Reviews (page 7 of 10)
Hyggligt album. Bättre än jag förväntade mig.
Not really for me. Occasionally enjoyable in parts.
Maso
It's a pretty good pop grunge album.
okay i love hole but i vehemently disagree about including a second hole album and picking this over pretty on the inside. still rules though
Not my favorite by them but still pretty good
Hole on kyllä hyvää ysäri alt rokkia. Vähän ehkä grungeakin. Yhtäläisen hyviä kappaleita ja levyjä. Parhaat: Celebrity Skin, Malibu, Petals, Playing Your Song
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
Hole load of garbage
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.
I think I would have liked it more if not for Love's voice/range
Brings back some nice memories from the early 2000s.
some good songs and some not
Courtney Love is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the grunge realm as both this album and "Violet" are absolute bangers. Now there are a few songs that meander on a bit, but overall this was a very pleasant listen.
Really great album - I enjoyed it very much. The title track is a classic.
Pretty awesome, but the later tracks don't hit as much as the earlier tracks.
A lot of nice songs
Good album. Shout out Dom who had this on his topster
To me, live through this packed more of a punch, which i liked more. Nevertheless still a great album.
this sure is a 90s alt rock album. a pretty solid one too. but nothing crazy
I really enjoyed listening to this one. A bit more polished than the Hole of Live Through This, but still a great album. The most amazing song = Northern Star.
Not my favorite Smashing Pumpkins record but right up there
awesome album. lots of great songs on this. I think I prefer the rawer production on "Live Through This". still great though.
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.
God I fucking love Hole. All certified bangers here and that's all I got to say about that
Often overlooked. The sheer weight of drama surrounding Courtney Love eclipses the output of a bad ass alt rock band with some big big songs. The album is very polished compared with Live Through This which isn't a bad or better thing. It's a West Coast alt album this despite being very of it's time doesn't sound too dated. It kicks butt
Fun indie pop
4/5
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
This is surprisingly unpleasant. I was pretty irritable during my first listen, and it tweaked me out. So I gave it a second shot, but even then, I was just waiting for it to be over.
Highlight: Celebrity Skin In a nutshell: formulaic AF. The problem with 90s albums is that many reuse riffs and chords. So many same sounding songs are on here. The album begins with a bang then from Awful onwards I find myself asking "what happened? Why are we in cruise control?" I just think this isn't the album to represent Hole. That said, there is no love (pardon the pun) lost from me towards Courtney. She - along with Shirley Manson, Fiona Apple and Kathleen Hanna - are the unapologetic female role models us 90s kids needed in our lives. Flaws and all. Overall: 3/10
Album 675 of 1001 Hole - Celebrity Skin (1998) Rating : 4.5 / 5 Hole with a polished, radio-friendly sound. I've always liked this album. Not changing that now. A good listen that deserves at least a few plays a year.
Didn’t listen because it’s really no my thing
She may be a mess, but she was one hell of a rock star
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
Other than the Title Track, it was sub-par. It became stale, repetitive 1990s alternative music over, and over. Favorite Song: "Celebrity Skin".
Best album from a band I didn’t know that’s been suggested so far.
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!
i hate this album. the song Celebrity Skin rocks though
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
Das erste Mal das wir eine reine Frauenband hören, richtig? Fand den Sound recht cool, und der Wiki Artikel ist ja mega interessant :D 4 Sterne
Die Musik hat mich nicht dazu gebracht Heroin zu spritzen oder mir eine Shotgun unter die Nase zu halten. Besser als erwartet. 4 Sterne
Love this LP
When I wake up, in my makeup...
Solid
Shite
It's ok but nothing special.
It wasn't that bad, but I couldn't say I loved it.
I liked it. I was surprised by how pop friendly it is, I was expecting something a lot more abrasive. All sounds are a bit samey sounding but I still enjoyed having it in the background. Highlights: title track, reasons to be beautiful, dying
Didn't think I would like it but can't keep my head from bopping to the beat
Liked this waaaay more than I thought I would
Wasn’t a big fan
This is a giant piece of shit. Courtney drones on and on and on. She should team up with Yoko Ono, they would sound great together. This should not even be in the top 10,001 albums to listen to before you die. The next album in my queue is Rio by Duran Duran. On what planet should this album and that be on the same list? This is a crime against humanity.
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.
2x 3.6 enjoyed better than expected but still hate courtney love
I really liked this album. Kind of punk, kind of grunge, but definitely something I enjoyed. 5/5
2/5 Prima sound, elk nummer wel dezelfde vibe
There's a couple of radio friendly unit shifters on this album but it's mostly pretty bland. Not anywhere near as good as Live Through This.
Not sure I would listen again - I enjoyed this less than I thought I would - I really wish we could give half star reviews. Still love it for mailbu tho. Other faves: the title track (of course)northern star, and boys on the radio.
Much more enjoyable than I found it to be first time around. Courtney Love has such a great voice for rock. The album starts off quite strong with Celebrity Skin and stays a pleasant listen from there. The harder edge that Live Through This had isn't here as much, there's more focus on nice guitar accompanied ballads. Still has rockers like Playing Your Song on there though. The variation in songs keeps it interesting.
3.5
*Live Through This* is Hole's magnum opus, and when this follow-up LP was released four years later, the opinionated young adult that I was instantly took it as Courtney Love 'selling out'. See also the hilarious review currently topping this section, paying tribute to Beavis and Butt-Head (folks under 30 will probably be at a loss to understand the "alternative nineties" reference here). All those admittedly understandable reasons can explain why you could consider this record quite derisively overall. In a way, I still think that Hole decided to "sell out" here, whatever the term really means. Those Fleetwood Mac overtones bobbing though the nineties-like saturated guitars say it all. Yet I also get why Courtney Love couldn't care less about what so-called "alternative" kids would think of her after the different ordeals she had been put through since the release of the prophetically-titled *Live Through This*. Going to California and leaving Seattle behind was probably the best choice she could make to "survive" (what's more "American" than reinventing yourself after a trauma, even if it leads you to apparently "shallower" territories?). Hence the different "new" tones of this album. More crucially, I've revisited this record quite a few times since it's release, and I admit that a lot of its songs slap. You have the hit singles "Celebrity Skin" and "Malibu", obviously, but also the catchy "Awful", the devastating acoustic ballad "Northern Star" -- obviously drawing from Love's grief after her husband decided to leave this earth -- or the twisted scorcher "Playing Your Song" --proving that Hole had not lost their gritty edge after all. And the epic closer right after that penultimate track, "Petals", is everything you can love Hole for, thanks to its killer chorus and its relentless drive, worthy of a road trip flick. *Celebrity Skin* ends on a double-bang for sure I also now admit that most of the other tunes are actually pretty good. On the downside, there's the lengthy "Hit So Hard", the pointless ballad "Dying", or the mundane "Boys On The Radio" (without those three cuts, you could have a perfect album, even if one a little too short). But what matters is that there are also the very nice "Reasons To Be Beautiful", the tense "Use Once And Destroy" or the jangle pop, REM-adjacent "Heaven Tonight". In other words, the assets, whether very good or stellar, far outweigh the flaws here. Interestingly, the unifying "Californian" themes of the album also bring some cohesion and interesting overtones to what is otherwise a distinctively "manufactured" effort. In a sense, the glossy production values add to the 'decadent' or cynical themes found in some of the songs, and help make it a memorable listening experience. Some listeners might discuss the sincerity and authenticity of the whole thing, if only because Billy Corgan officially gave a hand to Courtney and Eric for some of these songs. But whether or not you like the guy and his music, you can't deny he has a knack for earworms, so I guess his input was welcomed here. And what truly matters is that Love's abrasive and sensitive personality still pierces through the gloss and the subtle "pop" recalibrations. All in all, a very pleasurable LP, if not Hole's *true* masterpiece. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 for musical competency + 3.5 for the artistry) Number of albums left to review: around forty, as I've gone over the 1000 line and this generator is including albums from all editions of the book Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 450 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 271 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 326
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.
I really love Hole, this one and Live Through This are just so superbly grungy and refreshingly poppy and incredibly modern and exciting. This one has a ton of really great, moody, more acoustic tracks that are perfectly punctuated by Courtney Love's vocals.
Excellent! Feels like it perfectly encapsulates an era. But maybe not! I wasn't very alive
file under: music that kicks ass
Surprisingly quite enjoyed this album. I appreciate Courtney Love as an angsty artist and lyricist.
Cool! Bisschen zu monoton, um das Album nochmal anzuhören.
Good
This album was a whole lot softer than I would expect from a band named Hope headed by Courtney Love. Maybe bordering on pop music. Gave it 4 stars even though it probably only deserved 3.
Well, I knew the first song :)
this blew out my HOLE so fiercely. i was so pleasantly surprised with how much i enjoyed this. not perfect but absolutely wonderful.
I didn’t really listen to this because I don’t want to but I recognized the first song from when it was popular.
I enjoyed this album a lot more than I expected. I thought the instruments were well played and Love’s voice/lyrics were solid.
Her voice started to pinch a nerve not hit it because it was tolerable
Pretty solid. I’ve never listened to a Hole album before and I thought it was really good. Love the feel and vibe from this. Love’s voice I also thought sounded really nice.
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
Good album
3.5
I love this album, but maybe it’s because it’s heavily influenced by Billy Corgan. Or maybe it’s because the album cover is fire. Courtney Love is easy to hate, but give the girl a shot. Rock on!
I kind of enjoyed it
One of my favorite albums. Must have listened to this thousands of times back in my youth. Love it so much! 5/5
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.
This rocked, her voice is so good, powerful when it needs to be, soulful when it needs to be. Yeah I loved this
Not sure we need 2 Hole albums on this list but I enjoyed it anyway. More polished and less loud compared to their debut.
Surprisingly still sounding great - a classic from Durham days when i borrowed the album from Tanya and then bought my own copy as liked it so much.
Bastante bien. El anterior disco que había escuchado de las Hole no me había entusiasmado especialmente, pero este tiene mucha onda y temas poderosos. Lo escucharía de nuevo.
Классный альбом, до этого не слышал эту группу, не знал что Кортни была в ней. Заглавный трек очень клевый, слышал его на саундтреках
Hole was a seriously great band. I wish Courtney hadn't made it so easy to dislike her back in the day or I would have loved them even more.
Incredibly generic 90s guitar rock. Makes "Live Through This" seem visionary. I respect her journey, but not this album.
Pazzesco "Celebrity Skin" è famosissima e non avevo mai sentito né il nome della canzone, né del gruppo. azz lei è Courtney Love e la canzone è scritta insieme al fidanzato! Billy Corgan!! Anche "Awful" è molto interessante. Ma va che è un gran bel disco.
I really wasn't sure how this was going to go. I enjoyed it SO MUCH
The single Celebrity Skin always slammed for me. But this first listen to the album was revelatory. Especially Nothern Star. What an incredible amount of talent Vobain surrounded himself with, not the least being his wife. Mad respect, Courtney.
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
Better than I thought it would be. Kinda grungy, kinda poppy, very well produced. Enjoyed the singing as well.
Not bad. 3/5
It’s a little less grunge and a little more pop than holes previous albums, but it’s good. Similar vein to the post grungy femme pop rock that bands like Veruca Salt were doing around the same time period. Super catchy title track, and the rest of the record stands up quite well. I’ll leave my personal feelings about Courtney Love completely out of this review. An album I’ve listened to previously and will probably listen to again. 3.5*
This album rules and I regret that I hadn’t listened to it before. I knew I liked it after the first listen, but I had to listen to it two more times to process it enough to write anything about it. Sonically, this album is very dense. Every single song has layers upon layers upon layers that add up to a sound that is rich and complete without being overwhelming or competing with itself. The title track as well as “Awful”, “Hit So Hard”, “Reasons to be Beautiful”, “Use Once and Destroy” and “Northern Star” all stand out, but there really isn’t a bad track to be had. If I had to find a complaint, it’s that the album feels a little monotonous. They kinda recorded 12 iterations of the same song and while it’s a great song, a bit of variation would probably make this a better record for me. 8/10
This is undoubtedly my personal worst album. Courtney can't sing man
Bastante chulo, en general. Y como tiene mi hit Celebrity Skin, ahí le va un 4.
Hate Courtney love but this is a good album
I’m glad I finally listened! Way better than I expected.
Not bad
Mwah Medium goed
"Celebrity Song" ist ein wirklich guter Song. Aber dann wird es zu einem Einheitsbrei das Album. Nach drei Songs musste ich nachschauen, ob die Repeat-taste versehentlich eingeschaltet war. Der Gesang und die Arrangements sind mir zu langweilig auf die Dauer
4- całkiem punkowe się okazało
Музыка банальная, да и Кортни безголосая
The opening 5 tracks are really pretty impressive, especially Celebrity Skin and Malibu. The rest of the record is just OK but it's an OK that's in my wheelhouse I guess - rock with guitars and big drums... I really want to dislike this because I dislike some of these people (or their public image/knowledge of them) but this is just a really good record IMHO. Probably a result of Billy Corgan and Courtney Love both at the height of their powers - but the rest of the band sounds great and the production is top notch.
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.
When this came out I ignored it. I'm not into hype and there was a lot around Love. Having finally listened to it, I can honestly say that it's pretty solid snarl alt rock, hype or not. Liked Songs Added: Celebrity Skin Malibu Use Once & Destroy
I love the previous album by Hole-Live Through This-I think. While I liked this album alot and don’t think I’ve ever listened to the entire album until now-I don’t see why it’s an influential album. This was the end of grunge and they are trying to make Courtney sound like Gwen Stefani. The whole album is way more produced. Anyway just my thoughts
If I may be so bold to say, this album, song for song is better than any Nirvana album that isn’t Nevermind. Maybe Kurt helped her write this one and maybe he didn’t. Courtney definitely couldn’t replicate this album sound with anything else she did. This really is a “sold their soul” album in my opinion. It’s just so good from start to finish yet as I have already said, they never had a album like this after. It’s not grunge at all, more of a pop punk formula that consistently works for bands when they get the ingredients exactly right. The only slight on this album is Courtney’s voice. It wears on you if there isn’t noise to drown it out. Choice cut: Hit so Hard
5/5
Hit me right in the teenage angst
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.
It’s a bit too poppy for me but there’s some catchy stuff on here.
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.
I really liked! 8-9/10
interesting rythm
I really enjoyed this, despite my general dislike of the grunge genre.
Another really great 90s alt album from Hole. The Smashing Pumpkins influence is apparent, but I think it really works with their style.
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⭐️
Reviewing as I listen along. Have only heard "Celebrity Skin" before. Track three now. It's going well. Poppy post grunge alt rock has circa never managed to excite me and I thought this'd be my review, "and it doesn't today", but this is cool. Tracks seven to nine (there's the timpani roll from "Disarm", no?), I zoned out a bit, but whatever. Attitude, melodies, nice. Quality stuff. A great slice of that time in music. Will I return to it? Not so sure, but I enjoyed this. By the way. ★★★★★: Music I've always loved and still do at the time of my review. Albums I truly had fun with, also at the time of my review. ★★★★☆: Albums I very much respect but which do not really manage to be quite my cup of tea. ★★★☆☆: When I'm mostly bored but not yet annoyed. Also, sometimes: I should like this, but it rubs me the wrong way. Or I do not like this at all but totally appreciate its existence. ★★☆☆☆: I'm very bored and kind of irritated. While I don't fully hate this, make it stop. Or: shit that I respect, begrudgingly ★☆☆☆☆: This is just shit or aggravates me for whatever reason. And always at the tip of the scale: Is this an AYMHBYD? Glad I could clear this up.
Couple good songs on this album, especially Celebrity Skin, but mostly mediocre.
Courtney love is the devil, but at least, unlike Yoko, she could actually put out some damn good songs. Pretty good listen!
this is PEAK also guy from the cover kinda looks like Ryan Gosling from the movie Stay, so bonus points for that
I listen to "Live Through This" more but this is still a damn good '90s power pop punk album. Regarding Courtney Love, all I can say is that in this house we support women's rights AND wrongs.
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.
interesting, fun proto girl pop. Can see the influences in a lot of modern artists!
Way cleaner and better produced by their other album on the list. Very swift and to the point. Very focused. At times it's catchy but still has a swag and attitude
Catchy at times, good hits, great flow. 4/5. The worst part about this band is that the singer is such a huge ass. She is so much of an ass that the band name gets lumped in to make a brand new word, but the word still has the same meaning.
Punk rock kinda tunes. Not too bad but not my preference
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
I'm a 90s kid I incapable of disliking this
Po meni jedan od zadnjih grunge albuma i početak post-grungea. Album na kojem su radili meni predivna Melissa auf der Maur i meni jako dragi Billy Corgan. Album je fantastična satira Hollywooda i kako te ugrize, prožvače i ispljune + ironiziranje kako punk kulture cjelokupne Californie. Divno kako je se protežu kvoutovi razno raznik pisaca uključujući Shakespeara. Divan nadidentifikacijski album koji pljuje u facu svima koji ga doživljavaju ozbiljno. Odrastao uz njega, poslušao ga milion puta, stoga nije bilo potrebe da ga slušam opet. Nije najbolji album seattle sounda, ali zaslužuje moje poštovanje. 7/10
Joooj, nope, nope, nope. Ovo mi je tako očajan pokušaj pank rocka da malo boli. Još 90e ej, kakav waste of effort. Druga pjesma ima dosta dobar naziv, ne treba se ništa ni dodati. Ne volim ni nju, još manje njenog pokojnika. Nastavljam ovo mučenje od 50 faking minuta. Teški hejt. Listen Once & Destroy 😂 Uz najbolju volju (stvarno sam htjela), ne mogu ovo slušati do kraja, anksioznost me hvata, čak i Jazz počeo vrištati tu po dnevnom. Zadnje tri pjesme će ostati neposlušane. 1/5, 1/10.
Nije ni čudo što se Cobain propucao. Drugi komentar - Oasis s Temua Zašto ovaj album ima 12 pjesama? Aha, album je iz 98', Cobain nikad nije čuo ovaj album. Blago njemu. Malibu je Natalie Imbruglia nakon što je preživjela heroinsku ovisnost Reasons to be beautiful zvuči kao prva dva riffa svake nirvanine pjesme, oni su ih bar imali 4 Ma nema ovo smisla, tnx
7/10 Imao sam dosta niska ocekivanja oko ovog albuma. Ne zbog sumnje u kvalitetu, vec sam mislio da ce mi Courtney Love ici na zivce (iako nemam nista protiv nje, ali nisam bas upoznat s njenim likom i dijelom, osim da je od Cobaina zena i da je nekoc svirala u nekom bendu). Hole kao bend me skroz preskocio, ili ih nisam dozivio dok su se vrtili na tv-u. Prva, Celebrity Skin i Malibu su mi super, a ima ih jos par koje bi rado cuo opet. Ima dobar glas, zna zaurlati i bit senzualna u pjevanju, ne isfurava se puno i dosta mi je melodicno ovo sve skupa zahvaljujuci i bendu koji ima oko sebe. Bas nekako u duhu kraja devedesetih. Takodjer, album je zadrzao svoj momentum do samog kraja i nije me udavio. Cisti prolaz i solidna sedmica.
Okay, I thought this was pretty good. I was expecting something grungy, but it wasn't that at all. Just pop-forward alt rock?
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
meh with a side of ok
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...
Monet kerrat tämäkin levy tullut entuudestaan kuunneltua eikä vieläkään kyllästyttänyt. Vaikka Courtneyn Hole ehkä hieman ratsastanut Cobainin maineella, niin hyvä, koska maailma ansaitsi saada ko. levyn tuntemakseen.
Good album but nothing special. It feels very average. Bar a few songs I would not listen to this again. Celebrity skin and hit so hard are good songs. Favourite song: Hit so hard Least favourite: All are OK. Album artwork: Cool cover.
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 really loved Live Through This but this album not so much. Love's voice is really grating and the songs aren't nearly as interesting.
Wow what a great album! Some of the best of the 90s grunge that we have gotten on here tbh. Awesome
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
Finally listened to the Hole album haha! Kick ass lead vocals and grungy tunes. Nothing to dislike here.
Love was, and I mean this, the worst front person for the band Faith No More. This was a couple of months in the later 80's. It was interesting in that the band was post-Chuck Mosley but still sounded like FNM...except Love...who insisted by sheer will on being who she is. Which is a very mediocre artist. Hole sounds like someone doing an impression of grunge/alternative. If it were not for her multiple dalliances she likely wouldn't have ascended to a fair degree of fame. I would have 50+ minutes of my life back. What I will grant this album is that it is very well laid out and quite consistent. Like some artificial nutrient paste shaped skillfully into the impression of a complete supper. The entire album I cannot find one moment of excitement. Big Yuck to this album.
This album is pretty mediocre. It has a couple of good songs, but it’s too poppy for me and some of the songs are pretty throwaway.
Decent! It's got a lot of elements of other stuff that I like, but kinda the worst of all of them? But of nirvana, bit of smashing pumpkins, bit of weatus and Alanis. Altogether is just aggressively 90s and most songs are fine but just missing a hook
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.
Catchy guitar hooks With rebellious energy And forceful vocals
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
I enjoyed this one and will come back to it!
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.
Can’t lie, but I was never much of a Courtney Love fan as a teen. That said, I’m glad this album came up and I got a chance to listen to it. Outside of Celebrity Skin, I hadn’t listened to the album itself prior to this morning. It’s a really good alt-rock album from the post-grunge era of the 90s, but isn’t great start to finish. While it kicks off really strong, it does suffer from some weaker tracks in the middle. It thankfully rebounds towards the end and leaves the listener satisfied.
A dull plodding album with little that stands out.
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.
Liked
Ok
Day254 - i gotta say it was better than i remembered. i think billy corgans writing helped
Jus good album with California vibe
Sounds like a bunch of Smashing Pumpkins songs instead with female vocals. Okay album but not sure if I’ll listen again.
Celebrity Skin gave me high hopes
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 here 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. Song added to playlist: Celebrity Skin I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link
It's the second album I've heard which has made me think Hole and Courtney Love have been underestimated. This is a great recording which i will come back to. Malibu and Northern Star in particular are great songs.
a bit too emo for me but not awful. when it succeeds at actually being grunge it gets better
When a new musical trend emerges, music executives are desperate to find something similar to flog and you end up with tat like this landfill alt rock. Celebrity Skin (the song) is fine, Malibu is just about tolerable, but the rest of the album is so dull. It felt a lot longer than its 50 minute run time. Boring
Groupe inconnu. En fait non, j'avais déjà entendu Celebrity Skin (+) sans l'associer à ce groupe. J'aime bien le son de basse sur cet album. Mais c'est à peu près tout. Pas désagréable à écouter, mais rien d'original et très mou. =>2/5
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.
Title track rocks. The rest of the tracks are good but the back half of the album is a bit uneven.
Well this was...fine.
I grew tired of Courtney Love's singing tone, especially on the softer songs. Why is every song so long? I imagine I'll come back to this album in small doses.
That guitar riff and "Oh, make me over / I'm all I wanna be / A walking study / In demonology / Heyyy" slaps really hard as an album opener. Great track. I'm rating the album at a 4. It's not as good as Live Through This but it's pretty solid; Love is in great form and the album stays consistently enjoyable throughout its run. However, I didn't think there were any standout songs other than the title track. The lyrics are often quite good though, and it's got clear themes and something to say.
what peyton sawyer in one tree hill thought she was
Actually really enjoyed, not sure what I expected. A good alt rock vibe.
Gonna be honest I liked this a lot more than I anticipated. She reminds me of Liz Phair who I like
The first two songs are awesome. The rest is not so remarkable – on a positive note, it was nice to find out that Courtney Love had an actual musical career
Not particularly bad, but extremely generic for me. Celebrity Skin could be the sole OST for a US high school teen drama set in the '90s where it is obvious that the actors playing the students are well over 30. 2.5
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.
Energetic, heartfelt, and rock and roll to its core. I listen to so much music like this nowadays that I can't help but wonder how much Hole has influenced this generation's indie rockers. I don't know if they largely invented this sound or not, but regardless, they know what how to make it strong and moving.
This album is the salt in the wound we were expected to absorb in place of Kurt Cobain, the true voice of our generation. Hard to listen to this dumpster fire of an album on so many levels.
Courtney Love has scabies and makes my skin crawl. Regardless, this is a guilty pleasure that I'll never own up to.
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.
The 90s are having a comeback moment and I feel like the trend is seeping through to indie rock. Some of these songs would not be out of place on today's indie radio stations.
More enjoyable than expected. I think I would have rated this lower at the time.
I kind of liked this better than I thought I would.
Best celebrity since Hillary, who was a vacuous empty shell following slick Willie’s wake. Courtney surely followed Kurt’s wake. Poor singing and playing.
Quite repetitive but very jumping on bed as teenager 90s classic. Title track was great and overall not a bad listen. I'll go with a decent 2.3.
Courtney Love is the only grunge singer I respect.
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.
Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by Hole, originally released in 1998. I've always had my hang-ups about Courtney Love. Maybe it was the media-backed misogyny that I ended up internalizing bad feelings towards her. I always thought she was pretty trashy (and she seemed to wear that label with pride), but I'm working on creating a different view of her. Earlier in this list, I got "Live Through This" by Hole. I thought it was an OK grunge/punk-ish album. I think I gave that one a 3. I did NOT expect Hole to pivot to pop-influenced alternative rock just a mere 4 years later! This album is way more polished than their previous efforts. It makes sense because apparently they hired some big shot producer to work with. And I did not expect Love's voice to gel with this sound... but it really works. Some may call it a soulless compromise in attempt to stay relevant (which they succeeded in; there were a few hit songs on here). I think it's a welcome change of pace for Love. Less focused on trying to be mega aggressive/controversial and more focus on introspective lyrics and arrangements. You can really hear the Smashing Pumpkins influence on here. I was very surprised by this one. Definitely a weird change of pace for the band but I think it works.
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.
really loud and really awesome rock music. if you're looking for alternative rock that's really vocal centered and almost has a strong rebellious force to it, please give this one a gander. it's kinda giving no doubt if it was grunge. this i feel like is an album that's perfect for playing in the summertime, where the sun is blinding and there's not a cloud in the sky. courtney love's voice REALLY shines in this one.
Honestly what a banger of an album. Combining 80's and 90's alt rock into a super album. Courtney's voice isn't as bad as I recall and perhaps the music she made wasn't bad either. However, I do think she had something to do with the death of Kurt Cobain. So negative points.
As tragic a tale as nirvana and just as much tabloid fodder. But is it good? It is good. Maybe not great. But good. Strong songs and musicianship. A not untalented band at all. Ignore the drama. This is a good listen.
The history, person and music are inseparable. It's more than 2 catchy songs. She undeniably has a voice. And a unique recognisable style here. It's much better than I remembered. I really like the guitar and vocal sound on the opening track, the fun rebellious punk sounds of Celebrity skin and Malibu. It's all attitude and remind me of the stories of their wild and highly sexualised concerts. I don't expect much from the rest of the album .... It's ok. I give them points for having a finite and recognisable sound and one of few angry female voices to make it mainstream.
When my daughter was fourteen, she queued for hours at HMV Record Store in Sydney to get Marilyn Manson’s autograph, so I gave her my Hole CD, the one that included a cover of The Ronettes’ He Hit Me(And It Felt Like A Kiss), unbelievably written by Carole (You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman) King, for a member of Hole to autograph - both bands were out here for the Big Day Out. And she got me Courtney Love’s autograph. I really like the three singles off the album & can’t really be bothered with the rest.
Courtney Love is a genuine rock star. Intense, angry, articulate, unpredictable, controversial, ambitious, unfiltered, strong, damaged, impulsive, charismatic. She has copped a lot of flack over the years, some self-inflicted damage, but a lot of grief for being crime of being a woman. This album came at an interesting time when a major label would drop significant coin on a very abrasive band from the punk tradition to record like they were Fleetwood Mac (a comparison that they would acknowledge themselves, following their cover of Gold Dust Woman on the Crow soundtrack). This has all the hallmarks of a major label blockbuster production; big name producer, 9 months of sessions in various expensive studios across multiple continents, high profile songwriting collaborations, replacing the drummer's tracks with a session guy, drama, drugs, balancing an acting career, etc etc. If you had asked me five years earlier if Courtney Love and colleagues had a big shiny major label rock album in them, I would have scoffed. They were an angry, shouty punk band, with a controversial point of view, and I was chuffed that they had been given enough money and support to make 'Live Through This', which I regard as their artistic peak. A great sounding record, but still true to who they were and what they did best (energetic, noisy, uncompromising). While Celebrity Skin is still, I believe, true to Courtney's vision and voice, although I think it is a bit uncomfortable and a stretch of her abilities to try and make a mainstream hard rock record. But try and succeed they did, and this was a substantial success. The singles are pretty listenable, but, to my own tastes, I prefer it when Courtney gets a chance to really cut loose. For me, Live Through This was the perfect balance between decent production and wild abandon. This record, by way of contrast, aims for the radio play (which they achieved) and mainstream sales (which they achieved). It's just not as much to my taste, but a successful effort at what they were aiming for. As a coda, I think you can really see that this was the beginning of the end for the band. The process of recording the record effectively forced Patty Schemel out of the band, and interviews with Melissa auf der Maur and Eric Erlandson suggest that maybe this approach wasn't quite their preference. While Courtney achieved her ambition of producing a mainstream success, I don't think this satisfied her (in retrospect), and the band (in this form) never made another album. Be careful what you wish for, Courtney, you might get it.
I understand why he blew his brains out now.
In the wake of a dead man, a woman is left to make sense of the emotions he was unable to bear. The weight of that, the process of that, and the pain of that is all on display on Celebrity Skin. Listen. Courtney Love – complicated individual. Hole, however, is an excellent band, and Love is an amazing front-woman, and a particularly great lyricist. She has her poetic tics, I’d say, but there’s a raw gut-punch of emotion that she’s really good at conveying, both on the page and on the stage. This is a lyrically devastating record, one that explores genuine feminine heartbreak. It’s made better by the fact that these songs have been stuck in my head for days. I’m not going to pretend that this is the most earth-shattering ‘90s alt rock/grunge I’ve ever heard in my life, but god, can Hole write a banger! And can do so with some variety and flair. This album has catchy acoustic joints and slow jams, big radio rock songs, and moodier, edgier spaced out tracks. I think you could argue that Hole does sometimes feel a bit stereotypically grunge, and especially seem to mirror The Smashing Pumpkins, but I’d say the hooks, charisma, and lyrics on Celebrity Skin overshadow that critique. I don’t know if it’s an essential record, given that it can sometimes have a slightly derivative sound (which I think is just the sound of the genre in 1998), but if anything, it’s an essential record to understand the impact of Cobain’s death, and truly understand who exactly had to deal with the fallout of that. It was all on Courtney Love, and I think she processes it in a way that created a great work of art. I also think I’m just naturally predisposed to like Hole, but I also think this album is really good front-to-back, and going to stay in rotation for a while.
one good song…
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
Idk why I never listened to Hole back in the day because that was the sort of stuff I was listening to back then. Maybe I was internalising the misogyny that surrounds Courtney. Anyway, this is great. I’ve been torn on the rating but I’m going to be generous
7/10
Pretty decent music with good lyrics. A lot of vibe songs. 3.6
Great late 90s!
..
Almost tempted to give it a 5, but it's not quite there for me. Still, a very good album overall. The title song rocks!
A nice album. It’s really got that 90s sound and I’m here for it. This album was probably used in movies for the next 10 years and thousands of teenagers rocked this on road trips. It’s got a very nice sound, surprisingly really enjoyed it.
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.
**Review:** This album starts strong but quickly becomes underwhelming and generic. Despite a few highlights, it lacks originality and feels forgettable. Not as good as some of their other stuff.
This sounds like a bland final attempt to keep a dying genre alive well past the point where it was exciting and fresh. This is "bad ass girl rock" for those who don't know about Sleater-Kinney or PJ Harvey. It's a snoozer that offers up almost nothing of note other than an opening track you've heard in movies.
I find Courtney Love to be quite the compelling character, but that sentiment does not extend to her music.
I've never heard of the band. I really like it very much. Great music and great voices. I will certainly listen to more of it. 4/5
I had never listened to Hole before, this was awesome. Angsty rock with bite behind it, really sweet album.
It didn't have too high highs, but it was all around enjoyable
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
2.5
Sounds good to me Will I listen to again: 75%
Yep got to give it to Courtney Love this is a great album, classic 90’s alt rock.
Not a lot to say about this album. It was mostly fine, generic late 90s hard rock. A few standout moments but nothing great or offensive. Does feel a little commercialized at times, but the ending of the album does enough to keep it decent. Top tracks. Reasons To Be Beautiful, Playing Your Song, Petals
July 5, 2024 HL: title track, "Awful", "Use Once and Destroy", "Northern Star", "Heaven Tonight" I can barely remember why I was dreading coming across this. Was it the promise of slick late 90's production, that Billy Corgan was involved, or that it's Hole/Courtney Love? Because I really liked the last Hole (Live Through This), & I highly rated the Smashing Pumpkins' 2 albums. So, maybe it's that I'm twice shy about 1998 albums (for some reason my least favourite year in music, at least according to the data here). Well, dread was unfounded If I have any real criticism, it's that Love's vocal performance seems flatter than I remember, and that it drags a bit after the firecracker that is the first three songs. Yet from "Use Once" onward, I got back in it. "Northern Star" brings back the visceral roars I remember from the last Hole, in the form of... a spooky acoustic ballad! The rest of the album is very poppy cuts, but wouldn't be unwelcome on MY 80s/90s radio, that's for sure.
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
Let me start with I am not a fan of Courtney Love. That has colored my opinion of both her and her music for decades. I wish I had listened to this album when it first came out. It's much better than it should be and would have been an amazing album at the time.
3.6
Uninteresting
Not bad
90s af
Critically I think this album did alright. Personally, C Love was never my cup of tea.
I really had high hopes for this album after the first two cuts with their high-energy melodic pop rock sound - after the fantastic opening the rest of the disc was rather disappointing and the vocals quite awful...
niente da fare non ascolterò questa roba
Love, she’s a genius
Underwhelming
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 challenge the fact that there are 2 Hole albums on this list!
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
Didn’t age well
3.5
I’m a Hole fan. This is not my favorite Hole album, but Courtney writes insightful lyrics and has an interesting voice both literally and figuratively. At least musically (I’m not a person who has studied her life, but I know it’s messy) she deserves more respect than she seems to get.
☺️
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.
So 90s
Good, a little too repetitive sounding.
Liked this more than I thought I would.
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.
Rocks decently hard in a conventional, '90s alternative way, but with better melodies and just a touch of melancholy. One likes this better now than one did them.
Celebrity Skin They love the title track on 6 Music, it seems to be on multiple times a week. I’m actually a little partial to it, it’s quite a pleasing bit of late 90s alt rock pop. Didn’t realise Billy Corgan co-wrote it. Awful I enjoyed too, I liked the bubblegum surf vibe to it. After that it descends into a soup of formulaic alt rock I was expecting, with not much musical or melodic variance or interest, making it quite hard to discern the difference between any of the songs. The only one that I noticed on the first listen was Heaven Tonight, it’s synth lines giving it a bit of personality and uniqueness. Second run through I liked it a little more, noticing some quite nice harmonies and backing vocals, particularly Malibu, but overall I still struggled to find much interest in it, it’s fine for what it is and what it’s trying to do but ultimately it all a bit meh. Not terrible, just not something that interests me much ⭐⭐
downloaded 3,6,8&9. didn’t like it much despite the downloads
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.
Sole less pop rock with female vocals.
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.
nothing attention-worthy, almost all of the tracks sound the same except the last one, which was actually good to my surprise overall:4.5/10
Bad ass female vocals - this album transported me back to the 90s.
Grata sorpresa.
Never hear it before but liked it!
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.
4.6 - I had no idea that this was courtney love and i'm really glad I didn't before I listened to it. I loved it and thought it was such a solid great album. Great vocals and felt like it was a mix of so many great bands. 100% going to listen to going forward. Separating the art from the artist here I think cos doing heroin when you're pregnant is really fucked
Good album, so much more than just a Kurt Cobain conspiracy theory. Boys on the Radio sounds an awful lot like The Replacements' Unsatisfied. Fave Tracks: Celebrity Skin, Awful, Malibu 3.9/5
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
avril lavigne if she was bad