and intelligent writing. It can be both angry and energetic, soft and touching, it goes everywhere but still tied together by charisma and the state of California. This is very solid in my opinion, I thoroughly enjoyed most songs, there are only a few misses in my opinion. (Hit so hard, Northern Star even though it has a pay off). People saying it is pop-y are kinda missing the point of the album, whichwas evolving their sounds, and some of it is also quite rock leaning. I see hard work, I see talent, I see charisma, really really good.
Kind of average 90s pop rock…couple of good songs in there.
Not bad
Nice
Courtney Love is unfairly maligned a lot of the time which leaves people not listening to this awesome banger of an album.
An album that sounds of the time with a bit of an annoying female singer (especially clear in "Northern Star"). I found it all very underwhelming. It's not an album that needs to be on this list.
While I didn’t recognize by name, the opening track was familiar and I realized I know Doll Parts by this band as well. Enjoyed the listen and style.
It’s ok, not sure why this needs to be here considering their other album though
After being thoroughly impressed with Live Through This, I had an inkling of the sonic direction Hole went with next, considering I've heard the title track and "Malibu" in my crossings. After starting as a noisy punk rock outfit, the band switched to power pop with their follow-up, aiming to deconstruct the California sound. They also brought in more outside personnel for instrumental contributions, most notably Courtney Love's ex and Smashing Pumpkins' frontman/songwriter, Billy Corgan. As a result, Celebrity Skin is the kind of record that sounds awesome, even if it doesn't quite live up to the quality of its predecessor. I might as well get my nitpicks out of the way. The album's production sounds thoroughly polished, such that any semblance of aggressive noise rock tendencies from Hole's first two records has been removed. To be fair, I think Michael Beinhorn was a solid choice for producer this time around, given his pedigree on albums like Soundgarden's Superunknown. I also believe that Courtney Love came into these sessions with the full intention of subverting a more mainstream style while still retaining memorable hooks and the cynical lyricism of previous efforts, and that does work to a point. But as the album plays, I can't help but miss the more confrontational ferocity that was present in her lyrics and vocal performance, as the overall mid-tempo pace and cleaner guitars carry less weight. That said, like I mentioned, the hooks are still present and elevate this record a little more than a standard mainstream alternative rock affair. Besides the singles, I also consider cuts like "Hit So Hard", "Reasons to Be Beautiful", and "Heaven Tonight" to have some catchy riffs. "Playing Your Song" has the most angst in the presentation, paired with the filtered guitar line. "Northern Star" proved to be an excellent ballad with the string arrangements, serving as Courtney's heartfelt tribute to her at-the-time boyfriend, actor Edward Norton. Finally, "Petals" was an effective closer about stripping away the false exteriors of those around you to see their true selves, no matter how horrid they may be. Even if I prefer Live Through This, I still consider Celebrity Skin to be an enjoyable record. Unfortunately, Hole would go on to disband multiple times, as Courtney has largely abandoned them to pursue her solo career. If anything, it's impressive that we got as many good records out of them as we did.
I admire the passion but at a certain point the album felt pretty one dimensional. Northern Star just highlights how bad a singer Courtney is
I owned this as a teenager but rarely listened all the way through, and now I understand why. There are a few standouts (the singles mainly), and it's remarkable the difference between this and their older stuff, but overall I'm puzzled why this is on here.
This was a solid album from start to finish. Hole really hit that late 90s sweet spot where alternative rock was getting a bit shinier but still had some bite to it. The whole thing feels confident and well put together without losing attitude. Favorite song: Celebrity Skin It is also pretty cool that Billy Corgan was involved as a guest writer and artist. You can definitely hear his influence in some of the melodies and structure. The title track stands out right away and sounds exactly like the opening song to just about every late 90s or early 2000s teen movie, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Really like this, and I can't believe I slept on Hole for so long. I prefer the more raw sound of Live Through This, but there are still many great songs on here. 9/10
We can thank Billy Corgan for making this not suck.
10/10