Reviews (page 2 of 10)
there are a couple good songs in it, but the album sounds a bit generic.
Never heard this before, didn't even realize Courtney Love fronted a band. She's great. Really enjoyed this
Mucha furia, ira y energía en sus interpretaciones Muy equilibrado a pesar de la base que mantiene, me gustan tanto los momentos tranquilos como los fuertes Entiendo que es más suave que su entrega inicial y aún así, se siente una potencia que es díficil de encontrar Courtney me parece una vocalista cautivadora, y su banda en Hole le calza como anillo al dedo Recomendable y reescuchable
I've never been the biggest Hole fan. Celebrity Skin is good. Live Through This makes you happy you were able to. Violet is okay as an opening track, but it's almost entirely downhill from there. 'She Walks On Me' is a very slight improvement on some of the songs around it, but for the most part this is a miserable experience.
Track By Track Violet - Girl Power! I feel as if I’ve heard this before. Famous intro. Does sound reminiscent of Nirvana which makes sense. Very raw and grungy. It’s like what’s under the surface of the woman in the cover photo. Is that Courtney? I think so. Miss World - Nice intro. I like this kind of guitar work. The effects on it are very ‘90s. Speaking about depression perhaps and the vacuous & shallow world of beauty queens. It sounds quite universal. Plump - sounds very them again. Good energy to this one. To me, this sounds like voicing the emotions that are pent up from eating disorders etc. Must have been cathartic for so many, particularly women. Asking for It - There’s a bit of fuck you energy in a lot of these tunes. Comes through well. Has Kurt Cobain’s darkness as well. Good guitar break in the middle. I am liking the guitar on this album quite a bit. Jennifer’s Body - She’s got a proper style and I’m kind of digging it. Is it inspired by the film of the same name? Potentially, it speaks about biting. Doll Parts - I think this one is quite famous. It’s good. I like it. The vocal breaks are really effective. Moody & bright in equal measure. Credit In The Straight World - Nice intro here too. It reminds me of a cult actually. Very dramatic shift to the grungy moody meat of the song. Got a good rhythm and flowing drive to it. Softer, Softest - shift of style. Apparently Courtney said that people may be surprised at their softer side. This is a sweet one. Like the vocal harmonies. Very dreamy. Kind of funny as some of the lyrics are also kind of hardcore (‘your milk has a dick’). She Walks On Me - Back to the intensity! Like she’s shouting through a megaphone in the beginning. Proper impactful, hits you round the ears a bit. I Think That I Would Die - quite a cool riff and groove. Simple one. Not bad. Gutless - crunchy, dissonant. Moody one again. Quite punk this one. Didn’t like very much. Rock Star - nice false starts. Raw one. Quite like it. Both punky and tuneful. Great energy on this. Overall Review: I thought this album had great range and communicated the grunge/punk vibe well but also had a lot of emotional and melodic moments that were impactful. I didn’t really love it all but some strong work here for sure. 3.2/5 Favourite Songs: Doll Parts, Softer, Softest, Rock Star
Really good punk
Альбом радио максимум кор
kind of ew
Hoe shit but catchy
Courtney Love was living in Curt Cobain's shadow and this album reflects that. There are some really good, cathartic songs here like "Violet" and "Doll Parts," but it's the same dynamic over and over and it feels like they are aping Nirvana. Also, what's with the weird obssession with milk? It's a recurring theme in at least three songs. Still, the band rocks even if Love's shrieking gets old.
Good stuff, don't think it's as good as Celebrity Skin though. Some songs taken individually are great, I especially like Miss World and Jennifer's Body. But as an album the songs bleed together and follow the same loud quiet loud formula in like every song, leaning into the Nirvana thing too hard and gets a little old.
This album is way better than the Courtney Love haters will ever admit. Sure, she's a polarizing figure, but this album still goes hard start to finish!
5.5/10
What great grunge to gaze at your shoes to and think about the frustrations of society.
I didn’t know I had this Hole in my music history and I wish I’d known this version of Courtney Love before today! I enjoyed this grunge goodness from start to finish.
I really think this isn't a nice thing to say, but this really sounded like more generic Nirvana
Courtney Love vocals were not the female singer I had in mind.
Above my threshold for off-key singing. DNF.
Pretty decent album overall. Grungy but not over the top.
Fun. Dirty grunge sound. Like it.
Loved it then, love it now. Have revisited and will revisit in the future. 4 1/2
Good alt rock
It is very average. She is just trying to be the female nirvana and rarely does it work. 5/10 Top song... Doll parts
Repeat listen. Top notch. All timer. Five stars!
não conhecia e achei bem legal. aproveitei pra pesquisar um pouco sobre a banda também, gostei!
Surprised how good this is
Really enjoyed this gonna have to come back another time because the riffs and the vocals here are all excellent, grungy and just great to listen to
Very competent alt rock/pop
I wasn't expecting much from this album; I think that Kurt Cobain and Nirvana are overrated, and without listening to her work, I had unfairly written Courtney Love off as Cobain's equally troubled and probably less talented wife. Turns out she's a pretty damn good singer/guitarist/songwriter, and has a solid band and a good production team behind her. The songs are emotional and raw. Sometimes her vocals get atonal or off-key, but it always feels like a stylistic choice rather than a lack of skill. It's not an album I'd listen to too often, but I'd certainly put it on in preference to a Nirvana album. I'm sorry for doubting you, Courtney.
It's a lot of rage and yelling, but it's amazingly coherent, and the energy is great.
yayayaya
I love her voice and the beats go so well together. I dig her albums!!
This album feels the same as I remember the other one feeling. And the 2nd half of each song feels just like the first half. And the songs...yep...all feel the same. Not sure why we needed more repetitive guitar strumming augmented by repetitive and meaningless lyrics. But She Walks on Me broke the trend at least. I wouldn't say I hated it, and at least it kept short.
Powerful singer but didn't hear anything defining on this album. It was an ok listen.
I have gained respect for Hole from this album project, but liked their other album more.
Definitely don't need two Hole albums on this list. The album was fine, but most of the songs sounded the same. I like Courtney Love's growly voice.
primal and sexy, fucking love this album.
they sound like a band, i had no idea they had it in em. Fringe 3/4
<3
Still a great beast of an album
I didn't like She Walks On Me or Rock Star very much. The rest is fine though.
I'm a remiss grunge fan for not listening to Hole much (not for misogynist conspiracy reasons – I don't listen to Nirvana much, either). They're not my favourite, but this is a good album and I enjoy it. Punchy music, vehement lyrics, and raw, wrathful vocals. It's very cathartic to hear a woman sing with a harsh, "ugly" voice. Men with horrible voices are given a lot of slack – God forbid a woman sounds like shit!
A very angry or miserable feel to this one – either one or perhaps both. At least I was happy that it was only 38 minutes long. Seemed much longer though.
You can not like Courtney Love and still appreciate the fact this is a corker of a album. There is so much passion and vitriol behind that voice and looking at the year of release its not surprising. I didnt really like Hole at the time but can massively appreciate them now - this is proper girl power!
Courtney Love is such a dope that it's easy to forget what a great vocalist she was, and that these songs were pretty good. This album is definitely one of the better attempts at ripping off Nevermind, first half is very good, kinda falls apart on the second side.
I reviewed Celebrity Skin early in my project and, reading back, I was pretty generous and willing to look past my personal opinions about Courtney Love. Maybe I'm crabby today, or jaded by time, but I don't feel like I have the same tolerance for this record. The album is a ripper of a grunge record, but I still struggle with Courtney, even if I wish I didn't. IDK, fam.
Never heard any Hole before. Love the energy, the snarling vocal, the grungy, punky sound. Great stuff!
Freaking love Hole, great singing, songwriting, energy, attitude. Hell yeah
Really enjoyed this one! Punky n alternative woooo, Courtney Love had a great voice. Fun and exciting album for my ears
Prior to listening this i thought oh... courtney love ... whatever ... now im on my third listen and im just absolutely blown away. How did i ignore this when i was into grunge? 5/5, favourite tracks are violet, miss world and plump
This is definitely the type of music I like, but I wouldn't say I loved it. I think I missed some better melodies or some more umpf. Still a great album.
not bad, a tratti una lagna ci sono alcune schitarrate potenti interessanti
Listened to this a lot as a teenager.
The most I've enjoyed a grunge album on this list. Definitely more melodic and lyrically interesting than any of the others I've encountered.
An excellent album that I discovered criminally late. I have it on CD in the car. It fits in with the Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. albums we had earlier this week. But Courtney Love mixes her influences wisely with Patti Smith, 80s post punk and blends it with a good amount of 90s production and rock music. Kick ass feminism, for the young and the old.
I liked this a whole lot more than I thought I would. Maybe I never gave Hole the shot they deserved. After this, I will definitely try to listen to a few more albums.
Well done. Enjoyed this.
Quite competent poppy grunge. A couple of highlights, in Doll Parts, Jennifer’s Body and Rock Star. Otherwise it’s okay, but not essential.
As with the other Hole album on this list, I found this much more enjoyable than I anticipated. I heard this casually so many times in the day, but never really paid it mind. It's so specific, of it's time and place and it can't be extricated from that. It's good. I just don't think I like it
GRANDE COURTNEY. No sabía que su novio tenía una banda
Proper dirty album. Raw and gritty. Courtney love’s a proper dirtbag.
Never heard this one before but im a fan of Avril Lavigne so this felt very similar. It’s a great grunge, angsty album by a very divisive character.
I'm definitely more a fan of Celebrity Skin but this is still a great album. It's unfortunate how much tragedy surrounded it's release but it just goes to show the strength people can have to push through hard times and come out the other side.
Sounds like a riot against what I don't really know - almost all the songs sound pretty mediocre. I think it becomes somehow legendary because of the connection to Cobain and death of a bassist two month after the album release
Man, is it crazy I liked Celebrity Skin more?
I'm surprised, but I found this sort of overrated. Courtney would despise for this opinion alone. Miss World, Jennifer's Body, Violet are greatly-written songs, but I found a lot to be very surface-level alternative material. It's weird, honestly - how can the good 'ol guitar, bass, drums and hook trick fade away so easy? I'm not sure, but I do know now that Celebrity Skin has more of what I like. Sorry, dolls (6/10, 3/5 on this scale)
never heard of this before! I love girl screams as a genre! so I got super excited to hear the first song. I would love to see this band live. but unforch sounded samey the rest of the way I had no idea that this was Courtney love? rock queen
This album was fine. I'd give it 2.5 stars if I could because it's right in the middle for me. I didn't dislike listening to it, but its sound didn't really click for me.
Raw and angry, loved it
Better than expected, still very dated.
Nope
no. they are the worst -1
Pretty awesome, and nearly every song managed to get on my playlist. That's a rarity. 90s alternative rock albums wish they could be this compact and consistent (looking at Smashing Pumpkins specifically...).
Not enough good girl rock bands out there
First Listen Favorites: Doll Parts Miss World Credit In The Straight World Honorable Mentions: Rock Star (Olympia)
Perfect punk vibes
A lot of Kurt Cobain/Nirvana influence here. I’ve heard it rumored that he basically wrote this album for Courtney Love. It definitely has his style all over it, but maybe that’s just grunge? Anyway, it’s good. It didn’t knock my socks off but I think it’s a solid grunge album. Which is surprising given Courtney Love’s rampant drug abuse at the time. Maybe that’s why Kurt (allegedly) wrote most of it for her. Although he wasn’t in any better shape at the time.
This album bangs from start to finish
Pretty darn good. I was surprised. Worth a relisten.
Heard before?:✔️ Will listen again?:✔️ Complicated feelings about Courtney Love but I can't deny that this album is really good
Violet is an all time opening track. This album rules even if a few tracks get too thrashy for me.
Слишком много крика – эта часть альбома вызывает настоящее отторжение, при том что остальная часть звучит очень даже неплохо. Но крики не дают мне поставить альбому больше двух звёзд
Courtney Love has always been an enigma and sometimes (especially lately) I find her insufferable. That said, I cannot take anything away from how great this album is. Every song filled angst, passion and honest strife. Her voice is on the edge of disaster with every song but never quite falls off which is part of the brilliance. This is truly one of the best grunge albums and frankly it's pretty flawless.
Bom demais
Some great songs, okay ones.
I feel this album is a tad overrated in the grand scheme of things but still a really fun listen. First half of this album I find to be strong. In between a 3 and a 4 for me.
I liked it. I get it. I see how it could have an influence on music. it didn't really resonate with me and when I was a teen I didn't have access to this kind of music nor did I have an outsized amount of angst
ooh all timer for me.
This was pretty good, sounded a lot like Nirvana, for good reason I guess.
ik vind eignelijk wel leuk .. maar nu niet ech tin de mood voor grunge
het is oke ik hou niet echt van grunge ik moet er zin in hebben
Crazy this came out the same year as Cobain's death. Nobody will understand their relationship because its drenched in celebrity status. To say Courtney killed Kurt is shifting responsibility away from him having control of his own life. Ok album though, she had talent and was one of the few popular female grunge voices.
I was ready for some 90's nostalgia, I thought I'd be more onto his one. It just fell flat for me today, nothing stood out, it's like there was something missing, like a hole....
Nothing here that really grabbed me. It’s not a terrible album, but the songs and the musicianship just feels very mediocre.
When I was in grade 11 I got dumped and I was beyond bummed. Mom would not buy me records…it was a thing. But I was so pathetic that spring, she took me to the mall to buy a cd and this is what I chose. It’s not like this album caused a musical revolution for me…tbh, my female teenage anger was usually accompanied by ani difranco- because i could try to play on guitar it as well. Anyways-I stopped wearing make up to school everyday after I bought this album and it made me walk a little taller. And because of that, a five.
When I started junior high, there was this girl in my class, Dawn, who liked this album. It had only come out a few months before and she likely came to it through her older sisters. I just couldn't relate to the music, it was so far removed from where I was and it felt like it had a level of maturity I just relate to. I thought of Dawn as a 'tough' girl because she was already smoking at 12 years old, this being the late 1900s and all. I kinda thought her listening to this album made her a dirtbag, kinda the way the model on the cover of this looks absolutely feral. Anyway, 30+ years on, this album hits in such a different way and I wish I had been less judgmental of Dawn. Truly a wasted opportunity to bond over Courtney Love at 12 years old.
So I like the vibe but all the songs sound the same. Which is too bad. I know this is thought of as the better record to Celebrity Skin but I find that one has more hooks, which I am a sucker for.
Best grunge album not by Nirvana I've ever heard
EXCEPTIONAL
Got both Hole albums back to back. Had to take a break before listening to this because Celebrity Skin underwhelmed. Glad I waited. I remembered right; this album is good. 4/5
First experience with Hole. A lovely grunge punk surprise. Jennifer’s Body is my favorite off this.
rock enroll minhas irmãs. nota 3 pois não gosto muito no geral, mas não foi uma experiência horrível
Great rock album. Solid, consistant, doesn’t drag on for too long. I liked the first few tracks the best.
I expected to enjoy this a bit more than I did, thought it would be in the grunge wheelhouse but I guess not. Ended up being a bit of a chore. Just not a lot of big songs or innovation
it seems like i would enjoy this
Ca sent la coke à plein nez
While the music here isn't that bad, Courtney Love is.
Maybe it's Courtney Love's later insanity, but I had completely forgotten how brilliant this album is. From start to finish it has an incredible energy.
I am the killer of Kurt Cobain
I am tempted to give it a 3 because I actually didn't mind it, which is surprising given I don't really care for this style of music. I dug her vocals, though! But it's still a 2.
Disco pepinazo super feminista y con mucho trauma. Pitchfork diria que bebe de Olivia Rodrigo.
Better than I remember
The kind of snarl and anger Love has throughout could come off as performative and rehearsed on a lesser record. But on this, it sounds desperate to be expelled and heard. And the lyrics, wow- evocative, poetic, metaphorical (lots of cake and milk). So much hook-ier and musical than the aggressive opener 'Violet' let on (Jennifer's Body is a bangerrr). Doll Parts is still #1 for me tho
This is great. It's quite hard hitting with those big, driving guitars. She has a real presence as a front-woman with those snarling vocals and tons of attitude. Lots of great tracks, and the commentary and overall content I'm here for. Another great album by them, and add me to the growing list of people who should have given them more time when I was younger.
Great energy, honestly surprised me
Karen o ass I said no no no
There is an obsession with attributing Courtney Love (and Hole's) success to a man doing all the writing work for her. On Live Through This, there were rumors that Kurt Cobain wrote the lyrics for the album. Ignoring these lyrics are all in the very obvious voice of Courtney Love, I'm sure after coming off a massively successful album and with pressure to follow it up with another batch of great songs, Cobain was eager to give some of his songs over to Love so that she could have a hit album too. Not to mention, Cobain was focused on writing fewer mainstream songs and Live Through This is a more mainstream sound for Hole. I was exercising while listening to this and after Olympia my playlist went straight to Skinny Little Bitch and it could have fit right into this album, even though the song was released in 2009. Maybe Kurt is ghostwriting from the grave. This is an iconic album cover and it fits the themes of Live Through This nearly perfectly. I can hear the Pixies on some of these songs and Love manages to wear those influences while not dressing herself up in them entirely. I think I did a defense of Courtney Love on the last Hole album in this book, so I will not do it again. There is not a bad song on here and even when the songwriting feels a bit uneven (on the back half, mostly), the songs are still good. I think it's so interesting how many of these reviews consist of some version of, "I didn't know Hole was this good," or "I had never heard this album and I wish I had." It's true! Hole gets overshadowed by the Courtney Love of it all and the fact she was married to Kurt Cobain. For those who like grunge and those who like female-led bands there aren't too many albums in the 90's better than this one.
Pretty much just female Nirvana. It’s great. It hits really everything that makes punk, punk. Lives vocals are also one of a kind
Seriously great grunge rock. The feminist themes hit really hard, in no small part to Love's killer vocal chops. The band rips, and I think it stands alone as a great album despite its similarities to Nirvana. Definitely deserves more listens.
그냥 락
Thrilled! I never really knew what Courtney Love got up to. Besides being Courtney Love, broadly speaking. Feels very correct for a drive to Tacoma. /// Update; got a flat tire on I-5, likely didn’t hear the signs bc I was blasting the album (extremely complimentary omg), pulling into the gas station on the song about Olympia (alternate lyrics, "we took punk rock, and we got a grade." HA brutal) SO good. I imagine this will become 5 stars when it’s less tied to my tragic drive to Seattle in my new economy rental car, having missed my chance for a little reunion painting with Amber in Tacoma /// Spent the night reading more about the production of this album and Courtney’s life and everything that happened after Kurt Cobain died. Fuck. Unreal what she was able to accomplish and become. Watching some videos and performances and so moved.
Muy buen disco
la verdad que en si no me gusto musicalmente, pero entiendo que es un album tambien conceptual un poco, como que eso si me atrapo, deberia prestarl mas atencion a la letra. una vez que me di cuenta de eso lo empece a disfrutar mas
Fine
Really can’t shake nirvana comparison listening to this, definitely will listen again
This felt pretty one track throughout, like I was being screamed at for 40 mins 2
Like nirvana but with a more annoying sounding singer. Hard to get down with this, even though I generally like grunge, this wasn’t my vibe.
местами начинает раздражать ее голос
All tracks sound pretty similar. Must be good to be the wife of a genre changing artist so you can make mediocre music.
I'm one of those people who didn't really listen to Hole for the usual reasons, that it was considered by a lot of people as "less than" (plus at the time I was more into industrial kinds of stuff). Anyway, I know "Miss World" and "Doll Parts" from the radio, but none of the rest of this. And I liked it. I know that people who are Real Punks say that this isn't as good as their first album, but I appreciated its angry tunefulness. I like records that have vocal/guitar/thrashy thing going on like this. It was sad to watch the live footage in some of the videos, knowing that the bassist died from a heroin overdose shortly after the release of this album.
This has been one of my favorite albums since I was an angsty tween in the 90s. It hits just as hard now, as a perimenopausal woman. Courtney Love taps into and channels a deep feminine rage and it's so beautifully raw and potent. She doesn't pull punches: this album is lyrically deep, tackling fame, motherhood, misogyny, trauma, sexuality. Musically, it is incredibly catchy but absolutely fucking rocks in every way. I think this is easily one of the best albums of the grunge era. Absolutely iconic in every way.
Hole absolutely rocks, I don’t have much more to say about that. I recently saw that Love and Billy Corgan were on a podcast or something and started talking shit about their peers from the 90s, and I thought, “God bless em.”
Nope
Courtney Love gets too much hate.
08/10/2026 Exhausting. Thought it’d never end. Very repetitive. Favorite track: N/A, all forgettable.
No, this isn’t to my taste. Two stars…
You know, it’s a bit better than I expected but also not really my cup of tea. I would want to own it in my vinyl collection even if it were in the used bin for $5.00. That said I do appreciate the moment in which Courtney Love launched the album.
Angry and dramatic but you expect that.
Really enjoyed this one. Kind of sounded like a combination of Nirvana and No Doubt at times. Courtney Love has some pipes. Really raw sounding.
The black symbiote suit of conservatism engulfs my body when I hear whiny white children of affluent neighborhoods start banging on the cymbals and screaming with angst. I’m screaming at the top of my lungs because of punk. If I were an adult in the 90s, I’d kill the music store clerk because I would’ve listened to The Chronic and this, knowing my luck.
What a wild ride. I hadn’t listen to pretty much any Courtney Love before and this album rocks pretty hard. Just not 100% my vibe.
Honestly, this is a solid grunge album. It took me a minute to get acclimated to Courtney’s harsh, nasally vocals. But once I channeled my inner high-school angst phase, we were off. I can’t believe I never gave this a chance back in high school (damn, teenage boy sexism). Some of these songs could have fit perfectly on In Utero (which makes sense given Kurt’s involvement). Lyrically, it may even be better, or at the very least more introspective and self-aware.
Courtney, You have the melodic sensibility of a pop star and the grace of a saint, but you'd rather play louder than hell while screaming about all manner of evil in this broken world. I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. Thank you. Best, Lukey
ha s erste vo ihne recht guet in erinnerig und de erst song jetz kenni glaub so halbe? recht hässig und no cool. miss world isch uf e recht geili art ruhig und luut glichzitig. plump isch en huere geile titel wemmeren uf schwizerdütsch liest haha. doll party tönt easy guet so de gitarre bass und alles. d songs sind aber scho biitz am inenand verschwinde.
ahhh das isch so es ikonischs albumcover!! und violet GAHT AAAB uuund s einzige lied wo i glaub vo dem album kenn es isch grungier als ich celebrity skin im chopf han ahh ich han nöd gwüsst, dass ihres erste albumso punkig gsi isch! macht na sinn hmm aso doll parts hani jz reecht cool gfunde, "someday you will ache like I ache" isch geil wie sies singt I think that I would die isch iwie ganz komisch, teilwiis mega poppig aber au hert, I like hmm iwie bini nöd warm worde. s "fundament" vode songs passt mier eig sehr, aber jo, knapps 4i?
Free of the personal background, this is just a good pop/punk/album
Okay, I know I said this at the beginning of the Celebrity Skin review, but it needs be to reiterated because nothing has changed. Courtney Love does not deserve the hate she gets and she did not have anything to do with Kurt Cobain's death. That last part should probably be a widely accepted truth by this point, but people are dumb, so that will never happen. Although, despite people's criticisms of her character, only some of which are valid, there is one thing related to Courtney Love that I've seen almost nothing but praise for... and no, I'm not talking about Kurt. I am instead talking about Hole's 1994 album Live Through This, an album that is, by all reasonable accounts, a classic. Is it deserved? Of course it is! This album's really great! Courtney's voice and energy are very strong, yet the album as a whole has this sense of vulnerability to it that gives each song an emotional oomph to it. In fact, the songwriting on here is so good that people thought Kurt Cobain was ghostwriting the whole thing! He didn't, but the fact that people were and still are positively comparing this to Nirvana's best work is a testament to the quality of Live Through This. The lyrical themes here all make sense given Courtney's life at this time. Motherhood, crimes against women, society, you get the idea. The themes are explored well, I think. The musical songwriting nails the balance of edge and catchiness that made Nevermind such a smashing success. I don't think this as good as Nevermind, but very few albums are, so I'm not upset. The songs on here are good. "Violet" is an excellent opener. "Jennifer's Body" and "Doll Parts" are two awesome songs that play back-to-back. There really isn't a bad song here! Live Through This is a really cool album. Its blend of pain-laden lyrics and punchy punk music make for an album that can appeal to just about anybody in some manner. It's iconic for a reason, okay? High 4/5.
Hate her
Just not a grunge guy unfortunately
Oh to be 14/15 years old and have this amazing music to LIVE THROUGH! I remember first hearing Doll Parts and being whatever about it. Then I heard Violet and was all the way in after that. Album went on to join that massive soundtrack of my adolescence, this album featured earlier in the story. Takes me baaaack. I'll admit that it does kinda get into same-sounding-song territory, like maybe a little one-note BUT IT'S A GOOD NOTE! In somewhat recent history, after reading Love's biography that a friend randomly gave me and told me to read, I've totally become enamored with Courtney and see her as the Cancer (zodiac) Queen. Like she's so the essence of Cancer and I absolutely love her for it. I feel a cosmic kinship with Courtney. Not to mention her life's story is incredible. I love her and am super-happy she's still around.
Listened to this album a lot over the years. Still like it.
Owned Just awesome
Love alternative rock and this one even more as it has that raw unpolished sound.
Grungy and pissed off, it’s a vibe but wouldn’t say I enjoyed a particular track or remember any specifics.
great album
I like this album more than any Nirvana album.
Way better than in i gave it credit for in 93. I prefer the sludge hole of pretty on the inside but its real good
Sam as the previous one. Not my cup of tee. Prob a 2/5. Or a 3/5 maybe.
Півроку тому слухав цей альбом. Тоді поставив 4 на rym. Зараз переслухав ще раз і готовий піднімати до 4.5. Подобається підгранджованість музиці, є бенгери, класні хуки, хороші тексти та звичайно, вокал Кортні.
Другий альбом хоул в цьому списку і знов в мене дуже приємні враження ретроспективно. Кортні Лав чомусь прийняти було хейтити в певний період, але тут справді дуже хороший матеріал, місцями припанкований, місцями сумний як треба. Улюблена пісня тут - Doll Parts. Знов вагаюсь між 3.5 та 4. Хай буде 4.
Hadn’t listened to this album before the project. This is the second time round. It’s really impressive. I am enjoying it more and more. Kinda sorry that Courtney was eclipsed by Kurt and that she “looked” so bad in the public eye. Because I was definitely guilty of dismissing her without actually giving Hole a chance. I’m curious how things might have gone for her if she hadn’t hitched her wagon to the Nirvana train. 4 Boolean: True
No notes, just iconic. Five stars. STAND-OUT SONG: “Violet” HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Jennifer’s Body”, “Miss World”, “Credit In The Straight World”, “Doll Parts”, “Olympia”
Refuse to listen, not supporting Courtney Love
A punch in the mouth of an album. You can feel the rage from Love through her lyrics and vocals.
The ancient Greeks distinguished between two kinds of time. Chronos is ordinary chronological time: one event follows another in an orderly sequence. Kairos is something stranger. It is the moment when history becomes myth, when events acquire symbolic weight beyond their immediate circumstances. In Chronos, the FA Cup Final is simply the last match of the season. In Kairos, it is where old feuds are settled, curses broken and legends born. Live Through This exists in both kinds of time. Chronologically, Hole's second album was released on 12 April 1994. Kairotically, it appeared four days after Kurt Cobain's body was discovered in Seattle. No album has ever been more inseparable from the circumstances of its release. It is impossible to hear Live Through This without hearing the echo of those four days. Yet chronology also dismantles one of the album's oldest myths. Obviously, all of the songs had existed long before Cobain's death, but several pre-dated Courtney Love's relationship with him altogether. Violet, inspired by Billy Corgan, had already entered Hole's live set before Love met Cobain. Miss World was equally established. Doll Parts, perhaps the emotional centrepiece of the record, was written about Cobain before they became a couple, preserving the longing rather than the relationship itself. Even the album's title had been chosen well in advance. If anything, life delayed the record rather than inspired it: Love's pregnancy, Cobain's deteriorating health, cancelled tours and hospitalisations repeatedly postponed its completion. This is what they lived through for the record to come out the other side. Or so she hoped. That chronology is important, because Live Through This has spent thirty years fighting an accusation rarely levelled at male artists: that the woman standing at the microphone could not possibly have made the work herself. The evidence has never supported the claim. Beyond the dates, the songs themselves resist it. Eric Erlandson's distinctive guitar writing on the record - the ascending and descending G and C chord figures that define Violet, Miss World and Jennifer's Body — has no real equivalent in Cobain's catalogue. Love has never been reluctant to acknowledge collaboration either. Kat Bjelland gets her credit on I Think That I Would Die. Billy Corgan's contributions to Celebrity Skin are openly credited. Erlandson's importance has always been recognised. If Cobain had substantially authored Live Through This, it would represent not merely an omission but a profound anomaly in Love's otherwise conspicuous willingness to drop names. That is not to deny the creative traffic that exists within intimate relationships. Cobain's unfinished Old Age, later completed by Love and scattered across Hole releases in fragmentary form, illustrates something much more ordinary and arguably more interesting. Creative couples borrow constantly from one another. Melodies are suggested over breakfast, lyrics abandoned on scraps of paper, unfinished ideas donated because another project demands attention. Collaboration inside a marriage is rarely tidy enough to fit publishing contracts. It is difficult to imagine Cobain begrudging Love an abandoned sketch any more than it is difficult to imagine Love reshaping it into something distinctly her own - the haters don't understand that that's what being in love is about. However, the persistence of the authorship myth says less about songwriting than about Courtney Love herself. She has never been mistaken for a musical prodigy. She is not a virtuoso guitarist. She is not a composer who effortlessly produces material. Nor does she possess Cobain's apparently instinctive melodic gift or Billy Corgan's obsessive craftsmanship. Her albums arrive slowly because they are painfully assembled rather than effortlessly discovered. Yet this is precisely where her artistry lies. Love's genius is performative rather than compositional. She does not overwhelm through technical accomplishment but through presence. On stage she creates the overwhelming impression that every word is being discovered in the instant she sings it. Rage, desire, humiliation and triumph all appear frighteningly immediate. She performs in the eternal present. She lives in Kairos. This perhaps explains the uncanny pattern of her career. Again and again, she seems to appear at moments where culture itself is changing shape. She lived in Liverpool as the city's post-punk renaissance flourished. She appeared opposite Joe Strummer in her first film role. She arrived in California as the alternative underground was preparing to explode into the mainstream and ended up fronting Faith No More for six months. She formed Hole just as independent rock was becoming commercially dominant. Then, impossibly, she found herself at the very centre of alternative rock's defining tragedy, reading Cobain's suicide note aloud to grieving fans and pleading with them to "live through this." Sceptics will argue that I'm naïve, that none of this was coincidence. Love pursued these worlds with extraordinary determination. She sought out musicians, artists and scenes. She recognised opportunity where others were fumbling aimlessly. The infamous 1992 Vanity Fair profile remarked, with characteristic malice, that "her timing is perfect." The phrase is more revealing than its author intended. Her timing was perfect — not because she manipulated history but because she possessed an almost supernatural instinct for recognising where history was about to happen. Her real talent was not simply musical but social and symbolic. She understood fame as performance long before social media turned performance into everyday existence. She recognised that rock stardom itself was an artistic medium. That ambition placed her in direct conflict with the culture from which she emerged. One of Live Through This's most revealing accidents is also one of its smallest. Early pressings mislabelled the song Olympia as Rock Star, the title of an entirely different composition left off the record. The mistake feels strangely appropriate. Olympia is fundamentally about exclusion: Love's rejection by the fiercely independent Olympia scene and by the Riot Grrrl movement that viewed commercial ambition with suspicion. Love committed the unforgivable sin of wanting success. Her ambition was never particularly extravagant. She declared that Hole would become "ten times bigger than Sonic Youth, but not as big as Jane's Addiction." Even this oddly calibrated dream was treated as vulgar. The indie world prized authenticity only so long as authenticity remained commercially unsuccessful. Or, at least, so long as one pretended it was unpalatable or unintentional. Across Live Through This, acceptance is continually withheld. The abused "pee-girl" of Softer, Softest, the public humiliation of Plump, the sexual violence interrogated by Asking For It, the objectification of Jennifer's Body: these are songs about women negotiating systems that simultaneously desire and reject them. Becoming a rock star is not simply an aspiration for Love. It is an attempt to occupy a role historically denied to women except under carefully managed conditions. Female musicians have often been marketed as singular personalities (solo artists) rather than architects of bands. Men front groups; women become brands. Love understood that distinction instinctively. Hole was neither a traditional all-female group nor another male band with a token woman at the microphone. Eric Erlandson became, in a sense, the "boy in the band." Love remained unquestionably its gravitational centre. But occupying that position carried costs. Unlike self-contained artists such as Joni Mitchell or Kate Bush or Bjork, Love depended upon the fragile ecology of a band. Bands collapse. Relationships fracture. Collaborators relapse or overdose. Ex-lovers get shirty. The very communal structure that grants rock legitimacy also creates vulnerability. Again and again throughout Live Through This, one hears someone painfully aware that every achievement carries a price. "Go on, take everything," she sings. It is both invitation and surrender. Onstage that surrender became literal. Love regularly threw herself into audiences that stripped away the glamour attached to rock stardom. Crowdsurfing frequently ended with torn clothing, unwanted groping and public humiliation. The female rock star was not worshipped but violated. It recalls Yoko Ono's Cut Piece, in which audience members were invited to cut away the artist's clothing until the work revealed less about Ono than about those participating in her degradation. Love recognised the same dynamic. Long before she became Cobain's widow, she had auditioned to play Nancy Spungen in Sid and Nancy. She understood the recurring role assigned to women orbiting male genius: muse, villain, parasite, widow. The script already existed. And, following Cobain's death, she inherited it. Alternative rock found itself unable to reconcile two competing myths. One insisted that commercial success corrupted authenticity. The other depended upon the commercial success of figures like Cobain to sustain alternative culture's enormous cultural influence. Cobain's death allowed the first myth to survive, as though he were too good for success. Love became the necessary villain who explained away the contradictions. She inherited wealth but not authority; visibility but not legitimacy. She was held responsible for his death, but not responsible for her own work. Chronologically, these accusations are absurdly complex. Relationships always are. Creativity inside relationships even more so. Kairotically, however, complexity disappears. Courtney Love became the Widow. The role consumed the musician. That is why Live Through This still feels unlike any other album of the 1990s. It belongs simultaneously to documented history and to cultural mythology. Most records can eventually escape the circumstances of their release. This one cannot, because its release became part of its meaning. Love herself became the symbolic vessel into which alternative rock poured its anxieties about fame, gender, authenticity and power. In Chronos, Live Through This is simply Hole's second album. In Kairos, it is the moment alternative rock lost its innocence - and the moment Courtney Love ceased to be merely a musician and became one of rock's enduring myths. 5 Courtney Love’s singing is magnificent throughout this record. Her voice is the sole distinguishment among the musical performances on this record and it is more than enough. The only other backhanded compliment I will offer here is that this is a rather lopsided album - the second half does not match up to the relentless brilliance of the first half dozen songs. Very little does though. We play this album a lot in the house, it is one of Fiona’s favourites as well as mine - it is equally good for contemplative listening and dancing round the kitchen. It was the CD we brought with us to test the sound system when we test-drove our car - I remember well bombing up the M1 with Violet blaring; ‘Yes, this is a good car’. We had it on last night while we were all eating dinner - grand because the child isn’t old enough yet to register the lyrical content. We almost named her Violet. 4/5
Everything I wrote a couple of days ago about grunge and Mudhoney goes for this Hole album too. At the moment it feels like a 3.5-star record, but I'm rounding up to four stars thanks to the Young Marble Giants cover.
Perfectly passable mid 90s grunge. All sounds the same and not in an interesting way.
7/10
As good as, if not better than, anything Nirvana did.
Very shouty, not a fan of the vocals. Musically okay. Low 3*/5
Really digging Love's singing and the guitar riffs! Best: Plump; Violet; Rock Star; Asking For It; Softer, Softest; Credit in the Straight World; I Think That I Would Die Worst: Gutless
Highlights: Violet, Doll Parts 3.0
Humdrum. Hole is largely forgotten now
courtney love sings about a lot of things i am well acquainted with. i don't like her as a person but yeah this is a must listen
This album was really great. The guitar riffs are chunky and the vocals are killer. Everything is so expressive here. I definitely liked it more than Celebrity Skin. Favorites were Violet, Plump, Jennifer’s Body, and Rock Star.
you gotta live through this
More stodgy grunge. It's amazing how quickly this sound aged. Hole always sounded like a sub-par Nirvana to me, which is hardly surprising, I suppose. There are a few tunes on here that were good to hear again, but if it's another 30 years until I hear them next, I probably won't be overly upset.
There are a couple of moments on this, I think, second album which are pretty rocking, but it does feel a little one-dimensional. First (I think) album Pretty on the Inside was probably a little less accomplished, more raw and better for it.
Courtney Love’s voice is extremely powerful and the songs have a driving emotive character. Sprinkle in the context that her husband likely helped write a lot of the music and ended his life right before it came out. This album’s like a dark cloud and I like that a lot.
Their debut has all the grunge credentials and none of the pop tunes of their follow up and that if fine, but doesnt really elevate it.
Didn’t enjoy the vocals that much or the sound of the songs but the lyrics were good.
1. 5 2. 4.5 3. 3 4. 4 5. 3.5 6. 4.5 7. 4 8. 2.5 9. 4 10. 3.5 11. 3 12. 3
I liked this more than I thought I would and would maybe listen to it again.
Aight
Another album I didn’t love when it came out… and still doesn’t resonate with me (although I really dig doll parts). 3.2
Pretty great! Grunge isn’t super my thing (too much yelling), so I doubt I’ll get a lot of play out of this, but it rocks pretty hard. It definitely belongs on this list. 8/10 Most Excellent
A good listen. Some great tracks.
YUPPPPPPPP
Courtney Love was the Meghan Markle of the 90s. A target of the arsehole-male-dominated media's hatred of strong young women. The commercial peak of the riot grrrl movement (but not the artistic peak - that was Bikini Kill's Rebel Girl). Also the only appearance on this list for Young Marble Giants in the form of the cover of Credit In The Straight World. Fine album which gives a voice to women in the world of rock. Inspirational to this day. Deserves to be on this list, unlike Celebrity Skin, the overwrought follow-up.
I didn't like it, pretty much like punk but girly.
Loved this when I was 15, still love it at 45. Honestly we needed more alt-grrrl music in the 90’s. Thx Hole for being one of them. This was an important record of the grunge era. despite all the bad publicity Courtney Love got she fuckn rocks hard! What a treat to revisit this :)
6 - AVERAGE
Girl power punk rock
Let’s all just take a moment to remember the attacks Courtney love made on Kurt cobains mental health. Is she worse than Kanye? Maybe AND the album was mid and inconsistent
music is love
Courtney Love sings Billy Corgan’s hits! Don’t care who wrote the songs, this album is such a great ‘90s time capsule.
Grunge was a mistake
I didn't gel with this really
I feel like I’ve listened to this before but not sure. It’s fine but kind of generic 90s rock.
love grungy woman voice
Hole walked so No Doubt could run?
oynamak istemiyorum
Sorry Hole, I've already had my Riot Grrrl fix today... Since my dad was sad about Jennifer Finch dying today, I checked out the album with his favourite of their songs on it earlier, and it was cool but breezed past me a bit, it didn't really grab my attention but had some decent songs and riffs. I'm pretty sure from my memory and other bands I've heard and seen, this tends to be the pattern with my opinion on the genre/scene. Sure, I love and agree with the lyrica, but the music itself isn't really my thing. This seems to continue that pattern unfortunately. The first two tracks are pretty good and I like the energy a lot, but then most of the songs after feel so similar at times I genuinely thought my Spotify glitched and returned to the first songs again and I didn't notice. There are also some other pretty cool bits where it suddenly kicks in and Courtney's vocals suddenly increase in intensity, but even those lose their impact for me throughout, leaving me entertained but a little bored by the end of the albums. None of the songs really had any notable parts for individual instruments or the whole thing other than this though, so that's about it.
not something i would usually listen to but i like it to some extent (?)
come on.1
Songs blend together. Lyrics are simplistic and repetitive with some off key vocals at times.
If you like punk music, I suppose you might like this album. There is some punk I like, but in general, I can't relate. And I really can't relate to the caterwauling of Courtney Love. This was a torturous listen to me, truly awful music.
Album consistente, mas para a época e para o gênero, há diversos iguais ou melhores. Para uma lista de 1001 antes de morrer, na minha não entraria.
I’ve heard of Hole, but never listened to them before. Also didn’t know it was Courtney Love’s band. I was onboard from the jump. Violet is a great opener and the hits just kept coming. I love women led punk groups, and this checked all the boxes. The musicianship is top tier, the lyrics are biting, and the rage is raw and palpable. As a guy, I never understood why women aren’t furious more often. Life is bullshit for most of us, but women get it in an overwhelming stream. And someone like Courtney Love got it in Niagara Falls quantities. Between the sexist stuff about needing Cobain’s help or even blaming her for his death; an album like this has got to be pretty cathartic.
this is fire. enjoyed reading up on the context surrounding it and gaining a better understanding of the album as a statement from courtney love about the way women are treated in the media and in society. great performances all round. 3.9/5
woww this is good. this is something i would have LOVED to hear growing up, when i was more angsty, it’s a shame i didn’t. courtney has a really interesting voice that lends itself well to a louder and angrier tone you usually see in grunge, she’s also a great songwriter. no matter what you think of her i think this album can (and SHOULD) be appreciated for the sound and the influence on later riot grrl stuff
Absolutely fantastic songwriting for this kind of music, wonderful performances and production, incredible Lyric and personality.
Good alb. Liked it without listening too heavy
There's a story that Kurt Cobain wrote almost all the songs on this album to help his wife (a bit of mystique is added by the fact that Kurt shot himself four days before the album's release). Both Courtney Love and the rest of the band responded evasively to these claims — saying he stopped by the studio a couple of times, maybe gave advice, maybe sang a little, but nothing more. Of course, we'll never know who actually wrote the album, but after listening to it, the reason for such speculation becomes clear — it literally sounds like Nevermind for women. The melodies, simultaneously grunge and punk rock, their structure, the calm vocals in the verses that turn into screams in the choruses, the lengthy lyrics — everything here is reminiscent of Nirvana. If an album is inspired by another great album, it can't be bad, at the very least, but the question of why I should listen to Live Through This when I can listen to Nevermind remains open.
not a huge punk fan but enjoyed this
A longtime favorite of mine. The timing of its release (one week after Kurt Cobain's suicide) gives the lyrics added weight. Even the title "Live Through This" drenches the whole thing in such painful irony that it essentially ends an era.
Se nota algo de Kurt
This album is one that I heard all the hits off of when it came out, they felt right at home with other alternative acts. It sounds better so many years later with more mature ears. It's a solid album all the way through with only a couple of misses. Biggest Hit - Violet Biggest Miss (if I had to choose) - Gutless Hidden Gem - She Walks On Me
cool i guess
12 songs Actually really good. I had never listened to any of Love's music prior to this, and for some reason I had this idea in my head that it must've sucked. Pleasantly surprised to say that I was wrong!
Love killed Kurt! Fuck her!
Yo, this was pretty damn good 🕳️🕳️🕳️🕳️
I love hole
Another Hole album that exceeded my expectations. I never listened to them at the time because I always thought Doll Parts was annoying and I probably let myself get driven by the media narratives around Courtney Love as well. But Violet is a great song and there are a bunch of other really good songs on here as well. And in context of the album, Doll Parts fits nicely. Will definitely listen to this again.
This album was note made for me.
There are a couple songs on here I like, but the rest kind of run together.
I knew a lot more of this album that I thought I would. It was nice to get a female perspective on the grunge movement even if it came with a lot of baggage...
2.5 - I like this more than I thought I would in middle school when I never listened to it, but less than I wanted to.
I'm pretty sure these are the Celebrity Skin people so I thought they were gonna be a super cool female rock band and like if you're married to Kurt Cobain I have kind of high expectations for your music. It was just a bit whiny and shouty and not in a catchy or enjoyable way so a hell of a let down.
this sounds a lot like early foo fighters
3,0/5
Decent album. Liked the energy and the vocals match well with the music. 3/5 Might listen again
Of all the albums from this era, I don’t think I ever would have chosen this one to have aged well and held up over time, but here we are
Pas vraiment aimé l'album dans son entièreté mais quelques sons sont sympas
There’s a point about a minute into opener violet that the band just tears into you and it pretty much doesn’t stop from that points. This is music built on rage, pure white knuckled rage . Courtney Loves voice is a howl and at times cracks under the pressure. It’s a visceral jolt of an album and all the better for it
the woman who wrote 'Credit in the Straight World' and 'Dollparts' is an honorary trans woman, as far as im concerned. this album rules
Je to ich počúvateľnejšia forma.
this was so fun!!!!
more mainstream than I thought it would be and I liked it more than I thought I would!
Did not enjoy
Noisy, angry and with an attitude. Also packs a lot of great songwriting - the hooks pop! I love the distorted guitar on here, makes it sound even angrier. It's another grunge album that sounds like nothing else in the genre, but it's damn brilliant.
Courtney Love does grunge so well. Way more fun to listen to than Kurt Cobain.
There are some good tracks. I genuinely think "Doll Parts' is a great song. However, much of it feels middle of the road, at least at this point, and it's hard to compare to even early to mid grunge at the time. I just think I can get most everything Hole tries to deliver in this album with a Sonic Youth album, and the latter will be on a higher level.
A grunge classic. I apologize to Courtney Love.
Damn didn't realize Courtney Love had that dog in her. I'm ashamed I didn't know
Mejor album que me cruce hasta ahora
You know, I am a bad girl? I never listened to this album. Tracks from it, sure. But never, have I ever actually listened to a Hole album. Such a bad feminist. Bad bad bad. Ok. At the time I stayed away from all things Nirvana, all things Courtney and Kurt media madness. Call me more of a Mazzie Star kinda girl. Courtney Love has such a reputation that I don’t believe I have ever felt the need to break through and actually listen to her work. I am glad this project made me do it. This is an awesome album. It’s too… long? It starts out strong. I am familiar with those first few tracks. All the way through Doll Parts. And then the closer, Rock Star. Maybe because I know Olympia WA from just a few years later the way I do, this closer is… perfect. So the middle loses me for a minute. Maybe on another day this would get a 5. 4 Boolean: True
A very good punk album, deeply rooted in themes of feminism and injustice, which color not only the text, but also the tone. The songs feel spiteful and angry in the best of ways - the exact tone punk was made for.
A voz dela vende o disco inteiro. Maravilhoso e cheio de atitude e garra. Escuta extremamente satisfatória, que te prende e não te solta. Ótimo disco. 5/5
A capa do álbum me lembrou 'Carry a estranha' assim que eu bati o olho. Tem uma pegada punk e uma guitarra incrivel, principalmente mais para o meio do álbum. Interessante saber que a música "jennifer's body" inspirou Diablo Cody, a diretora do filme de mesmo nome, anos depois. Antes de descobrir isso, eu estava achando a música um tanto 'gestures to make you more femenine and elegant' (a playlist de filmes), porque de fato é. Infelizmente, essa banda não é tão reconhecida como deveria.
Courtney Love and Hole have never got the kudos they deserve for this hard rocking musical piece of work.
Man, these chicks can rock! Hole is so much more than the meme they have become for better or worse because of the Courtney Love baggage. But this one rips, beginning to end, no prisoners taken or fucks given.
2.5 - ok
I have been dreading this day, and I really am shocked how backloaded the project has been for me. No Bowie, no Beatles, not even any Dylan or Costello, but thank god I get to hear Courtney Love. Who, of course, I have heard, because you don't ride the coattails of the most important figure in 90s rock and allow people to avoid you (unlike L7, Bikini Kill, Babes in Toyland, and any number of other female led grunge and riot grrl adjacent bands that had twice the talent and none of the coattails). The most iconic image I will ever have of Courtney Love is her throwing her compact at the balcony while MTV News’ Kurt Loder was interviewing Madonna. There was no substance to Courtney besides desperation for attention back then, and it says a lot that the only person who still seems to reliably tolerate her as a human is Billy Corgan, who I love despite myself but is also desperate for someone, anyone to listen to his very important ideas. And that, let's be honest, rubs off on the album. You don't really want to like music by someone who everyone you've ever heard get to know the artist thinks they're a terrible human. And while Hole makes a real compelling argument from the get-go with Violet (a song that, let's be honest, sounds exactly like Billy Corgan writing a song for a woman with Smells Like Teen Spirit production), it immediately spirals. “Miss World” borders on unlistenable… Violet cuts through with rage. Miss World exposes a tone deaf and one-note reality once you get into a looser jangle-grunge. The rest sort of oscellates between the two poles: “Plump” does nothing to quell the “Kurt wrote this” rumors (that chorus is deeply “Milk It” coded), “Jennifer's Body” alternates Kim Gordon Novocaine Voice with a less successful rehash of Violet. That's sort of just the vibe, like Courtney pulled out one song and then cobbled together 11 more songs from disparate parts of better bands who did not have the same label push. And sure, I have no doubt that growing up an angsty boy instead of an angsty girl probably plays a role in not being able to connect to this. Again, for me the feminist stuff was done better elsewhere too, but since this was THE album being pushed from that scene that was also by a woman, that probably made a difference. But at the end of the day this is an album that doesn't make me want to hear it. One thing that does stick out? The production. This feels like it was recorded, and written, and performed, in some abject hovel. It gives X-Files “Home” vibes. When Courtney screams “someday you will ache like I ache,” you do believe that she's aching, because it is impossible for me to hear Doll Parts and not hear unfinished basement jail cells, yellowed flickering lights… the dolls the parts are from are those smudgy sticky ones at the bottom of the toy chest. And that really is a sound that sets the album apart. I just wish the songs were better, the vocals were better, the person was better. ⭐️⭐️
It’s OK, but I’m not sure what is exceptional about this?
Everyone can hate on Courtney Love but damn Hole was good. Angry female rock at its finest, really focusing on the crap that women go through and the crazy expectations, and how mad, sad, angry and just pissed we get. Love the music and the way they can put out into the world these feelings.
This was super rockin' and produced pretty flawlessly. Love her lyrics and her energy!
Not as strong as I remembered
Generic, garage grunge rock. Top tracks: “Miss World,” “Doll Parts”
as with many, idk why it's on this.
--Violet...grunge-tastic --Miss World...no thanks --Plump...nice, chunky guitar sound. not much else to it --Asking for It...could be a throwaway Nirvana track --Jennifer's Body...basically "Violet" --Doll Parts...no thanks --Credit in the Straight World...cover --Softer, Softest...just not feeling this --She Walks on Me...they settle into a solid groove here --I Think That I Would Die...the dingo ate your baby --Gutless...like the chunky sound again. don't care for the vocals --Rock Star (Olympia)...sounds like every other song on the LP
Started awful, but there's actually some charm to it.
Of course this mid 90's teen had this cassette tape blasting out the speakers while driving around the suburbs in her dad's Lebaron convertible on the way to pick up girl friends and one gay boy to go publish a zine, dye our hair Crimson Glow, or listen to slam poetry at a coffee shop. Yes, Live Through This is that specific. 1994 was an amazing time to be a young feminist. And hey, anyone else think it's awesome that 2026 has brought back baby doll dresses and maryjanes? I'm so tickled.
This is among the best ever examples of this kind of rock (whatever genre you'd prefer to call it). Say whatever you want about Courtney Love, but she sounds like the real deal on this album.
Omg this is such a badass album. But also heartbreaking to think that Kurt passed days before this was released and never got to see Courtney kick major ass in this.
A couple of standout songs, a couple of average songs. Not the biggest Hole fan, but still a pretty good album. Mid 4.
It was fine.
Whoa, is that the girl from the hit Alex Cox film Straight to Hell? I wonder if she's famous for anything else. I'm fond of this sound, but this isn't, like, a prime example. It's kinda noisey (J Mascis influence noticeable), kinda repetitive (as this kind of thing often is - not a knock, just saying it doesn't move beyond the trope), and the lyrics aren't super great and her voice isn't, either. It's just fine. Not sure why it's on this list save for her screentime opposite Joe Strummer (not famous for anything else, surely).
Great album that fit in with the rise of Grunge and Punk in the 90s
Cooles Album, kickt richtig
viel zu laut und Gebrülle. Mag Grunge anscheinend nur wenns von Nirvana ist.
Verstehe den Hype nicht
Really liked it, especially Violet.
Not bad - I don’t think this one has aged badly. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it
BUENISIMO uno de los mejores albums para chicas enojadas
Solid enough, if a bit commercialised grunge in places, which feels at odds with the DIY aesthetic that it originally curated. Don't hate it but it's never going to set my world alight.
Angst alt rock in the melodic grunge realm. Generally a good, honest, raw listen with some solidly memorable songs. But it starts to run a bit together for me and doesn’t really stand ahead of the pack of other grunge and alt rock that I like from the time, though I do appreciate the sound and topics being filtered through a woman’s lens
Meh, nothing stood out and not a fan of this genre specifically.
Bändin kolmas levy on tutumpi. Tätä kuuntelin ensimmäistä kertaa. Soitto oli ihan ok, mutta biiseistä ei jäänyt mikään erityisesti mieleen.
I think it very powerfully captured female rage. I loved the themes of poetic lashback against abuse, bulemia, and women being treated as objects. “Asking for it”s lyrics resonated as I believe it would for most women. I don’t like the sound of her actual singing though and the music style- love what it stands for not what it is haha
It’s fine. But feels a little bit desperate and isn’t very melodic
Nice to revisit! Better than I remembered it!
not very interesting
It was good but her voice grates on me.
i like her voice
6/10 Divertido, movido, me hace acordar a un viernes de locos, buen album
Pretty cool, especially the song about Olympia (still holds true today) but not quite a 4* album.
The singles off this album still hold up as some of the best songs of the era.
Omg this hits so hard. Courtney Love has it.
Solid grunge. Courtney is talented, not sure about the replay value for me
tenía muchas ganas de que me toque para escucharlo, destaco mucho su voz. pero siento que le tengo que dar otra escucha (que no sea en el colectivo) para prestarle más atención
UHH MITKÄ KITARAT?? guunasin laulu lowk hyvät energiat ja tuff, levy jäi ehk kaipaa jotai rauhallisempii biisei mis vähä vähemmä huutolauluu? varsinki biisien alut peak!
Meh
2.8
Pretty cool rock songs
Lady rock with balls?
Empty metal-inflected alt rock that strings together a bunch of power chords and pretends it's a song. Courtney Love theatrically oversings her way through the tracks on this record which only underscores how emotionally hollow this pantomime is.
WOOOHOOO HOLES TIME BABBYYYYYY
Great album!
Loved this album!