Reviews (page 7 of 10)
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
Not totally standout but still very very good. This grunge/rock feel from the late 90s is just one of my favorite sounds. However, the album lacks character and is a bit too long. Favorites were the title track, Malibu, and Northern Star
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
This specificly sounds like it should be the soundtrack to a 2000s coming of age teen movie. Its pretty good, and nice to see more female led groups in this list. The lead singer has a bit of grunginess in her voice that i like. That said the album felt good but generic. Favorite track was reasons to be beautiful.
3/5
Was a little surprised when track one started playing because I wasn’t really looking forward to a band that has to do with Courtney Love, but when it came on it was a case of “oh it’s THAT song”! That was my highlight of this listen. There are a few other tracks that poked my interest but at the same time there was a lot of stuff that wasn’t really engaging my interest.
At the first chord, it was a case of ok they're just another post punk American pop rock band.(I have been informed this is what grunge is). By half way through it they are obviously not "just another", they've actually got something here. As the album progresses it continues to display this. I like it, now then how to score it? Think its got to be a high 3 again
Courtney Love's peak was a bit before my time, but I was vaguely aware of her from her marriage to Kurt Cobain and as an actress. I honestly had no idea she had a band of her own. This album was a fine 90s alt rock album, but nothing stood out as particularly exceptional. Perfectly good to listen to, but not a ton making me want to come back for more beyond a few songs here and there. Favorite song: Malibu Other: Celebrity Skin, Reasons To Be Beautiful, Northern Lights, Boys On The Radio, Pedals 11/27/23
2.58 per track
A solid rocker that I had some slight familiarity with (mainly the title track) coming in. Do have to say the aforementioned opener sets a high standard that the rest of the album doesn’t live all the way up to (1-2 tracks could be trimmed to make this a tighter and punchier LP), but it still offers a high-quality dose of grunge.
One hit Wonder IMO
Rambumcious
Listened Before? No Album Art: 2 / 5 (getting some serious "I Know What You Did Last Summer" vibes here) I recognize the title track from Rock Band. Never was a huge fan, but its fine angsty pop rock, with a damned catchy singalong chorus. Five songs in this is very capable alt rock that has yet to command my attention. Fills the space nicely, and Courtney Love's voice brings the right weight and texture to bear over the instrumentals. This feels like less-punky No Doubt (perhaps due to the parallel in female vocalist). I really enjoyed Dying and the writing on Northern Star. I would say that I enjoyed this album more than I expected based on Celebrity Skin alone. I feel like this is a solid entry into the alt-pop-rock category, and enjoyed how Courtney Love shaped her voice around the instrumentals. That being said, I'm not a huge fan of the genre and didn't find too much to really hook in to. 3 / 5 Added to Library? No Songs Added to Playlists:
Pleasantly surprised by this one. I was expecting some edgy garbage tunes. Enjoyed the listen, not quite enough for a 4, but I considered it a couple of times.
Rock band to start things off?? Pretty standard alternative rock album that 17 year old me would have probably liked way more. A lot of the songs sounded the exact same and I lost interest in the last quarter of the album. Malibu was probably my favorite song on here. 2.5 but I will round up because the first half of the album was pretty good
3/5. So close to a 4 star rating. I had never given this band a listen even though I had heard of them before. Loved their punk/alternative rock feel and actually really enjoyed it!
One of the most 90s things I've listened to.
Hole is pretty good. Celebrity Skin being their hit the rest of the album has similar vibes. 3.5 down to 3 just cause I wanted a 👍 and had none but would listen to this album again.
First time hearing any of these songs, apart from the title track. This is the second Hole album that we've been dealt. And based on the first album, this was so much better than I was expecting. Most definitely grungy but almost 90s pop at times.
I liked - just like I liked the other Hole album. Not entirely sure why there are two Hole albums on this list though?
90s nostalgia
I like some of the songs. It felt a little repetitive.
Intense emo rock driving
Punky rock
Really, do Hole get two albums in the 1001 of all time, I don't think so. Its a solid album but it isn't a great album
6/10 Urgent, consistent, unremarkable Highlights: - Reasons to be Beautiful
7/10
Surprisingly better than I remembered. And I heard this album a LOT when it came out. I have a lot of sympathy for Courtney. She got a bad rap for so many reasons, this albums sheen and popiness included. I appreciate what they were found a lot more now looking back.
After 3 listens, I like this album more than I did in my youth. Love has a great singing voice and her lyrics are poignant. The album as a whole feels like two separate works. It comes in with a heavy attack and then halfway enters more of a standard rock/slower ballad territory. Solid 3, enjoyed it a lot more as an adult than 15 year old me would have.
Tehotalo albumi... apitsi moni biisi ei tehokkaalta tunnu painetaan ja oainetaan yhdellä tunteella 5 min.. siitä respect ei juosta vaan JOLKOILLAAN..
I think I had really only listened to the title track when this came out. This is very much "sad emo lovesongs' territory that I may have identified with better as a teenager ("Dying" for sure). "Boys on the Radio" is a very stereotypical radio pop song from the late 90s. Basic power chords with just a little distortion. It sounds like it would be the theme song for a competitor to Friends.
Good little grungy album. Me 15 years ago would appreciate it more I’m sure.
Ya know, I was expecting a lot more. It was good but nothing amazing. Very nostalgic for sure!!
‘Celebrity Skin’ lacks that hard edge, anguish, pain and rage of its predecessor. It’s more polished and not as raw. It’s still good, it’s just that ‘Live Through This’ is better.
Too slick to be grunge; too grimy to be pop. Probably the pinnacle of Hole’s artistic prominence and a damned fine hard-rock offering. Courtney Love’s vocal bombast deserves some credit for why this stands the test of time.
This is so dead-center 90’s. But it’s a really good example of that, it’s great songs, it sounds really good, it’s kind of everything you could want from a 90’s album. I don’t really resonate a ton with it, but I do like it, I think it sounds good! Honestly this feels worlds apart from where music is today… maybe further than music from the 60’s and 70’s even, which has this evergreen quality of being imitated every generation. Has this “sheen” to it that practically no alt rock records today have anything close to. They really figured out how to make great rock records! I am just imagining seeing them live and having a great time. 3/5, enjoyed this much more than I thought I would.
More listenable than I thought.
I, of course, have been aware of Hole and Courtney Love since the 90s, although I didn’t really ever get into them. I wanted to like this more, but I don’t think I like Courtney’s singing and it all sort of bled together for me.
Album 21 I remember when the “Celebrity Skin” music video was released. It was constantly played on MTV with discussions of how Courtney Love had “cleaned up”. I never listened to the album, and I don’t recall ever hearing the other singles. Looking back, I can’t help but feel that she must have been so frustrated that everyone was missing the point of the album. This is an album about someone who was used and abused by the entertainment industry, and it didn’t really get anybody talking about that. I liked the music itself, and I thought the lyrics were clear and concise. I think that the production was much cleaner than the previous music that was released, but I only ever recall hearing a few other songs prior to this. In general, I felt that this was a good post-grunge rock album. 3.5* rounded to 3*
Title track is the standout. This album feels a lot more polished than Live Through This, and I'm not sure that's a good thing; I think I preferred the relative rawness of the predecessor. If that's a solid 4, this just misses it - high 3.
Knew the title track and the others are in a similar vein. A good album overall but probably not one I’ll be listening to very often. Better than most of the other 3s I’ve given, but doesn’t warrant a 4.
It's not bad, a bit generic grungyness but pretty catchy songs overall. Not a big fan of Courtney Love's voice. 3 stars.
Favorites were Malibu and Petals
Such mixed feelings here. I wasn't a fan of grunge so I missed several bands from that time. I knew of Hole from the stories of Courtney Love and the whole mess that followed her. Listening today, I find the music interesting and the mix of these was well done. CL's vocal performance was adequate but I don't know if that's the case because it was meant to match the instrumentals or if it was a natural voice.
It was okay
Courtney Love can really snarl.
Starts brilliantly with the awesome Celebrity Skin title track/single. The rest is good rock with a hint of grunge (four years or more had passed since Live Through This and grunge rock's finest period). Love's singing ranges from ballsy rock to clean singing to ugly grunge/punk, sometimes in the same phrase!
Expected to hate this. I'm not much of a Courtney/Hole fan. I didn't hate it. Actually enjoyed half of it and found a few songs pretty bad, but overall a solid 3.
Starts well, goes downhill. Not as good as Live Through This
Pop rock album with lady vocals, pretty good overall but not my taste
pretty good grunge rock 3.5
I’m not going to lie, when this appeared I physically shrank into myself with a “aw for fuck sake” reaction. However, this was a real blast! Great album full of strong songs! Will only sound better on a decent stereo too! I’m going to mark it a 3 but really it’s like a 3.75
Cool. No one does grunge better than papa Kurt but this is pretty dope. I little poppy but not so much that it was annoying or lost it’s genuine grunge. Just okay tho
Ég hef aldrei verið fan en það eru nokkur þokkaleg lög þarna.
It's alright!
There are some very good and pretty depressing songs like Awful and Dying but also others that I did not care about. Overall enjoyable though. Highlights: Awful, Hit So Hard, Dying, Northern Star
Some good tracks, but not a stormer or anything. Would listen again.
This is my second album by Courtney Love's band, Hole. This is their third, and last studio album before breaking up in 2002. This was the only album to feature bassist Melissa Auf der Maur. Even though Patty Schemel played drums in the demos, she was replaced by session drummer, Deen Castronovo, for the recording sessions. This was the first appearances of a creative rift forming between members of the band. Record producer, Michael Beinhorn convinced Courtney to drop the heavy, gloomy grunge sound for a more upbeat, pop rock sound. Grunge was dying, and Michael felt that appealing to the larger, and hugely popular pop rock audience would help the band gain notoriety. Many of Hole's fans saw this as a sell out, however, and this ended up hurting the band in the long run. Of the two albums that I reviewed by this band, this is my least favorite. I am not particularly a Hole fan, but I am familiar with their hits. Celebrity Skin is the clear star on this album. I remember hearing it on the video game Rock Band). I think my issue with this album is indeed the feeling of selling out that I got while listening to it, and comparing it to the older "Live Through This". Overall, not a terrible album, just kind of disappointing in the grand scheme of things. I don't think I would necessarily shut this record off if it was playing, but I wouldn't seek it out either. Favourite songs: Celebrity Skin, Use Once & Destroy, Malibu, Northern Star, Awful Least favourite songs: Dying 3/5
Courtney Love caught a lot of flack for her relationship with Kurt Cobain. She was accused of stealing his songs for Hole and riding his coattails, but I feel like that's a disservice to the everyone involved who clearly made a forward-thinking power pop record for the end of the millennium. Having shed the edgy grunge sound from Live Through This, Hole produces some quality hooks that feels like this was what they were meant for all along. Undoubtedly though, Celebrity Skin has a lot more polish in it's production, indicative of a post-grunge world that rejects the grime for only a few years ago. This production is both to the benefit and detriment, as some songs fare better than others. Use Once & Destroy attempts to hold on to some of the distortion but loses it's edge along the way. The prior song, Dying, gains a lot by highlighting the subtler elements of this tender song. Hole did well on this record. I think Celebrity Skin deserves it's flowers just as much as Live Through This, as it shows solid maturity and growth for the band.
Not a massive fan of CL’s vocals but still a pretty good album.
While it does prove that Courtney love is a successful artist entirely independent of Cobain, the album has nothing new to say, and so comes off as Live Through This - lite.
Courtney Love is not a great singer, but a lot of the songs are okay.
Is this the album Billy Corgan and/or Trent Reznor wrote? I can't keep up with the hot goss. The best thing about this record is that Samantha Maloney got to be their drummer for the tour and in the videos, and that Steve Pedulla and I saw her play drums for a great post-hardcore band called SHIFT at some tiny club in Chapel Hill or somewhere while we were in film school. SHIFT is/was great. Hard not to be happy for her. And then she played for Motley Crue at a point where Tommy Lee must've been doing his nu-metal solo thing? And THEN she played drums for Peaches?? What a strange career path. Surprised she's not the new drummer for the Foo Fighters at this rate. Anywho, yeah the songs just aren't as strong on this album as I'd hoped. I like the opener and I liked "Playing Your Song." "Awful" is catchy. But there's a lot here that plays like filler - which probably would've worked better if it still retained the bite of their earlier material. Alas, the riot grrrrrl grunge was exchanged for more of a mild-mannered meeting grrrrl and, ironically, I think the album ages worse because of it. And I'm going to blame Billy Corgan regardless. Just because.
Glad I gave this a chance again. She annoyed me so I stopped listening to her music. Still a good record. I preferred the previous one. This did have Malibu which is part of why I stopped listening originally. So mixed overall
Better than the previous hole album we got but still just only ok and not really that interesting
Decent album, nothing too special.
Lot less angry then the last Hole album. Liked this more.
Definitely a commercial release. Definitely hear the influence of Corgan on a number of these tracks. Love is a good songwriter. Her band was really good. There are some bangers on this album. It's not my favorite, but it's still a solid release. And yet, meh.
love knows a hook, gotta give her that, not a lot of air or space in here though, so radio
Its OK but not amazing and I'm not sure that I agree that it belongs on a top 1000 list. 3/5
Good music! Maybe a little slow and same-y across the whole album, but it's in a genre I like so I was happy to listen. Interesting to learn a little more about Courtney Love from this album. I do tend to like rock / punk bands with female leads.
It's okay. Not as bad as I expected.
Sopivan ei-enää-niin grungee, etenkin alkupuolella kuuluu jo 2000-luku (Nylon beatin "rock-biisit" jopa tulee mieleen), asenne yllättävän kohdillaan, vahvat ekat biisit etenkin
Tasainen osoitus hyvästä melodiantajusta. Onko levyllä mitään ERITYISTÄ? En ole varma - siis aidosti en ole.
As much as I despise Courtney Love, Hole did put out some cool stuff. However, on Celebrity Skin it's quite obviously the tracks written partly by Billy Corgan (title track and 'Malibu' among others) which are carrying the (w)hole thing. Stuff like 'Boys On The Radio' and 'Heaven Tonight' are downright awful, and Love's vocals for 50 minutes straight is a bit too much.
Hole is obviously a better band when they get others to write their material. Especially the Corgan-written title track and “Malibu” are instant classics. When Hole take the reins themselves toward the end they threat to bring everything crashing down on “Boys on the Radio” and “Heaven Tonight”. In conclusion I will, somehow reluctantly, say that…. Hole is actually pretty cool.
Courtney is cool but this album is less fun than I'd like it to be
It’s fine
Grunge was over, so they made a power pop album. And they did a good job. Not very original, but there isn't a single bad song on this album. Favorite song: Use once and destroy
I figured I'd see one of their earlier albums here, not this one. But it's ok in the end...
Moooola (LNB)
Quite enjoyed that. 3.5 stars.
One of the biggest travesties in alt rock is that we only got one album with Melissa Auf Der Maur as Hole's bassist and harmony queen. Luckily, it's pretty damn good. Is it as primally urgent and sad and triumphant and twisted as Live Through This? No way. But, i mean, come on. I was really anticipating this one in 1998. I was a huge fan of it's predecessor, and Courtney in general. Fascinating crazy and beautiful human. I wa sliving in a one room shit apartment as a college kid, trying to walk the straight and narrow and failing. I was lonely. I bonded with a gal who lived down the street with this album. We started sleeping together, though no relationship really came out of it. She was nice i guess, but...shit happened. We even saw the Courtney Love starring New Year's Eve film 200 Cigarettes in the theatre. It was not very good, but whatever. Title track. Classic. "Awful" is a gorgeous slice of crunchy jangly power pop. "Hit so Hard"-a breather from the awesomke, but still good "Malibu" may be the best song ever. I said it, and I can't take it back. Everything about it is fucking beautiful. "Reasons To Be Beautiful"-never found this one to be particularly memorable If memory serves, the album dips in quality a bit here. But it shall return. "Dying"-ballad? not bad. better than i remember. "Use Once and Destroy" plods. I confuse it with "Reasons To Be Beautiful". Filler i guess. Sounds like one that Billy Corgan was involved with. Waste of a great song title. the naked vulnerability of "Northern Star" is compelling, but doesnt make for a great song. "Boys on the Radio" might be the best song on the album that isn't "Malibu". Such a pretty tune. Should have been a single. Record companies make poor choices "Heaven Tonight" is a good one too.
Better than expected, but a huge step down from Live Through This. The songs I hadn't heard were good, but I still don't like the singles. 3/5
kinda dig the first song, but the rest of the album doesn't hold up.
A bit generic for me, but pretty nice.
3.5/5
This was actually a lot better than I remembered it being. I think Hole got a lot of hate at the time because of sexism in the music industry
I mistakenly listened to and reviewed "Live Through This" instead of this project, so this review is definitely going to be a little comparison heavy, but I definitely enjoyed LTT a bit more. This record is much shinier, with huge production and more straight-forward pop songwriting than the previous record. It's fine, but I find myself missing the grime, and found I enjoyed the blunt and honest songwriting of LTT. This record hits a lull in the middle that I don't think it ever really surmounts, too. Favorite tracks: "Celebrity Skin", "Reasons To Be Beautiful"
I wanted to be blown away by this album. I expected a hurricane. A typhoon. A cyclone. Yet all I got was some thunderstorms and strong gusts. I think a branch or two might’ve fallen too. But the power didn’t go out. So yeah, this album could’ve been better clearly. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt because we had some great grunge albums the past week and clearly they can’t match Nirvana or Pearl Jam.
Was decent…better than I expected.
Reação a potência do grunge com um pop bem executado numa tentativa de envolver alguma maturidade. Funciona, mas com a perspectiva de pop.
This was fine, not really my type of music.
Fairly polished grunge music. 3.5.
Actually quite enjoyed the record. I do not think it has the same "timeless" finesse that other records on this list possess, but still - it was a decent 90 grunge/post-grunge record.
Uneven, a little boring, but a serious dose of nostalgia.
Celebrity Skin is definitely their biggest and most known hit song. I definitely want to give this album another listen. My initial impression is that the album is decent, although other than the title track expressly nothing stood out to me. A bit more poppy than I would care for given their origin and influences.
I enjoyed it and it was better than I thought it would be. I always see Courtney Love as someone who needs heroin to perk up so this was a surprise hearing her full of beans and that. 'Northern Star' was the standout
For some reason not what I thought Hole sounded like. A pleasant surprise. The poppy jangly stuff was my favorite. “Awful” was up my alley.
Patchy and inconsistent but pretty enjoyable. Clear influences, from the bands you would probably expect them to be influenced by.
Hole was one of those grunge bands I wasn't totally into but didn't mind; this album was a sellout. Even as a 14 year old I remember noticing that the poppy music was at complete odds with the lyrics, as if trying to pretend they weren't just simply selling the fuck out. If you're gonna chase the mainstream, just fucking admit it and own it. Did they have any punk cred anyway? It's still an alright album in that late 90s alt rock sense. I prefer my grunge with more riffs than chord progressions (which is probably why I also preferred AIC to Nirvana) but there was enough here to get by. There's a riff in hits so hard that actually thumps, for instance. Playing your song goes hard too. 3/5.
I really loved the singles The whole album is good Definitely not their best but the addition of Melissa Auf De Mar is awesome Don't replay it as much as I would like to Maybe my opinion will change
Pretty classic late 90s pop. Not my favorite of all time, but really not bad.
More radio-friendly version of "Garbage" (the band, not the waste material usually discarded by humans). I thought the beginning was pretty boring, but the final few tracks were really cool. "Northern Star" and "Petals" especially. Courtney Love is such a weird person though. She probably didn't kill Kurt Cobain, but she MIGHT be behind the building of the pyramids and "The Spring-Heeled Jack sightings of '37". The truth is out there, people. Stay vigilant.
3 Good listening. It’s better than no doubt
3.4 - Here Courtney Love tries to transform into a pop starlet, something like Avril Lavigne's freakier older sister. Mostly these are forgettable anthems with big hooks and processed guitar arrangements, that are not quite radio-ready (besides the glitzy title track). She detours from that mold, unbaring her soul on "Northern Star" - an overworked facsimile of her "Live Through This" heyday. Overall, it's worth a single listen to understand Love's trajectory as an artist, but certainly not something I'll revisit.
Courtney toch altijd maar als 'de vrouw van' en dit was dan ook de eerste keer dat ik een plaatje tot het einde wist uit te zitten. Prrrrrima album.
Coole plaat hor en best goede songs
Aantal wel catchy nummers, maar allemaal wel erg braafjes en bovendien valt hier heel erg goed op dat Courtney zo vals als een kraai zingt. Met moeite 3 sterren.
Iets tussen twee en drie sterren. Omdat het meeviel drie.
First time listening to Hole....not as bad as I feared....
Niiiiice nostalgic 90s sound and really like the title track Celebrity Skin. Then apart from that this album is nice but a bit inconsequential as it kind of has the same sound throughout which is nice but blurs into one with nothing standing out on its own.
I really liked it. Not every track was great but overall it's up my street. I love her voice but generally it comes across like a more pop version of the Distillers.
Favourite song: Reason to Be Beautiful
This came out right in the midst of my peak music listening in my lifetime. I remember Celebrity Skin as a single, but I never tried out the whole album. When the generator gives me one of these (familiar, but unknown) albums, I always hope it's going to be the gem that I happened to overlook. However, this is rarely the case. The first two tracks are pretty good, but the rest doesn't really get my attention. This is definitely not a bad album, just overall bland to me. It sounds like an album from 1998 is supposed to sound, almost meticulously. That probably works great for album sales, but that's exactly why I never listened to this album at a time I would have been most likely to check it out. To me it sounds like radio (1998 radio) and is mostly forgettable. Except Awful... this song is sticking on me (we'll see where that goes). But yeah, it's a really good great sounding album, just not that interesting to me. As an afterthought... I was thinking about 1998 and where this album fit in my life. I checked Spotify's top hits and I only had 4 songs I liked for that year's playlist (and Celebrity Skin is one of them). I saw Smashing Pumpkins' Adore was also released. I really loved Smashing Pumpkins previously, but Adore is the album that ended our relationship. But that's a whole other topic about a whole other band.. until I realized how prominent Billy Corgan was on this Hole album. Very interesting.
Celbebrity Skin sounds like a typical late 90s rock album with some grunge thrown in. It's very radio friendly and doesn't try to stand out in any way. It's an okay album as it isn't bad but it doesn't excite.
Pretty good, first half is better than the second half. Good Rock Band song
Oof, the high levels of compression on this recording isn't the worst I've ever heard, but it's not great. Decent set of songs though - consistent themes and interesting lyrics permeate the record, decorated with catchy hooks. Couldn't escape either "Malibu" or the title track on the radio in the late 90s. Still, not up to the level of their early 90s stuff.
Solid lyrics. The production is lush and buries Love's vocals in some cases. (We're talking ELO level of production on this one.) These are her songs and I would have preferred to hear more of her performances. Auf der Maur's bass sounds great. All in all, as good as the singles are the rest of the album is pretty generic.
Not bad.
This is really not my type of music, but I must admit there are pretty great songs on this album. From Malibu to Northern Star, I call it strong and engaging pop/rock. However, there's nothing there that really stand out and that could become a huge monument in the history of music.
Not as good as Live Trough This but a good listen
The Hole pop album. After the grimy riot grrl Hole album and the grunge catharsis in Hole album. All three are great in their own way, although I loved Live Through This so much (and still do almost 30 years later) I was always going to be disappointed when this followed it. Some undeniable bangers here though. Title track, Awful, Malibu, Northern Star all among the band's best work, and Billy Corgan appears to have poured the last bits of his talent into his contributions to 2 of those. Not too many good Pumpkins songs after 1998. For me this is album with obvious highlights, and the rest perfectly serviceable if not particularly remarkable pop rock. Some of it sounds like The Go-gos. Not a bad thing, but the Go-gos already exist. There's no duffers. It's not an album I ever reach for, but it's an enjoyable listen. 3.
Kinda surprised. Decent I guess. Although..... nvm
90s angsty alt pop rock with girlpower attitude, playing at a Hot Topic store near you
3/12, 25%
title track is cool, the album is kinda meh
I always liked the title track. A great slice of 90's alternative. However, I never was really able to get into Hole as a whole (ha!) Oddly, I feel like I appreciate what they're trying to do better than the execution of it. Courtney Love, as let's call it "interesting" she is as a person has a really cool voice. The songs just never manage to blow me away. This review could be cut and pasted from Live Through This, while both albums attempted different sounds my overall experience with them felt the same.
First time hearing Courtney love do some something. It’s ight
Nice band.
favourite song: celebrity skin least favourites: malibu, dying the high points of this album were a lot of fun but unfortunately arent sustained for the whole of the album. falls flat at a lot of moments but overall an enjoyable listen. honourable mention to playing your song. if i could give half stars it would be 3.5 but i cant and its closer to a 3 than a 4
I was already familiar with the title track but I had never checked out the album. Celebrity Skin remains a great song, and I am quite taken with Awful. I am sure I've heard Malibu before. I was feeling like I'm really going to enjoy this record, but the promise of the early tracks is let down by the rest of the album which I found uneven and eventually tedious. Still; a solid offering with flashes of brilliance.
p832. 1998. 3.5 stars. So this is what happens if you splice the genes of The Bangles and The Pretenders. Surprisingly accessible jangly guitar rock, but a lot of the tracks sound the same. On the replay list.
Solid album, but not as great as Live Through This. 3.5./5
Rocka og kult. 90-talls!
26th October 2022 Listened first on the drive then throughout the day in the office. Soho house with Jamie and Elissa. Title song is from American Pie! It has that 90s soft, slouchy rock drawl and whining (in the best way) sensibility. 3.5 if I could.
Decent grunge record... from a MURDER.
Nice grunge/hard rock for this era, just not really my style
A pretty average 90s alternative album. Hole found a way to make an album where most of the varying sounds of 90s are covered. Their singer is pretty good and has a good grunge sound but also has a pop rock sound in some songs as well. They have a more casual alternative style in some songs and other songs have harder guitar riffs and grungy distortion. The album varied but it kinda made it work. Some songs were pretty good. Overall it’s not bad. 6.1/10
Nice
I was never a fan of why Courtney Love sings. However, there's a few tunes I really enjoyed on this one so I tried my best to overlook it! Decent record, not essential, but not unenjoyable.
Rowdy!
Live Through This is my fave Hole album but this one isn't half bad.
I think because it's a bit dated I had trouble giving it a good ear. It was good for it's time, but Courtney Love is just too aggravating to listen to at times.
Some good tracks but not majorly distinct or unique.
Good ole' Courtney Love. I like the energy, didn't delve deep into the lyrics but it didn't seem boring either. Couple catchy songs. not bad. FAV TRACKS: Northern Star, Boys On The Radio, Celebrity Skin
90’s rock brings back serious memories. Definitely reminds me of some of the music I was listening to in those days (Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, etc). I remember when this album came out, Hole got ripped by a lot of people for being sellouts. This album was less raw and less grunge than the previous album, and it felt a bit more commercialized. I was never a big fan of Courtney Love at the time, so it was never really on my radar. I guess I didn’t really think she was a good singer. Listening to it again now, I can see why the hardcore grunge fans would feel that way, as this album does feel more polished. To be honest, it’s more along the type of music I would have listened to and this album feels a bit easier to listen to than Live Through This, although I’m not sure I would say it’s actually the better album. Torn between 3 stars and 4 stars. Probably would be 3.5.
One great song and a bunch of decent songs after. Courtney definitely led with the heater
Better than remembered, but still not great.
Just an average 90s grunge rock album. Celebrity Skin is a fantastic song but the rest of this album is kind of boring and predictable for the era.
Fairly generic for the time. I did enjoy though
Title track is class, rest of the album doesn't get close to it
I didn't like it at first listen; however, it's really starting to grow on me. Hole incorporates an easy-going, pop-like sound with the punk-rock of the 90s. I quite liked this one!
A couple of good tunes, but overall I found it unimaginative and safe (boring). Definitely heard worse (and better). Giving it a 3 out of 5.
Nunca escuché este disco de principio a fin, pero recuerdo haber escuchado dos canciones que terminaron definiendo esos años: celebrity skin y Malibu. Resulta que además me gustan otros temas. No sé si es esencial en esta lista.