Reviews (page 6 of 9)
Mid in comparison to Live Through This. Not bad
Kind of average 90s pop rock…couple of good songs in there.
Not bad
Nice
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
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.
We can thank Billy Corgan for making this not suck.
I only really listened to the first tracks of the album, but think its pretty desent, and has a nice feel.
Weirdly has some really catchy melodies, but otherwise sounds like a stereotypical punk album
Geht so
I have heard the title track before but not the others. Title was the most catchy and the rest was decent.
A grunge album with a lot of bounce, which makes for a fun listen. Only downside is this falls off a bit in the back half.
The Good: It’s about celebrities! The Bad: We don’t like tabloids… The Ugly: Trying to listen to skin… Reading Courtney Love’s bio, I did a little cheer for the girl, as she’s not had it easy… however, what an interesting, and sometimes depressing, life she’s had! One thing she’s not had, in my humblest of opinions, is a quality singing voice, which makes listening to an entire album feel like I am being forced to listen to a Neil Young album, or, god forbid, Morrissey… The album, in and off itself, isn’t bad at all. Kind of pop. Could have been a record produced by Dave Grohl, as one too many songs sounds like it is a cover of a Foo Fighters song… And you can tell the Billy Corgan influence in the guitar sound… So what to give this album? Technically, I should be giving it a 4*, howevr, as I know that I will not be listening to the entire album ever again, I will have to stick to a downgraded 3 1/2* Sorry Courtney, and the rest of the Hole band <—see what I did there!
Decent but blends in with 90’s grunge
*** Not bad but also doesn't blow me away!
A strong rock album, though it often feels a little stiff and commercial for reasons I have trouble identifying. Lacking the grungier edge of Live Through This, for better or worse.
*1998. *Quintessential late 90s California rock. *Celebrity Skin and Malibu are top tier. *I really like Hole, but I've somehow never listened to this whole album. *I wasn't blown away by the album other than the well-known songs. Will revisit. RATNIG - 7/10
Alright 3/5
Nostalgic but tiring to listen to, Still good, but not a easy listening, Okay!
I’m struggling to reconcile this one, it’s not as good as Live Through This, which I gave 3 stars, yet I don’t think this deserves only 2 stars. I don’t think LTT is quite at 4 stars for me either so I’m essentially giving them the same score. On the whole this was fine, there are some good songs on here and they are spread across the album catching my attention now and again, but the album did feel like it dragged a little.
I love sad girl music
This sounded like a ‘more accessible’ (commercial) version of a Hole album. Trip down memory lane, and from a challenge perspective, just a little too close to the previous Hole album.
Album is okey…but they look so cool wtf
The songs are fine and Courtney Love was a figure of that era but I'm not sure how this album made the list. It's not groundbreaking or remarkable or really that influential, but still some fun tracks if you liked 90s alt rock. Doesn't hit as much as it did when Love was in the tabloids or on MTV all the time.
Good enough. but I wouldn't care to listen again.
While the title track gives a taste, this one doesn’t quite hit the highs of Live Through This. Courbet Love is criminally underrated and it’s a shame Hole wasn’t more prolific in these days as this was a good sign of where they were headed.
Pretty good starting out, falls off hard on the B side. Solid rock and roll music.
Its a decent album, for some reason I'd mostly only ever really listened to Live Through This before. Its not quite as good as Live Through This but its still a solid album.
One massive song that was everywhere and a bunch of songs I have never heard. Not quite one hit wonder but almost as the other songs on the album are not bad just a bit forgettable. 6/10
An interesting sound with a sense of rock. Feels nostalgic and old. I can potentially like this.
Some of interesting.
Ok
Je connaissais de nom, mais n’avais jamais écouté. C’est bon, ça pourrait être pour moi, mais pas tout à fait.
enjoyable!! think this is a really solid album with a bunch of good songs, and i'm partial to the pairing of hole's sound to california as a theme. leaves a lot to be desired though, so: three gross melted plastic palm trees from a movie set that fell out on a truck and are now condemned on "the 5," out of five. highlights - celebrity skin, boys on the radio
I like this album, but I prefer their previous, more grungey one. I don’t have much to say about this one. This’s pretty basic alternative rock, but I like alternative rock, so I like this. 7/10
It's hard to believe this album is over 25 years old. I remember that first song was played on the radio a LOT. It's a very different album than the previous ones, and there's a lot more polish to it, I think. A lot of the songs feel kinda same-y, but maybe it's just Courtney's voice. I dug it, but since a lot of the songs sounded similar to me, I don't know if a whole album relisten for me is necessary, and that's never good for an album. Top tracks: "Celebrity Skin," "Malibu," "Use Once & Destroy"
Slick and poppy. Starts super strong (and awesome) with the song Celebrity Skin, but then is mostly slick, polished pop rock, which is honestly shocking after the hard edge of Live Through This (which itself was apparently toned down from their first album, which admittedly I haven't heard). Heaven knows Courtney Love went through a lot between these two albums, but this album just isn't as strong without that edge. One big difference is that the lyrics, even though they're often about drowning and loss, aren't as cutting as the lyrics on Live Through This. Those lyrics made me truly appreciate Hole after being dismissive of Courtney Love for a long time. This album doesn't make me want to go back to being dismissive, but it definitely lost something (which could easily be due to her personal loss, which I wouldn't wish on anyone). I'd call is a 3.5 but I'm rounding down to differentiate the score from the 4 I gave Live Through This. Favorite tracks: Celebrity Skin (rocking song - and the bass sounds fantastic), Use Once & Destroy, Boys on the Radio, Playing Your Song.
Quite unremarkable if i'm being honest. There's not much here that makes it stand apart from every other 90s rock record, or that makes it uniquely deserving of a place in the canon. Only the title track stood out to me. But i'm all for Courtney Love getting her flowers. Fair enough
I started out liking it a lot, but eventually I got so tired of Courtney’s voice
It was a mid album for me with some highlights like the title track but overall I felt like I heard this beat a million times (it wasn’t bad though) and the singing was not too good.
wasn't really my jam
I think I prefer the other hole album I know by a good bit. But the title track and petals are really awesome songs. Glad to listen to the rest of it finally.
My review of Garbage (by Garbage) mentioned how much I've always had Garbage & Hole linked in my head, so I feel it's appropriate to also bring it up here. While I was impressed by how much Garbage seemed to be a alt/industrial band that borrowed some pop sensibilities for its singles, this album feels like it's doing the opposite - leaning hard into pop and only periodically retreating back to their grunge roots (a lot like the Oasis album I reviewed yesterday). If you managed to look past the lingering Courtney/Kurt "did she, didn't she" speculation and consider yourself a Hole fan before this album, I imagine the power pop turn felt pretty jarring. Others of us were less conflicted about our feelings and resisted this album without needing to consider whether they were selling out. I generally don't love the idea of a "California album", because it feels the same as having a friend who just got a new car and has to constantly mention how great their new car is. We get it, it's neat, but like… what's the point? Are you taking money from the CA tourist board to get me to go there? Or is the idea to make an album that reminds you of California that you can listen to while you're in California? Sounds like the audio version of wearing the band t-shirt to the concert. As an pop (alt pop? indie pop? idk) album, this is an extremely tight and well produced album built to be a smash hit. I read that they brought in a bunch of mercenaries to produce this, and it shows. In retrospect, it was good to have an anti-hero female pop star right before the Britney/Christina era, not that I would have given Courtney that kind of credit twenty years ago. This was big enough that I trust it found its audience and resonated with the alt girls who needed to hear it (I'll stop short of saying "needed a role-model"). So, personal feelings aside, I can respect this album's place on the list and in pop music history.
Ohhhhh so these are the guys that did THAT song. Had zero idea. Rest of the album is less like the first song and I found it kinda faded in my mind and I forgot I was listening to it. Some good some bland tracks
I wasn't too impressed but interesting to know Courtney Love was in
It was honestly a great album, started off as a 4 with celebrity skin and awful, but the songs lots originality and there weren't many original melodies to keep it fresh so it fell to a 3 for me
Alright but didn't grab me
I find Hole just okay.
Half iconic songs, half generic rock songs that could be part of the "Cars" soundtrack.
It's Courtney OK.
The nineties in a can, and fair play to CL and crew for not sticking out there in noiseland but making a bid for some mainstream alt-rock action. Video by David Fincher surely. Would prefer listening to this to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers for example, but it does smack of a lesser Smashing Pumpkins vibe at times.
3.5 07.31.2025
I’d never heard this whole album before but I’ve heard the singles, including one of the best pure pop songs of that era, Malibu. This album came out after the death of Kurt Cobain & his ghost haunts a lot of the lyrics on this album, some sweet, some sad, others angry. As I listened to the music & read the lyrics, I kept thinking, we were pretty damn crappy to Courtney Love, a grieving widow with a child who had just lost her husband, but I digress. Celebrity Skin isn’t a perfect album, but for Hole and Love, it was their best work up to & beyond that point. It helped that 5 of the songs, including Malibu and Celebrity Skin, were written by the alt hitmaker Billy Corgan, & he’ll gladly tell you. One of the many unions of Love's that ended up playing out in the press. Beyond the Corgan songs, there are other highlights on the album and Love wrote all the lyrics, proving she can hold her own in that department. The album has a California theme and contains several songs about Hollywood and how it can chew up & spit out women looking for stardom. The standouts on the album are, of course, my personal fave, Malibu; Celebrity Skin; Awful; Reason to Be Beautiful; and Heaven Tonight. If you’ve never heard this album, it’s worth checking out just for Celebrity Skin & Malibu.
I like Hole but Courtney's voice can get grating after a while
Thought this was really fun! Giving it a 3 because it's not usually my type of music, but this is an album I'd be happy revisiting!
Started super strong but by the end I was tired of it. I didn't think anything was that bad however, just too similar.
Oooh, that Courtney Love...But not quite my musical style.
Wanted to like it but didn’t really
I can understand if this is someone's favorite album. A lot of cool stuff going on. Not really for me, but if it's on in the car I won't ask to change it.
Interesting and more diverse than I thought it would be.
Тот самый звук 90-х, который не очень люблю.
Not as bad as I thought it would be, but likely would never listen to again.
pretty standard 90s alternative album. enjoyable but not great. would probably get a four if it were 10-15 minutes shorter
I forgot while listening that this is actually my second Hole album. The first was "Live Through This," which I gave a solid three stars. I'm glad that I forgot about that album though, because it meant I could go into this one without any biases. The first track is one I recognized immediately from countless MTV and VH1 promos and ads from the 2000s. The number of times I heard that opening vocal in shows like "Rock of Love" and "The Surreal Life" is unquantifiable. It's a great track though, and it opens the album showing us that this band has something to say. Settle in, they tell us, because we're coming at the industry and culture and telling you what we think. From the tone of "Celebrity Skin," I expected the rest of the album to follow the same kind of attitude - heavy, somewhat dark, and with the potential to go darker. But as it went, it revealed a slightly more radio-friendly tone than I expected it to. Certainly still off the beaten path for most mainstream listeners of the time, but I'm sure a lot of this found airtime on alt rock stations, whever Nirvana was being played. This was cool. Definitely better than the last Hole album, for sure. Courtney Love's voice is expressive, rough, genuine, and yet can have a softness to it when it's called for. The rest of the band really holds it together, too. No complaints here. Three solid stars. Standout Tracks: Celebrity Skin, Use Once & Destroy, Heaven Tonight
Starts strong, some real bangers here. The nasal 90's grunge vocals get tedious after a bit.
I don't think I've listened to this band in 25 years, but I have a lot of time for Courtney Love. "Celebrity Skin" is a fantastic song and I really rate "Use Once and Destroy". But grunge gets really samey for me after a few songs and this album is no different. Still, leaps and bounds better than Liz Phair and far more inventive than Soundgarden. Courtney, it's not you. It's me. A three.
Best nice
Mid-low 3, some fine enough moments but mostly middling
3.3
Classic grunge album; great opening song. Thought all else was fine. 7/10
Mucho mejor que Live Through This. También tengo cariño por el primer tema. Al final se vuelve medio repe. Nota: 3.5
Very familiar to me. Love how poppy they take their sound on this one - so fun but doesnt lose any of their bite. Malibu could be my fave grunge song ever
I've always wondered why Hole wasn't more successful. I think it was probably because of Kurt Cobain and how Courtney Love was overshadowed by him while he was alive and then she was kind of villainized after his death. Had she not been involved with him at all and made the same records with Hole, I think they would have been a much bigger band. This album is still pretty solid nearly 30 years later. I remember hearing this album a lot when it came out and liking it back then too. I don't think it's anything that is going to change your life but it's a great pop-rock/grunge mashup that is still fun to listen to. I don't think Courtney Love has the greatest voice of all time but it works with the music well enough. This is a good album, not a great one. 3/5
3.2 I can't quite put my finger on why there's something slightly off around this. Let's ignore Courtney love and that controversial completely, imagine it's an unknown empty. It's full of catchy pop-grunge(?!), but most of the time it feels as though they're trying too hard to be catchy that it doesn't work very well. It's like if Foo Fighters kept missing the mark, but only just. Part of me thinks "this is actually quite good", but another part of me thinks "this is manufactured shite trying to hook you in". I'm not sure which or these two is correct so I'm going to go down the middle
A solid effort from Hole. The first half is great, I'd even argue that 'Awful' and 'Reasons to Be Beautiful' are better than the big hits and Corgan-penned tracks. But for whatever reason I just don't dig the second half nearly as much. Maybe it's more fatigue than a genuine drop in quality, but I also find the vocals are more grating, the lyrics less interesting.
Powerrock van drie juffrouwen en één meneer. Hm, ja, wel aardig, beetje vergeetbare nineties-muziek. O, het is de weduwe van Kurt Cobain? Tja, die kennis beïnvloedt het oordeel niet echt.
"It's better to rise than fade away". Sorry Courtney. je bent inmiddels behoorlijk uitgedoofd. Dit was mode muziek in de jaren '90. Zelfs zo erg mode, dat nu geen DJ het in zijn hoofd haalt om dit af te spelen op een '90's party.
Not sure that I would call this album an essential listen - there are much better albums in the same vein - anything by Joan Jett, for example. Celebrity Skin is a great track, but just a decent album.
A couple of great stand out songs, the rest pretty meh
When it’s near greatness ‘good’ seems quite average.
Nirvana-like with a female Kurt Cobain
One great song but the rest of the album could be any other grunge band.
nice album - I like it more than Live Through This... 3/5
I will admit this was better than I thought it would be.
Pretty cool
Quite a bit poppier than I expected, every song sounded like it could be on the radio in the 90s. I listened to some of their earlier stuff and it kinda sounds like they sold out in this album. Pretty decent listen nonetheless, Courtney’s a compelling front woman.
Better than the other Hole album. Some good songs, some were ok.
I wasn’t connecting to it at all maybe until Dying came up, I liked that song. The first part has some of the most popular songs of the record, but I didn’t really enjoy it, it sounded very monotone for me, kind of boring. I liked a lot of the lyrics, but the melodies didn’t keep me interested. The second part of the record, I liked much better. It sounded more dyamic, with slower songs and all. It’s not a bad record at all, but it didn’t exactly stand out to me. I don’t think I’d play it full again except for some songs like “Dying”, “Northern Star” or “Petals”
Middle of the road mid 90's grunge(lite)
# 483 : Celebrity Skin : 19/05/2025 Wow ok! Didn't realise Hole was this good. Way better than I expected Starts off very strongly with "Celebrity Skin and Awful", but gets a bit lost in the middle of the album. I liked it. Favourite Track ; Awful
(Just barely a 3)
-wow this is actually really good. some seriously catchy and well-done tracks. ik everyone hates on Courtney Love for various reasons that I can Speculate About but damnnn she knows how to make a song exciting -not a huge fan of every song on here necessarily but high points like Awful make it deserving of at least 3.5 if not 4 to me -Favorites are Celebrity Skin, Awful, and Boys On The Radio
A good power-pop/punk album. Songs are overlong and album is overstuffed. I like the general texture and some great hooks
Was expecting this to be a pop album, but I was quite pleasantly surprised
A solid grunge album with Courtney Love’s signature raw energy. Malibu and Petals my personal highlights
I was excited about this album cause I was surprised by “live through this” which I didn’t expect to be so good. And I knew the song Malibu which is definitely my favorite song by hole. But the problem is not a lot in this album stood out other than Malibu and a few other tracks like dying, and awful. But the rest of the album I found to be forgettable and on the second listen I found a lot of the songs to be skippable. Idk it feels weird to give this album sort of a underwhelming review when one of the tracks on the album I think is their best. But yah if I’m being honest about the album as a whole (no pun intended) I’d say this album is pretty forgettable. Just listen to those 3 songs I listed and then put on Live Through This.
3 stars
One great track the rest so so.
Pretty good!
I liked their Grunge records a bit more but it’s still not bad. But I’m not sure if I need to listen to it again.
3.5
The self-titled track is something I've heard before but didn't know it was Hole. It's basic rock but pretty good. 5 tracks in and the alt rock is pretty bland, repetitive, and forgettable. It's not bad, just nowhere near interesting. Northen Star is a decent ballad song with some subtle strings. Decent album for background music.
Ya know I think this one is better than I thought it would be. Grungey, weird, and alt rock to the core. Not typically a genre I'd be gravitating towards, but it wound up being something I found upside in.
# Album Name: Celebrity Skin # Artist: Hole # Rating: 3/5 # Comments: Celebrity Skin. Im pretty sure everyone has heard the track. ALways reminds me of love and cobain, even though it came out many years after it. Its a great song. The rest of the album is very mediocre imo. Billy corgans stamp is all over this. You can feel it. Courtney loves voice really grates on me. I normally love a femal vocalist but she is average. The only other song to note is malibu. This is a very 90's alt-pop album. Forgettable. Didnt hate it, def dont think its good. # Top Tunes: CS / Malibu # Would I listen to it again? No
Very mid
I like the snarl and violence of Live Through This more than Celebrity Skin, which feels like it drags a bit. That said, it’s not a terrible album by any means-pretty much what you’d expect from a more mature-sounding Hole. Really would give it a 2.5, as I’d likely not revisit this album, but I don’t hate it.
Gosh, I’m conflicted here. I absolutely loved and devoured “Live Through This” in 1994. And then didn’t hear this album until now, 2025. I can hear how the band evolved and strengthened (and I know there are other players and contributors, like Billy Corgan.) The music is undeniably more interesting and complex. The songs are well-crafted. But on this first listen, Courtney’s (deliberately?) ugly and ragged voice is too distracting to me, and the overall wall of buzzing sound isn’t engaging me.
It's fine. Not terrible. Not great. Middle of the road to my ears.
Hard rock but it’s pop - didn’t enjoy this very much, was too distorted and too much of everything
meh grunge
Sorry I don’t like Punk sorryyy But if I did, I actually really like the production here
Did you know that Courtney Love's dad was the tour manager for the Grateful Dead? A lot of people in the 90s dismissed her as just riding Kurt Cobain's coat tails, but I'd say that she probably had the more credible rock and roll resume. In fact, Kurt apparently ODed the night of Nirvana's first appearance on Saturday Night Live and she had the wherewithal to revive him by sticking ice cubes up his ass to get the adrenaline flowing, something she'd seen it done so many times in her youth. Anyway- "Hole was definitely not overrated" is something you don't hear a lot of gen-X males saying, but not me. I thought their first two albums were great. This one is alright.
Hole - Celebrity Skin Decent 90's sounding like album that's fun to listen to. Thought it was going to be yet another insignificant 90's band, but I researched a bit and saw that the vocalist used to be Kurt Cobain's girlfriend, so that was something I didn't expect, which made the album feel different knowing that. It usually offers a bunch of catchy choruses and melodies that make you want to dance to it, even though some of those songs do tend to have dark lyrics on them. Overall, this is good. 1.- Celebrity Skin = 8/10 2.- Awful = 9/10 3.- Hit So Hard = 7/10 4.- Malibu = 8/10 5.- Reasons To Be Beautiful = 9/10 6.- Dying = 8/10 7.- Use Once & Destroy = 7/10 8.- Northern Star = 8/10 9.- Boys On The Radio = 7/10 10.- Heaving Tonight = 7/10 11.- Playing Your Song = 6/10 12.- Petals = 8/10 FINAL SCORE: 7.6/10
Brilliant opening song (and a big hit). Then… it’s fine. It’s consistent. But it keeps me at arm’s length, not sure why. I don’t want to fight too hard to get closer, and move on.
What a curve ball. Hole is generally more assaulting to the ears, so I expected something a little more edgy than this foray into alt-pop. It was enjoyable, but I kept feeling like it was a ploy and at any moment it would go off the rails. I enjoyed it, but unsure of what to make of it. Alt-pop Hole seems a little inauthentic. Walking away cautiouslt
Celebrity skin his pretty hard for the first song, and whole the album doesn't quite reach that height of power, they still rock pretty hard.
Courtney Love did not deserve all the shit she caught
Radio hit is Celebrity Skin. I also like Use Once And Destroy and Northern Star. I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I like Courtney Love's voice, and some songs are alternative rock as you'd expect, but some songs were softer with acoustic guitar. Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, contributed to five songs on the album.
Ah Courtney Love's alt-rock band. But I guess there are 3 tracks I remember, Celebrity Skin and Malibu, rest is very generic 90s alt-rock.
la band di Cortney love. carino
Good songs on this. What Courtney lacked in singing ability, she more than made up for it with the conviction and attitude she sang with. Not that being a great singer ever mattered much, so long as the songs are good.
A few great songs. A lot of average songs. Overall a fine album. Too bad she might have killed CK. 3.5
Super strong opening couple of tracks. The rest is just ok.
This shit banged more than I thought it would!
Hyggligt album. Bättre än jag förväntade mig.
Not my favorite by them but still pretty good
Oh Hole's one big album, it has celebrity skin on it which is a great song! But the rest of the album was pretty much just meh nothing really stood out to me beyond that, but it was a decent album
This was fine. It's really weird because celebrity skin came played earlier this week, and now I listened to it again. 3/5
Look, I love Courtney Love as much as the next person (jk, I actually do like her), but this is not a great album by any means. Yes, it’s got a few bangers/jams/slappers(?), but overall? Come on, guys. When I see all the albums that are NOT on this list it makes it really hard to overly appreciate the mediocre.
Brings back some nice memories from the early 2000s.
some good songs and some not
Not my favorite Smashing Pumpkins record but right up there
Average album, average singles underwhelming sound. Just not as interesting as hoped for.
Having heard the song Celebrity Skin on the radio I didn’t expect much out of it, but being able to hear all the lyrics in my AirPods I got a new appreciation for it. I enjoyed Malibu more than I thought I would as well. The rest of the album is mediocre but not unlistenable.
OVERALL: I think that most if not all of the songs here are pretty basic songs for the radio, but some of these do a much better job at this than others. The guitar is consistently basic for a lot of the songs, but when it isn't it's either really good or horrible. I can't help but feel like basically every single song is about Kurt Cobain in some way, shape, or form. Anyways, nothing was really too memorable, but that doesn't mean they don't sound good. I like Celebrity Skin, Dying, Use Once & Destroy, most of Playing Your Song, and Petals, but I can't really remember what some of them sound like after a while. Overall, I don't think this was anything that special. Good songs were pretty forgettable after a while, but were good nonetheless. The lyrics and vocals were either good or nothing special, and sometimes the vocals were kinda bad. I probably wouldn't listen to this as an album again, but there are some standalone songs that I would definitely add to my playlist. SONG AVG: 7.65/10 PERSONAL RATING: 6/10 Celebrity Skin: Banger. This is probably the whitest, most basic rock song to ever exist, but I like it. I guess the chorus could be a bit annoying and is a bit bad, but I kinda like it. Very catchy. 8/10 Awful: Pretty solid vocals, and the lyrics sound very personal to Courtney Love. The guitar is pretty good, and is overall really nice. I guess it's a little basic. 7.75/10 Hit So Hard: It sounds good, but it's kinda boring. The instrumental is pretty solid and sounds fine, but it's a little boring and basic. The lyrics are pretty good I guess, and I think it's about either Kurt Cobain, an orgasm, or domestic abuse. Everything else is fine. 6.5/10 Malibu: Same review as the last song, but the lyrics are about drugs and the vocals are pretty good. I guess the chorus is good. Nothing else is too interesting, overall pretty average. Works well as a song for the radio 7/10 Reasons To Be Beautiful: The lyrics are pretty good, but the vocals go from being pretty good to kinda bad. Although the vocals ruin some of the song, basically every other part of it is really good. I dislike the ending for the vocals, but everything else about it sounds good I guess. 8/10 Dying: Pretty good, but I don't like Courtney Love's vocals in some parts of the chorus. Other than that, basically everything is incredible, especially after the second chorus. I think the guitar may be just on a loop for like 30 seconds, but I don't really mind it too much. Very good overall. 9/10 Use Once & Destroy: Actually really good. I don't have anything negative to say about it. Very good lyrics, very good vocals, and very good instrumental. I guess it drags on a bit? 9.75/10 Northern Star: I don't like the vocals or most of the instrumental that much. I guess the lyrics are good. After each chorus, the instrumental becomes much better, which is pretty good if it weren't ass for the first minuteish, and after the first chorus the instrumental is slightly improved. 3.5/10 Boys On The Radio: Nice little pop song. It sounds as good as basic gets, and the tribute to dead people is pretty good. I can't really hear the lyrics over the instrumental, but I think the vocals are good from what I can hear. The lyrics aren't too interesting or deep, but since I can't really hear them it doesn't make too much of a difference. 7.75/10 Heaven Tonight: Once again, a nice little pop song. I guess the lyrics are good, pretty standard stuff. Overall above average, sounds like a song designed to be popular. 6/10 Playing Your Song: I don't like the guitar riff, which is a shame because everything else is basically perfect. Incredible instrumental and the vocals have lots of emotion. The guitar riff singlehandedly prevents this from being the best song on the album. 8.75/10 Petals: THIS is the best song on the album. As an album outro, it's not the best but it gets the job done. The instrumental is probably my favorite on the album, just really good overall and the string section at the end is perfection. The lyrics are just really good. The thing I don't like is when Courtney Love says whore, it sounds awkward and doesn't really flow well. Other than that the vocals are great. 9.8/10
Actually nice to listen to, enjoyed it but nothing stood out.
Reminds me a lot of a soundtrack to a 90s/00s teen comedy/drama. Len actually made a teen film. Wrote, produced and recorded the soundtrack! It was called Wild Teens: Coming of Age. He also starred in it as the main protagonist Age Cruz. It went straight to VHS, I never got to see it. Couldn’t find it in any video stores and Len kept his cards close to his chest with it. Always said it was a passion project. Difficult time for Len. One of his marriages was breaking down - but he was so engrossed with making this film. Determined almost. 2.6
Another added to the list of albums heard through my brothers bedroom wall. This seems like grunge but trying for mainstream appeal? Its okay, nothing really stands out to me, anytime I hear Celebrity Skin it reminds me of a girl I knew singing it over and over again whenever our friend group would play Rock Band.
This must have been a “you had to be there” kind of album because there is just nothing that stands out on here to me. Competent music and Courtney Love sounds just fine. I only know her as a walking disaster though so it’s hard to take this “F U entertainment industry” stuff seriously. But again… at the time I get why it would have been edgy and popular. Plus there’s kind of nips on the cover!
album itself is.. fine. celebrity skin is an absolute banger three stars just because that song is on it
An album that sounds exactly like one would think the Widow would make
When I wake up, in my makeup...
It's ok but nothing special.
Didn't think I would like it but can't keep my head from bopping to the beat
Wasn’t a big fan
Decent. Like her or loathe her, she's blockbuster. I never like it when an album starts with your most famous song, but it's still a banger. There are some lovely songs on here that move Hole into a more poppy-grunge sound that I dig. There are some pretty melodies that pair well with her voice. There are not enough dynamics, though, and the album trails a bit.
I did like it a little better than I thought, pretty classic grunge/90s alternative. But I did feel as the album played on each song had the same sound and the same feel.
Hole were a decent band operating in a pretty tumultuous timeline. Some crackin songs on this, more power pop than grunge. Courtney has the 'riz', the songs are tight and some good low end on the bass. Few fillers in there, but the hits are great.
3.5
I was already pretty familiar with Live Through This, but Celebrity Skin is definitely more slick sounding. It's the late 90's and alternative is now mainstream, so it seems the established trend is to just take those bands and polish enough of the edge off off them to be commercially successful. Despite the toothless production, the Hole songs are still good. This is a more mature band, but also a band that has been seduced by celebrity and its trappings. This is also the album with the most outside collaboration; Billy Corgan composed 5 songs. There are parts of the record that just feel so insincere and phoned in. It always appears as a red flag when a band requires new blood (outside help) in order to do what they've always done sucessfully. Couple that with a "California" concept and you have the makings of trite and vapid product. As I alluded to before, despite the warning signs, it seems like all the outside help actually worked. While not as inspired as some of their earlier works, Love and Co. managed to release a pretty enjoyable record.
Surprisingly quite enjoyed this album. I appreciate Courtney Love as an angsty artist and lyricist.
Cool! Bisschen zu monoton, um das Album nochmal anzuhören.
Well, I knew the first song :)
Her voice started to pinch a nerve not hit it because it was tolerable
oh Courtney Love. I never really listened to much Hole back in the day-mostly due to the love/hate the press had w/her. this was the 1st full album I've listened to & was kinda what I expected. couple really strong tracks (Celebrity Skin, Hits so hard, and Malibu), then some really meh tracks (Northern Star, Boys on the radio). Her vocals are all over the place & can easily get shrill/shrieky. Didn't realize how many other artists worked on this album too, which mildly detracts. Malibu best track
Contains some decent tracks and certainly an important Album of its time. Overall not a bad record but not convinced it’s a classic
3.5
oK
Mix of really good radio hits and mediocre to decent album filler. Also seems odd that a bunch of musicians that aren't in the band wrote or courtesy much of the back half of the album.
6/10 Was this a pretty bog standard grungy rock album? Yes Was the music generally pretty forgettable and turned a bit mushy in the production? Yes But was it better than most of the grunge I’ve heard? Also yes Love’s voices, a different lyrical perspective from the norm, and the female vocal harmonies all made this interesting to me. I thought a few times that it reminded me of Smashing Pumpkins, then Billy Corgan’s vocals popped up on the last song… Best: Petal
Good album but not every song was a winner.
Listened Before? Y Yep. Hole. Controversial only because she was the wife of Kurt Cobain and not nearly as good of a songwriter. I don't know, I have mixed feelings about the band but the songs are mostly solid here. Just a bit overpolished for a "grunge" record. Leans more pop. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Malibu
Not bad. 3/5
Not bad
Mwah Medium goed
General impression: it rocks, but Detailed review: I’m excited to get to their previous album on this list, because I thought this album sounded great, and I can clearly hear their talent in performance and songwriting. The production is a little sterile, though, and while there were some great tunes (the first three were my favorite), nothing on here was really memorable enough for me to want to return to it. At best I would isolate the songs I liked best and come back to those on a playlist or something. I came away from my listen liking Hole and respecting them and Courtney Love, but I wouldn’t put this on my list. Deeper thoughts (context): Courtney Love gets too much hate. It’s pretty fucked up. She was just a sharp, passionate rock musician. Score: 3.4 Number of albums left to review: 951 Number of albums from the list I’d consider “must-listens”: 29 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 21 (including this one)
Def more produced than Live Through This which I still listen to every so often. Love’s lyrics and Melissa Auf der Mar’s bass are so good. Makes sense Billy Corgan helped on this record cuz there’s def some smashing pumpkins influences to it.
Not bad. Surprised to find I know the title track. Solid album, all told, if not exciting.
She can’t sing. She can’t write songs. But she’s a famous rock widow. That insured good session musicians and production for her band’s album of simplistic melodies and uninspired lyrics. And it - along with the cover art - ensures Nirvana fans will buy the album. Bringing in a session vocalist and songwriter would have been an improvement. There’s one track with an acoustic guitar melody that I thought was impressive. It’s not awful. But not outstanding.
I really like Hole, but I wish I liked this record as much as other people do. I just wish this was more aggressive. Because it could be if it wanted to be. I think Live Through This is "my" Hole album, for that reason. I blame picking Michael Beinhorn as producer, I'm really not a fan of his sound on anything he does and I think that post-grunge sound is dated in a decidedly uncool way. But I think the band was already starting to be at the end of its rope too. I don't know. Still technically a "good" record but doesn't have any of that magic for me.
interesting rythm
Celebrity Skin is a great power pop album and an interesting way to depart from the grunge style from previous Hole works. The changes in the line up and production style (thanks to Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins) resulted in an album about California that works very well as a single theme record. Love's lyrics are at her peak, exploring themes of superficiality and sexism. "Celebrity Skin" and "Malibu" perfectly embody 1998’s music scene. 3.5⭐️
Couple good songs on this album, especially Celebrity Skin, but mostly mediocre.
Not as bad as I had feared
I loved some of this at the time it came out. Now, a lot of it seems......just fine. Another one where you need to do a bit of separating the art from the artist though. 3/5
I don't know what I expected from this album, but I definitely didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. That being said, I still wasn't super impressed with this album. It was definitively 90s pop grunge, but I can think of many more bands who did it better (Bush) and quite a few who were female led like Hole (Garbage). So, although it was an easy, enjoyable listen, there wasn't anything remarkable about it, and I'm left scratching my head as to why it's a "must listen".
doesn't sound bad but most of the stuff sounds like it'd be a theme song on an 80s/90s sitcom + a bit samey after a few songs; 2.75
Not bad, recognized a song or two, but nothing amazing.
When this band broke up, the joke was to say “Did you hear that Courtney Love’s ‘Hole’ Has Split?” Anyway, good album but pretty dated.
Starting of really strong and if you are used to rock you'll recognize the first track. but the second track was still good and i was surprised that the album was better than i expected from the first album i got. the whole album has a angry 90s-00s teenager (movie) vibe. but it get repetitive after a couple of songs, especially her very special way of singing.
Ok I guess
Okay, I thought this was pretty good. I was expecting something grungy, but it wasn't that at all. Just pop-forward alt rock?
Levyn nimikkokappale ja toinen hittibiisi entuudestaan tuttuja. Tiedostamatta erään jäsenen historiaa ja siten objektiivisesti kuunneltuna levy oli ihan menevä. Tosin en tiedä olisiko vaikuttanut vaikka olisin tiennyt historian...
It's probably not a great idea to subject anyone to Kanye West and then Courtney Love (Hole) right after each other, given how much their toxic and destructive personalities color their music. And I'm also disappointed that the collection has more than one Hole album, given how interchangeable it feels like their songs and albums are. But "Celebrity Skin" *does* have a few more radio-friendly hits than the aptly-named "Live Through This" (mainly the title track, but also "Malibu" and "Awful"), and I guess it counts for something that they seemed to progress into alt-rock more than grunge-ish on this album. Overall, it's a fine if overly long album, especially if you enjoy Hole's sound and style, which I don't particularly, although I did enjoy "Use once & destroy". Much like my experience listening to "Live Through This", I'm really surprised how they're not all that distinctive-sounding. But kudos to Love for the T.S. Eliot/Wasteland inspiration for the album, and sad that they tried to get Brian Eno to produce the album, and then tried for Billy Corgan and then settled for a guy who effectively sabotaged their longtime drummer. What a strange swan song for a band. (3)
I was only familiar with Celebrity Skin from this album. After listening to this album, I can see why. The other songs are all fine but none have much punch. You can tell that more time and money went into this song. It’s a good song but u wish the rest of the album sounded more like it.
Since Celebrity Skin is in this list, it means 2 Hole albums are in it and that seems like one too many. By no means do I dislike Celebrity Skin, it’s a strong album, marking Love’s transition from Nirvana to polished movie star and pop icon. I respect the song writing but overall, there are only a few great songs (title track, Malibu is fantastic, Northern Star stand out) 7.8/10
Good 90's rock. Of course I enjoyed hearing radio staples Celebrity Skin and Malibu but I particularly appreciated discovering Heaven Tonight, which I've added to my playlist of favourites.
pretty good, but i think celebrity skin has such a different vibe to the rest of the songs. almost feels like it sets the album up to feel different? wish the rest of the songs had more of a cunty vibe
Pretty good!
Pure 90s rock, better than it should be
As the lights went out on the 21st century, Courtney Love turned the ashes and the dust of her troubled past into unlikely glitter. “Celebrity Skin” sees her and band Hole chase radio-ready riffs, instant choruses and arena-filling scale. It’s all ready made; just add lyrics. After the era-defining opus of “Live Through This”, this follow-up was railed against by “true” Hole fans for being too polished and professional, their sell-out album. For me, though, it’s a decent entry and every bit as good as “Live Through This”. Producer and all-round sous-chef of “Celebrity Skin” is Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame, lending it some of his unmistakeable flavours. The ultra-compressed power-chord riff in the title track, coupled with Love’s sneering delivery and three core melodies rotating on a carousel, is prime-Pumpkins: the signs rinse and repeat throughout. We’re teased with what seems an undisputed classic from the first few tracks: “Celebrity Skin” smacks us in the jaw with its central hook, light and shade approach and ear-grabbing, eviscerating takedown of the Hollywood machine. Then, “Awful” is pop-rock perfection, all shimmering guitars and arena-ready singalong. There’s a sheen of acoustic guitar and waves of blissful backing vocals in “Malibu”. Look no further: the seeds of the noughties pop-punk explosion are right here (yes, I detect more than a little Avril Lavigne). But after the halfway point, “Celebrity Skin” reveals itself as a good album disguised as a really great one. “Dying” is sluggish Smashing Pumpkins karaoke, ballad “Northern Star” lacks enough bite to carry itself off, and “Reasons to Be Beautiful” stumbles around in the sludge without resolution. They all reuse the same moods and lyrical ideas of the earlier tracks, with a little too much indulgence in self-pity and at the expense of the melodic immediacy or instrumental chops. Finally, “Petals” really drops the ball, missing the chance to be a grand summation or final track stomper (like “Rock Star”, my favourite track on “Live Through This”). There are still some solid, enjoyable tracks to be found towards the end- the deft acoustic guitar and bubbling synths of “Heaven Tonight”, the chorus of “Boys on the Radio”, the swirling fuzz bass vortex of “Use Once & Destroy”- but they never quite add up to a top-tier album experience.
I prefer Live Through This. Nothing matches Doll Parts. It's a tad too over produced and that kinda goes against the skuzzy ethic of the band. Ok FM rock though.
Day254 - i gotta say it was better than i remembered. i think billy corgans writing helped
I like how each of the three original Hole albums are very different, like they had a clear idea of what they wanted to do with each one. This one might be a little too good at sounding like 90s grown up straight down the middle rock. It's fun but could be a couple of tracks shorter for me.
#341. I'm not saying Hole is bad, I quite like some of it, but I am her to say they're overrated. Without her connection to Cobain, this middle if the pack band never would have been that popular and surely would have been one of the thousands forgotten. It's fine, but that's about it. 3/5: if I wanted to listen to a band that's more popular because of who the members were married to instead of on the merit of their music, I'd probably go listen to The Distillers anyway.
a bit too emo for me but not awful. when it succeeds at actually being grunge it gets better
We’re dealing with the Godmothers of grunge here, right? This album has more depth than I expected with tracks like “northern star”. And what a banger of an opener. Unfortunately, the album dabbles in the 90s mundane at times.
Well this was...fine.
what peyton sawyer in one tree hill thought she was
Gonna be honest I liked this a lot more than I anticipated. She reminds me of Liz Phair who I like
Courtney Love certainly got a lot of street cred for hanging around (and sometimes dating or marrying) rock royalty of the 90s. I confess that I primarily still think of her as the wife of Kurt Cobain who publicly cried and swore at his funeral. It's disrespectful (and a bit sexist) to only associate a person by their more famous partners, so I'm trying to evaluate this music on its own merit. It's difficult because I feel like I'm hearing so much of Billy Corgan's influence here in the collision between grunge and pop music, but Love does bring her own style and sound in as well. Hole was never really on my radar, but Love did undeniably manage to become a star in her own right, outside of the shadow of her famous associations. As an album, it's a pretty good piece of 90s rock. And it feels weird not to include Courtney Love in that history.
The opening title track makes it clear why it was the lead single. But then nothing really grabbed me until “Playing Your Song.” Which is the second to last song. “Live Through This” is so much better.
I kind of liked this better than I thought I would.
The second Hole album on the list, not sure why there has to be two but there you go there is. Celebrity Skin is a lot more polished than previous releases and was by far their biggest album. The title track is a great song and was the band's biggest hit and other singles Malibu and Awful are both great songs the rest of the album is solid post grunge alt-rock and is worth a listen but won't blow you away.
Ein Album mit Höhen und Tiefen. Die Damen harmonieren ungemein gut im Gesang. Die Musik begeistert nicht immer, manchmal klingt es zu einerlei, der Sound langweilig und zu Möchtegern rockig. Gut es heißt ja auch Rock Alternative, aber da wären schon mal Überraschungen angebracht oder irgendwas eigenständiges. Na ja, da bleibt es halt bei einem ganz okay Album..
Как саундтрек к молодёжном фильму конца 90х начала 00х
This one was pretty much stereotypical of the late 90s for me. Courtney Love's struggle to remain relevant. The first track was the one that got the radio play and also the one I had heard before. There's not much to the rest of the album IMO.
Pretty solid, but not spectacular, 90s alt rock album. Really enjoyed the first couple songs on this one, but there wasn't enough in the back half to make me rate it that highly.
ok...
Started ok then settled for droning over vol-ish rock.
I liked their other album more. This is generic female-led radio rock, and every song sounds the same. 3.5 stars. Stand-out: Northern Star
Drastic improvement from recent schlock. But maybe that's where my higher scores sometimes come from: relief. She's still tuneless but when propped up by actual songwriters, it's not bad.
The title track is incredible and kicks things off so well, and the closer is really impactful as well. Unfortunately the rest of the album lacks the intensity and energy of their two previous records and is a bit forgettable
Sounds good to me Will I listen to again: 75%
Aldrei hlustað á Hole svo ég ákvað að rúlla í gegnum plötuna. Ágætis stelpurokk en frekar klént. Ekkert nýtt í þessu.
The first song is pretty good but the rest is kind if boring
Not bad
Critically I think this album did alright. Personally, C Love was never my cup of tea.
When I first heard Pretty On The Inside I never would've imagined that the Nancy Spungenesque punk princess would evolve into a latter day Stevie Nicks Great songs on an at times run of the mill AOR album
I liked this album and the style they were going for. Some of the songs were somewhat forgettable. Favorite songs were Celebrity Skin, Awful, Malibu, Northern Star, and Petals.
hellowww everyonewww imww backww withww anotherww reviewww andww iww mustww saywww thatww thisww albumww wasww prettywww goodwww iww likedww itww althoughww itww couldww feelww aww bitww sameyww atww someww pointsww ifww imww beingwww honestww soww yeahww thatswww 3ww starsww verywww closeww toww fourww starswww yeswww youww maywww goww nowww
3.5 pretty good
Kurt writes a mean song
3.5
going in, i had only heard the title track before, so i had an idea of what to expect. i love their previous album, live through this, but this one hits a little different. courtney love’s lyrics are still angry, but the vocal delivery is a bit more subdued. it’s definitely hole, but a more polished sound… not as rough around the edges. highlights: “celebrity skin” “hit so hard” “playing your song”
I don’t mind it.
Good, a little too repetitive sounding.
The opening title track is a killer. it bloody rocks. I've always loved this. The melodies that followed were a surprise. It strays into guitar pop territory.
Good rock album by Hole. At the time it was all about Courtney's relation to Cobain. Also Billy Corgan contributed to the album. The songs and most of the performance is great, but the voice of Love gets annoying and withholds me from giving four stars.
STANDOUTS: Celebrity Skin Hit So Hard Malibu Dying Petals OVERALL: 3.5/5
I was shocked to find Live Through This a very good album after years of grunge heads telling me Courtney Love was the worst thing that happened to music. So what will this bring? What a great opening.
Almost 4 stars. I found it quite middle-of-the-road on first listen, but found the songs got their hooks into me on subsequent plays. Good catchy 90s alt rock, but just not as inspired as other bands of that era.
Good Grunge record. The songs are good.
Not as raw as I expected. Title track is first. Awful is a catchy rocker and Hits So Hard is smooth with a simple repeated riff. Malibu is along the same lines, and it's growing on me. Almost shoegaze at times but there's an edge to it. Later on, Northern Star goes in a more acoustic direction, possibly overstaying its welcome. I think the album overall is too long but the closer Petals is worth it. Not sure how to rate this, nothing is unpleasant but it also seems to play things very very safe.
Mid pop rock, but has some good moments
Decently heavy, but just a lot of generic 90s pop-rock really.
A nice piece of late 90s alt rock, but a little forgettable.
My expectations were through the floor, deep underground (but I liked it)
Like
Really only knew the one famous song from this album. Made for good music today.
Solid album. I obviously knew Courtney Love, but I had really never heard much Hole. I liked this album for the most part. It's pretty solid 90s alt rock. There are probably 5 good-to-great songs and mostly some other filler that is OK, but I enjoyed listening. It's just a good, solid 3-star album. I wouldn't be mad if someone had the CD in their car on a road trip. ***
This feels like fairly strong alt rock. Doesn't blow me away but it's fine and at times has a good energy and sound. Not sure I'd miss never hearing it again but I think it makes sense being on the list.
First thing that stuck out for me was the the production sounds better than I expected. I only knew the first track and some manic energy interviews by Courtney. It was interesting to read that Billy Corgan and Charlotte Caffey had some hand in this because there were moments that reminded me of both bands. Despite having some moments, overall this was a little bland. There may have been a way to cut some tracks and distill this down to a better album.
It's got both rock and roll. It's a good listen. Enjoy it.
allt í fína. efast um að ég hlusti nokkurn tíma aftur á þetta.
I love the title song, because it's nostalgic, but honestly, the rest of the album is just kind of... eh.
I'm starting to understand the commonalities of music from this genre from this era. I like it, I recognize it, it isn't particularly impactful to me.
Solid. I didn’t feel strongly about it one way or the other.
Never heard of this group before. Interesting, kind of a hard rock mixed with an 80's band vibe. I kind of liked it.
Grunge dude
Perfectly alright grunge album. It came out a few years after Kurt's death so I imagine some of the concepts are related to him. I'd give it a 3/5.
Nice rock album with some good songs but a lot of average songs.
Never gave much thought to HOLE, but this is actually pretty good
I like it. It's catchy. But I feel around the middle of the album it loses me because it could be more dynamic.
Huh. This one is weird. I dig the grunge parts, but it constantly switch between being pretty good grunge and boring pop rock. I even got some boomer country vibes from it, I think? These songs would be pretty good to listen to on like College Rock Station in the Sims 2, but irl its not my style.
It wasn’t Awful, but it didn’t have to Hit So Hard.
This was funny because my husband and I were just talking about this album yesterday. I’ve never paid much attention to Hole. This album is consistent without being repetitive and I think it deserves a place on this list, but I don’t see myself listening to it again.
Important for indie solid late 90s grunge
Irgendwie nichtssagend. Aber auch nicht schlecht
Edgy kind of Avril Lavigne music. Not really my thing, but it was good.
Did not like this at all
Solid. Tuneful. Fails to reach its predecessor's heights but also avoids its lows.
Full disclosure, I never liked Courtney Love. I always felt to fell into the spotlight and extreme wealth in a shitty way with her marriage to Kurt Cobain and after his death she became an attention magnet. Her acting career was a joke and her "celebrity" was sketchy at best. During Cobain's lifetime, I refused to listen to Hole and it was a few years after his death I bought a used tape of "Pretty on the Inside", Hole's debut from 1991. It was better than I expected. The third album, Celebrity Skin had a more commercial power-pop rock sound to it, not as punky or abrasive as the previous two albums. Some fans screamed sell-out, but it was definitely their most accessible sounding album and in some ways more enjoyable. I'm not defending the record, I like the crisp sound, but it's maybe too mainstream sounding that wouldn't have been out of place on radio, alongside Fleetwood Mac or any other corporate rock bands. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the band didn't win over or keep as many fans as they thought they would, including the questionable decision to tour with Marilyn Manson. It went downhill from there. If you judge the album on it's own, it's generic and "nice-sounding", but really music should be more important than that.
Way better than I expected it to be.
Good grungey rock, some misses and some hits. Fun listen
Not bad. Was never super into Hole, but there's a couple songs that I liked.
This one isn't as good as Live Through This but that guitar riff on the song "Celebrity Skin" is an all-timer. That is a 5-star riff! However, this is probably an under-appreciated album that should have got more love in the 90s and more love now. Anyway, 3-stars. I'll probably revisit this one again.
Has one good song, rest is forgettable
3/5. It's got a song of the summer vibe with a dark undertone, and punk aspect that is more subtle than other alt-rock punk albums. It's a good album and has great songwriting, I guess it's just not for me. I enjoyed it but probably not gonna check it out again.
Solide, aber der grungige Vorgänger gefällt mir wesentlich besser. Das hier ist schon etwas zu glatt gebügelter Rock. 2,5
Sounds like the start of a late 90's early 2000's coming of age or Romcom movie. Still enjoyed it.
This was a nice one, but not outstanding.
I recognized a couple of songs. The album was alright. It went on a little long. Better than a 3 not really a 4. I will round down.
Can’t for the life of me figure out what’s so special about this. Has some decent enough songs-the singles in particular are the standouts. The rest is just late 90s “we don’t want to be grunge anymore, but we don’t really have a better idea, so here’s…this.”
it's alright.. disliked Love's singing
Pretty middle of the road alternative.
have a inherent dislike of this band as when I was at college they were the band for the "slightly alternative" who wanted to feel superior to everyone else, despite this essentially being a pop album. Attempting to rate purely on the music is difficult as it opens with a banger, true, however some of it like "Malibu" could easily be from a Taylor Swift bland middle of the road type. "reasons to be beautiful" has guitar which echo Nirvana but Love's vocals fail. "Dying" is interesting but obviously aimed at edgelords "Use Once & Destroy" loved this. So overall real mixed bag. it's a polished grunge album which is not a reason to dislike it. 3
Very first song I could not have said who sang it but have heard it in the movies before! A mostly female band named Hole...yea inherendo.
Man kann sich mal ein paar Lieder davon anhören, aber nicht auf Dauer. Stimmung kommt teilweise ganz gut rüber. Es scheint mir nichts Besonderes zu sein. Der Gitarrensound nervt etwas.
Another band and album that I've never really listened to, but this was also a pleasant surprise for the most part. Love's voice is a major strength and she carries the weight for most of the album. The guitars are quite heavy too. This was better than I was expecting. Favorite tracks: Celebrity Skin, Awful, Reasons to Be Beautiful, Use Once & Destroy, Heaven Tonight, Playing Your Song.
The title track of course slaps real hard. Some other good tracks spread throughout, but it gets a bit muddled together in sections. Overall a good listen tho
Thought I'd hate it, but turned out its pretty nice! I like it when stuff like that happen.
I actually knew a few songs but had no clue when I first saw the name. This type of grunge wouldn’t be my sort of this but it wasn’t bad.
Alt rock, Courtney Love, OK
90s grunge rock for sure. Cool album
I liked the title song a lot. The rest of the punk sound was quite good.
Favorite song on the album Boys On The Radio, I don't remember the other songs. *thumbs up* Not bad at all, just, not veryyyyyy memorable.
Classic album of the nineties. The overblown grunge vocals are a bit much but I can still enjoy a few tracks off this album. Nostalgic.
Some nice tracks but she’s a murderer
Some hits (Malibu, Awful, title track) but the slower tracks really aren't it
The title track is best track. “Live through this” is still the best Hole album.
Positive Überraschung!
sounds good - like it for listening in the car on the go
Wish I would have gotten their previous album first. This being the first Hole album I've heard leaves me with a bad impression, and I've heard their previous is much better. Celebrity Skin is fine. It's pretty good even, but all the songs flow together for me. Maybe need a few more listens.
Not as good as "Live Through This," but still pretty good. The title track's one of my favorite Hole songs. 3.5 stars.
Some great songs but not nearly as good as ‘Live Through This’ which was action packed and filled to the brim with bangers. Opening track and ‘Malibu’ are standouts but then the record tapers off quite quickly - and while I love Courntely Love and as mentioned, the previous record, this one doesn’t deserve beyond 3 stars unfortunately
It was okay
Easy to listen to, didn’t dislike any of it but also didn’t really get into any of it
Decent rock album, seems to be a theme with the 90s/00s rock I keep getting, just nothing massively interesting