Reviews (page 3 of 10)
The best thing about the record is that it understands contradiction. It wants beauty and despises what beauty demands. It wants love and distrusts dependence. It wants power but knows how often power arrives contaminated.
Pretty decent.
I just felt like this album was pretty forgettable.
ughhh
Just kind of boring really. No standout tracks, just some by the numbers vaguely grungey music played well enough by a band who wouldn't be remotely as big as they are if not for their lead singer's marriage. That's not to shit on them entirely, it's fine enough, nothing amazing, but based on their songwriting and performance, is their success and fame proportional? Not really, no. They're average as hell, and so is this album. All the songs languish around the 6/10 mark, competent enough, yet not particularly interesting or essential. Some lyrics are quite good and have something important to say about the lived experience of women, however, the songs as a vehicle for delivering these lyrics are nothing to write home about. I'm intrigued by the start of most of these songs, and by the end I'm left with a sense of "oh, was that it?"
Very punk rock, pretty cool too.
I have mostly always sort of been a Hole hater. Maybe not a "hater," per se, but certainly an avoider. You see, kids, in the pre-internet days, any salacious rumor you heard about pop culture or celebrities was absolutely true. And I heard Courtney Love was responsible for her husband's death, and he happened to be in my favorite band. Not only that, but she was accused of riding his coattails and therefore not a "real" musician (which I'm guessing because she's a woman). There were a couple songs of theirs on MTV I wouldn't change the channel on, and maybe secretly enjoyed. It was something of a shock to me to see Hole has TWO albums on this list. Listening to their other one, I gave up all preconceived notions Courtney Love didn't count, wasn't a skilled musician, and decided she, in all likelihood, didn't kill Kurt. Also, I enjoyed the fuck out of that album. This one? Probably even better. I wasted a lot of time not listening to good music because my 14 year old self would believe anything and apparently make up my mind and a part of my personality I didn't even know about until I was in my 40s. Oh, the album! Um, the rhythm section! Wow! The bassist and drummer sound so locked in, and I LOVE the bass-forward mix. Courtney's vocals are incredible, great guitar riffs. Just melt-your-face off screaming grunge. I love it. I don't think there's a song on the album not worth talking about. Immediately started this again when it was over
Reminds me of why I’m so glad I am a Gen Xer. One of my favorite albums.
This is horrible.
Raw, heavy and powerful from start to finish. Courtney Love makes this album a statement on how women can make great rock albums, a pioneer and unapologetically herself. Heavy guitars and vocals, it's so good.
This was a good album, but... I don't know, I just didn't vibe with it as much as the other Hole album I heard through this. The instrumentation was there, Courtney Love's voice was good, the songwriting was fine, but I just didn't totally get into it.
Grei musikk, går litt vel i feil retning for mø
i liked it
I don't know the album or the artist, but it sounds good.
Pretty fun - kinda like bikini kill, lots of talk of milk. Kinda same-y though
Punky, heavy grunge music. Didn't expect this. It's pretty cool. I can hear stuff that sounds like that Seattle grunge sound we know best from Nirvana. There's some loud quiet loud stuff here too like Nirvana and their heroes Pixies. I liked this much more than I thought I would. Didn't know Love could do that growly screamy thing.
I enjoyed this (my wife hated it)
Feral feminine fury 💪
Angry grunge. Almost like a woman-led Nirvana... wonder if there's any connection? :-)
So much better than you remember…even if you adore it.
imagine kurt singing these songs
Enjoyed the album for the most part I'd say, not much else to say
I already knew I'd give this 5. An album that shaped my teenage years. Saccharine angst and Love's snarling vocals make for a corker of an album. Favourites are still Violet and Asking For It.
Absolute classic, love it so much
its a bit too good if you ask me...
Aw yeah, probs one of the best grunge albums there is tbh. I think grunge was really nothing without the women involved, Courtney Love gets a lot of stick and I think sometimes people overlook how talented she was in the midst of all the mess. Such well observed lyrics and songs that slap, just real good stuff!!
Hole > Nirvana sorry lads but it's true. This is a classic big time banger that really holds up - so good you let Courtney Love get away with *a lot* of mad bullshit even to this day. Probs my fav grunge album??
I didn't mind this album, I love a female led punk group, but this album is missing something - cohesion, novelty? 3/5
Do I hate grunge? Or do I hate grunge done by men? Or do I really just like primal rage taken out on my eardrums? 4.5 stars, rounded up.
Surprisingly coherent punk , enjoyed the ability To capsulate hectic moments within a melodic flow
Courtney Love is an absolute force on this album. One of the greatest albums of one of the greatest eras of music.
middara
Music like this makes me feel like I'm in a pub basement somewhere in London listening to a grunge band thrash on a drum kit and sing undecipherable words into an echoey room. That's not necessarily a criticism, the grunge rock vibes just transport me to that place, with how raw and honest it is. On the whole I enjoy the album, it's a good listen with a few strong highlights, but as with the type of gig I refer to there's something about it that washes over me and doesn't feel particularly memorable. 6/10.
This is just not my thing. I like some pop and some punk and lots of grunge. But this is a mixtrue of the three that seems to be the worst of all worlds. Do not recommend.
honestly I get it. I dig the feminine rage. I won't listen to it all the time. but i could see myself returning to this when I'm in a mood. 4.5/5
Had one to two songs that I felt weren't too bad, but overall this album just wasn't my vibe. Grunge is very hit or miss for me.
Courtney Love’s voice is bloody amazing on this. A reminder that a good frontperson can be all you need.
So much better than celebrity skin! Less polished, but all the better for it
Esse trabalho do Hole é magnífico! Toda angústia e Raiva de Love e sua banda estão bem representadas. É um trabalho muito significante do rock alternativo dos anos 1990. TRIxHBB Kai.
Upbeat, good.
Love this when it came out and it still holds up.
A bit one-note.
Favorite Track: Jennifer's Body
Very familiar with Celebrity Skin but this was just as good and a bit more raw. Asking For It was a standout.
Menetteli, ehkä parempi kuin odotin. Toki hitit oli parhaat biisit levyltä. 3,75/5.
Wasn’t familiar with most of this album before listening, besides the first song. Liked the angry girl rock sound and the all the songs matched the vibe well.
As one would expect from a debut of a punk/grunge group, this is more raw than later offerings. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
This is a real gem for me. I already had one Hole album before this one, a more recent one, and I didn’t have high expectations for this one. I was wrong. It’s authentic grunge from that era, with Courtney’s incredible vocals.
I wanted to like this, but grunge continues to keep me at arms length. Maybe because I didn’t live through it?
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of Hole in general. The album is fine enough, but I certainly wouldn't seek it out. The sound is just a little grating.
So good! I really like this genre and I tend to enjoy it even more in the rare instances when they have frontwomen.
So I am torn on this one. A great use of rock for righteous outrage. And the symbiosis with nirvana is clear. But I get worn down by it rather than energised. Maybe I am just getting older.
Classis
Review - never listened to a full album. It's good, but it just made me want to listen to other better alternatives rock of the era. Score - 6.5/10 Need to listen? NO
I was a fan of grunge back in the day, but Hole/Courtney Love was not a band I took seriously. For no other reason than I just bought into the negative narrative about her. That being said, I never listened to this album until today. One of the hardest parts of this project is putting aside preconceived notions about artists and trying to listen without prejudice (thanks George Michael). Sometimes I think I'm better at it than others, but I really tried today. And I'm very glad that I did. I really liked this album a lot. It is definitely grunge, but also a bit more punk sounding at times. There is the quiet-loud-quiet part for sure, but not every song has that dynamic. And the band can rock out and Courtney can sing the hell out of a song. Standouts were Miss World, Asking For It, Softer Softest, I Think That I Would Die, and Rock Star. There were no songs I didn't like.
Good intro and outro but middle is mid
Aika tasaista renkutusta 2,5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wasn’t as bad as it could have been but I’m never gonna be in the mood to turn this on.
I wasn’t expecting much so it beat expectations for me. 2.5
Finger the hole
A couple of okay songs but mostly pretty boring.
Interesante
This is pretty good! The album opens on a great note with "Violet," and is pretty interesting throughout. Courtney Love's vocals are great and there's a number of stand-out tracks. Favorite track(s): "Violet," "Softer, Softest," "Rock Star"
The album is ok, a couple good songs. 2.5
Excellent.
Grunge’s greatest fuck you. Its reassessment is a fuck you to the haters, but regardless of where the consensus has now landed, the work itself is a fuck you to a lot of things: a misogynistic culture, to her peers and her riot grrrl feminist contemporaries, to herself and her own failings, to her marriage, to the world itself. Courtney has far more to say than any of her peers, and i think she’s the one that got kurt to be more direct in his own lyrics. But it’s complex and informed without being too pretentious — she’s literate in a way that normal people really aren’t anymore. She’s a hugely flawed person and her own ambition led to her outsized celebrity which led to the backlash, but we more easily recognise the artistry of male artists in that predicament, and it clearly exists in spades here.
Very good. One of the best grunge albums, which I feel gets overlooked for various non-music reasons.
Smells like Nirvana, but tastes like a blend imitation. At the same time, fun and cool :)
love when you find an album that's like "oh this is gonna hit when i'm in xyz mood". can't wait to revisit this muchly when i'm angry
Nope
This female singer sounds a bit like Kurt Cobain, wonder if they have ever met.
I now understand why Kurt shot himself in the face
I am not a fan of grunge whatsoever but I will say this kept me intrigued for longer than I thought.
Nice alt-rock/grunge album! Fed energi og hooky rytmesektion. Albummet skriger 90'erne på den gode måde, og kan godt forstå at Courtney Love og Kurt Cobain fandt sammen. Standouts: Violet (more like violent); Asking For It (Nice dynamisk væksling); Softer, Softest (Interessant lyrik, fed. Nok det mest dæmpede nummer på albummet)
Liked this one more than I feared. Thought it was gonna be some dudes but I love femme rage
Very solid
is this a joke? this is the second time I get a hole album...
I mean come on. This is better than Nevermind. The Dawes ear bleeding agony of rock stardom ever
The perfect grunge album, full of angst, catchy and heavy guitar riffs, and scratchy vocals
Esposa del grunge... Not 4 me. Igual me entretuvo.
Lo primero que debo decir es que es un gran álbum de grunge. Tiene todo lo que el género tenía en ese momento. Lo segundo para decir es que tenía todo lo del género en un año cuando ya el género había dado todo eso hace tiempo. Si a eso le sumamos la situación de sonar muchas canciones parecidas a Nirvana, la comparación se vuelve inevitable cuando ya Nirvana hacía 5 años había soltado estos mismos sonidos. Una mierda comparar así, sabiendo todo el trasfondo atrás, pero realmente hay un parecido musical imposible de evitar notar. Aún así, porque banco al género y porque me gustó en lineas generales el album, 7/10
Tja
One of those albums I never owned but still manage to know fairly well. While there's all kinds of context people might want to put around it, in the end it's still an extremely good album.
Crafty melodies, rock noise, and intense writing: smart white-hot anger and desire. It's a pretty good record.
One of my best loved of the 90s. There was so much hatred toward—and even worse, dismissal—of Courtney Love. But this album is fantastic, and each and every track shines. The grooves are undeniable and the anger, love, desperation, and determination are real. It sounds just as good as when it was first released.
Meilleur que Pearl Jam
Les adultes étaient très en colère quand on était ados. 3.75 étoiles
I guess its not as bad as I had anticipated. Doll parts is a pretty cool track.
2.2/5 Nothing too amazing here but nothing terrible.
What the ... ? Biggest surprise of the list. 5
Not bad!
I wasn’t so into Hole at the time this came out but was way into Celebrity Skin and went back to this. One of the greatest rock albums of the 90s and this band does not get the respect they deserve although they’re here so maybe they do.
Can't think of much to say about this album. Perfectly fine grunge.
Even during Courtney Love's pre-celebrity days, Hole never did much for me. By the time Live Through This came out, I was actively avoiding everything in this world because it felt so overexposed and performative. (That said, I thought "Violet" was catchy.) All these years later, I can say I didn't miss much, but I liked this more than I expected—particularly the first half. By "Softer, Softest" it gets repetitious, but the run from "Violet" through "Doll Parts" is solid, and I appreciated the commentary in "Rock Star." I'd still never want to hang out with Courtney Love, though. 3.5 stars.
It's hard to think of any artist who was as unfairly maligned by the public as Courtney Love: Hole puts out this incredible punk-rock album, and immediately, the narrative is that Kurt Cobain ghostwrote it. As if no woman could write something like this. And, as she grieves her husband's death by suicide, the rumor spreads that she killed him. The shitty reality is that this was an album dealing with women's issues, and predictably, it was greeted with misogyny. "Live Through This" is an amazing record. High energy, memorable hooks, well produced. One of the best to come out of the grunge era, and sadly overshadowed by the tragedies surrounding Love’s life.
Veeerrryy fun!!! Loved it
Sylvia Plath meets Helen Keller
I wasn't a fan at first but then it started to grow on me about halfway through. Fav song on it is probably 'I think that I would die' or 'rock star'. Hole, or at least the vibe I'm getting from this album specifically, is giving a rockier version of No Doubt and I'm here for it.
I didn't expect a hole album to be on here, and to be honest this just feels like nirvana with a frontwoman. There are much better albums I could have listened to from that era, such as jagged little pill by alanis morrisette and version 2.0 by garbage. Its not a bad album but it isnt very memorable either
Fine
Proper grunge - really liked it
I actually really liked the punk rock sound here but the voice is an absolute killer for me. I respect it, I like the sound in theory, but I don’t like how it ultimately sounds.
Don't Judge a Book by It's Cover. Whether that's true or not is worth a philosophical digression. Who decides on the cover, anyway? Well, when I saw the album cover, I expected something terrible. Some girl with a thin voice and insipid pop. But no, the album has some punch to it. I think I’ll give it another listen and check out Hole’s other albums as well. 4/5
Pretty good!
3 or 4 absolute bangers of the grunge era. I see a lot of hate directed to her as if she was some sort of 90's Yoko but this album is fucking fantastic. Not quite 5 stars but there aren't a lot of 5 star grunge albums around for me.
Was ok, nothing amazing. May not listen to it again.
Wears out it's welcome fast.
Büro, Heidenheim, Deutschland. Sehr feine Scheibe.
Great grunge pop, probably wouldn't put it on this list though.
Like many others here, I also feel like I didn't give Hole a fair shake. In my case, though, I definitely feel like it was more the fact that I just wasn't into grunge at the time. I still don't think I am, but this was an incredibly strong album.
Raw and angry. It’s good, but I can hear a bit of immaturity in the album that gets polished (in a good way) in their later work. Love has such a good voice, but her yelling masks it. This feels like alive is trying to act a part instead of being herself. I do like the record though. Just not as much as other Hole work.
I understand that Kurt Cobain didn’t ghost write this one, but I hear a lot of grungy influence throughout.
Doll Parts //
Really solid 90s grunge/rock album. Love the vocals. Doesn't really have a standout song for me, but no duds either.
4.5 Hole are great, and deserve more recognition and respect beyond just the cobain association, a really good album and some great songwriting
Not the best album but it was alright. It was just diffrent from my usual music but I feel like if need to listen to it again. Favorite song was asking for.
4 - starts out ok but fades and very one note.
A lazy copy of Nirvana. Courtney added nothing to the formula and got famous ripping off her husband. Their first album has a lot more personality and energy to it. Way better than this piece of shit. I also just hate Courtney Love as a person. Her and Cobain's kid - Frances - deserved a better mother than this narcassistic drug addict. Just look at what was happening in '03 and '04. Drug related arrests meant she had to give up custody of Frances. And the allegations of her using heroin while pregnant? What a fucked up woman. Anyway, this album was a bore. Only stand out tracks were Plump and She Walks On Me. Everything else felt like Love wasn't fully comitting to trying to imitate what Kurt laid down with Nirvana. 1/5
yup this fucks peak grunge, peak alt rock
The career defining album of the most beloved rock-and-roll wife since Yoko Ono. Honestly, Love's incredibly raw and sometimes vicious performance surprised me. There's a nice mix of polished big-budget alt rock that often veers into gruff, uncompromising hardcore, usually at Love's direction. Though the album's sound palette sounds pretty dated today (you can basically pinpoint the exact year this was released) it's still a standout entry in the very, VERY wide alt rock landscape. Key Tracks: Violet, Plump, Jennifer's Body
They said "Lyle you're a misogynist" "Lyle whens the last time you read a female author" "Lyle this" Well look at that. I gave Hole a 4, that's right. Courtney Love is a fantastic vocalist and great lyricist even if she did kill Kurt. Love the very open and echo-y production. Not gonna pretend I have anything pithy to say about the albums themes of feminine rage. Very good. 3.5-4
Can’t believe I hadn’t listened to this before. Great stuff
Courtney Love is like the best frontwoman ever. So much energy. So unpredictable. I love this album. Kind of the pinnacle of grunge for me. Need to listen to Celebrity Skin still
it's awesome. can't believe i hadn't listened before. i liked when she screamed FUCK YOU!!!!
now THAT'S MORE LIKE IT. women rock. so hard. despite, y'know. the everything. take that as many ways possible. 4.5-5. listen to "i think i would die" or i'll shoot you myself.
It was kind of noisy. Sounded alright, but lot of screaming and I had a headache.
Good grunge album - a little to much screaming into the mic to be great - Surprisingly spoty in quality: hole have some of the best grunge songs and others are just really dull
Courtney Love is SO cool, actually
90s era grunge rock is really something. Favorite track: Doll Parts other picks: violet, miss world, rock star
Solid PNW grunge. Great if you're into that sort of thing.
Under produced but decent raw material
I think this album is very good. It was ultimately released at a time of a lot male energy but stands out as a very strong female led band and album at that time. Low 4s.
I get why someone would assume Kurt Cobain ghostwrote this. It feels raw, harsh but also vulnerable and authentic. A cool album, but I could not remember any of the songs the next day sadly.
Excellent grunge album. Has a couple of hits that still hold up.
Not bad, very straight down the middle grunge, however I don't love Courtney Love's voice all the time on this
2:5
dude no, i really wanted to like this but its really annoying
This album isn't a mind blower but it's a bit punkier then the rest of the stuff coming outta the grunge scene. The vocals are fantastic, so raw, aggressive and passionate. Production is crunchy which would have made it steller live
Great grunge album. A must for the list and fun to return to.
3,8 Highlights: Asking For It, Doll Parts
I was so excited to get a female fronted band I think I over indexed this one a bit. Doesn’t really stand up to the rest of the albums I’ve rated 5 but still a bowl you over piece of music. Maybe I’ll bump it up again in a few months who knows
Litt for datert, for lite nytt, for likt
Punk/post-punk with a bit of grunge. Strong vocals, control even during distortion. Can you call it feminist? Definitely a statement on the treatment of women in society. Definitely aggressive, powerful, self-assured. I respect it and can see how people would love it, but it doesn't resonate with me. Best track - Plump, Jennifer's Body, Gutless 3 stars
i think the last track really was what made me "get" this record. it's quite good and pretty consistent throughout, i think i would probably listen to this again
Hard to separate the person from the art, but although she’s completely insufferable and I’m really not sure what she’s contributed musically over the past three decades- this album still rips. I’m not leveling the accusation or contending that it was written but someone else but it certainly does bear the influence of her partner at the time with some Bleach era riffage and lyrical content similar to that that consumes Kurt. That said, she completely sells it on this album. I like it.
Really harsh sound. Not my favorite. But interesting exploration of women's rock in the 90s that covers some serious issues.
On the harder side of pop rock (punk ig). Interesting message and lyrics but not particularly pleasant.
not the worst, felt lots of nirvana-ish vibes here but it wasn't bad. felt a lot like feminine rage, which I'm very fond of, though it didn't really match my tastes.
Never listened. Expectations: Mid - Verdict: Good - Violet is an angry opener, but I like Miss World more. The first few tracks are good but there isn't much variation. They all sound a bit too similar for me. I like Jennifer's Body and Doll Parts is very good, I love the vocals as they get angrier. Rock Star is a good closer. I could maybe see this becoming more enjoyable with more listens but I'd say it's a good album.
Never given the band a chance because, well, you know. Should have done.
its very neat, you dont usually expect women to sing this kinda genre but im all for the ladies doin whatever they like, you go girlies. sometimes the songs are too rough tho
As good as almost any of us contemporary grunge albums at the time. An album I flirted with but never dived into due to a bit of indifference with the genre. But I'm enjoying this. Raw, visceral and legit.
🔥
I’d like to shove this album in my …
in terms of musical context, it's quite a shock to be me (i don't know who the fuck Hole is) and learn that Courtney Love fronts this band, and especially that there was some hot goss about whether or not Kurt Cobain had anything to do with this album. feels very much like... not my circus, idk. this was a cool listen. I'm actually glad to be somewhat divorced from the history of this album because it allowed me to listen to it for its own merits and on its own terms, which made it actually really enjoyable. when it went hard, I wanted it to go harder. when it softened, i still wanted it to go harder. still, it was an enjoyable listen, and i don't think i'd skip any of these songs if they came on shuffle. i don't know that i'd go out of my way to choose this record, though. i think "She Walks On Me" is the standout track. I'd seek that one out probably
i've seen only hate for Courtney Love online. i think that's what the cool kids are doing. idk man she's got a cool voice and i thought this album was fun enough. i probably won't listen to it again, but i'm not skipping Hole any time soon.
Big fan of this! My only exposure to Courtney Love has been Kurt Cobain-related slander, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It evoked an Ann Wilson sound, but if she was way more angsty. I’m exactly sure why, but something about it won’t let me rate it a 5. It’s easily a 4.5 though.
This is an album that I've been meaning to listen to ever since Olivia Rodrigo started venturing into a heavier sound and Courtney Love said that she was biting Hole's sound/aesthetic (is she wrong?). I was not disappointed! The first three songs I felt were especially strong. I'll be returning to this one a lot.
Dude I just listened to this for the first time last week and texted my brother the following: “Just listened to Hole for the first time and it turns out I love Courtney Love, who expected that one” For real gang I think Courtney Love might actually be the single most underrated songwriter of all time relative to her standing and reputation in pop culture. The reasons are obvious but unfortunate but like… shit nobody told me this.
Some key representation that acoustic guitars and pop diva antics aren’t the only avenues for female artists; you can also be loud, abrasive, and wild. I didn’t love the album, but it def opened doors for women in punk and heavy music and I liked a few of the songs
Some albums are unpleasant to listen to because they hold a mirror up to society and expose the ugly truths underneath it. This is one of those albums. If the songs weren't so dam catchy and full of killer hooks this could have been a dour record, but Courtney Love takes all of the sexism and wrongs done against her and turns them into songs that you want to belt at the top of your lungs.
One of the best grunge albums of the 90s. Hole were criminally under-rated mostly due to the hate Courtney got.
I listen without all the gossip surronding its release. Very interesting album. Courtney Love made a great singing.
90s rock. No problems. Her being cobains lady definitely plays through, their styles merged it seems. Kinda hard and more loud punk style.
Fuck yeah! I was already prety familiar with this one, right up my alley. Wouldnt be surprised if Violet is my most listened to song of the year. Edit-Just want to point out after reading some reviews, I am absolutly loving the sheer amount of love this seems to be getting from people.
A good grunge album
I liked it more than I thought I would. Good songs to start, then the quality drops.
Easily like top 3 grunge albums
Enjoyed
Jesus, you go girl. I guess she put all of her anger into this album. It's like equal parts 90s Alt-Rock and 70s Punk Rock, both put through one of the absolute worst things that could happen mid-performance, short of that one time Metallica's lead singer burst into flames. "Uncomfortably real" is the best way to describe this album. She talks about everything from domestic abuse to getting assaulted after stage diving into a particularly horrible audience. Kurt Cobain could never.
not really for me, cool lyrics tho
Grunge
Excelente
The first half of the album didn’t really feel right in my ears. The instruments and vocals felt too separate to me. I thought Asking For It and Jennifer’s Body (didn’t know where the film’s name came from either) were phenomenal, but the rest of the album wasn’t as great for me. I’m more of a Britpop person than a grunge person anyway. I can totally get why people would love this album though, especially if you had been an angsty teenage girl with this, which I am not.
I had never given this one much thought, but man, this is really good. You can see how she has influenced a generation of female led bands in a very heavy way. Great listen.
Not for me
Loved the grungy mess
Decent, but kinda a bummer given everything else going on at the time. Would pick it up on vinyl if I found a used copy digging in the crates but it's from the "you'll never find a used copy of this in the crates" era. I'm gonna go listen to L7 now, which was much more my shit.
Not sure why, but not really into this. Loved Nirvana, but this is just not working for me. Too much shouting. 2.5
It's obviously pretty damn difficult to discuss and/or praise this album without discussing the context from which it came. Nirvana. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. Grunge as an entire era. And now we have to somehow contend with this existing outside all of that. It's alright. I mean obviously it sounds like Nirvana, but that's not because I'm subscribing to the conspiracy that Cobain ghostwrote all these songs. He didn't, even though I could easily imagine his voice and guitar work in place of Love's. No, it's because that's just straight-up how grunge sounds sometimes. And how grunge sounds is...not reeeaally for me. I like it when she screams! I like harsh vocals. And I like the more straightforward punk songs, especially in the last half. Gutless and Olympia are an awesome one-two punch. Funny enough, even though it almost functions like a Bikini Kill diss track, Olympia reminds me more of Sleater-Kinney than anyone. But I'd rather listen to Sleater-Kinney, unfortunately. It sounds pleasant, but I couldn't fall in love with this one.
Classic album of the grunge era. The first half is five stars for sure, but fades a bit in the second half (other than the final track, which is also fantastic). Great stuff.
I just don’t think I like her voice. I can see the appeal, there’s a kind of raw energy, but it’s not doing great things for me personally
med
This was better than the previous Hole album, and I gave that a 4/5. Not better in a score sense (it'll still be a 4/5), but better in that this was basically a hard punk album that was pretending to be a grunge album. Really good, high voltage vocal work from Courtney Love, and the guitars were tuned down and angry. Really liked this one!
I owe you an apology Courtney Love, I was unfamiliar with your game.
This was even better than I remembered it
Really enjoyed this, prefer this album to celebrity skin
Good, compact album. Underrated at the time.
Love this, three stars, altogether now 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶 “I went to school…” Tom.
Faves: Plump
Altijd al zalig gevonden
Dit is echt top! Ik kende enkel het eerste nummer van dit album maar wil ze allemaal vaker luisteren Heb uiteindelijk heel de dag geluisterd
Hole was a part of the 90s that I let pass me by. I think I felt that they were in the shadow of Nirvana so I kind of wrote them off. But on this fresh listen I find them to be very much of this era but also somehow quite unique.
As so many others have noted, Courtney Love’s public persona and tumultuous relationship with Kurt Cobain may have overshadowed Hole’s talent, which was very much hidden in Nirvana’s shadow in 1993-1994. The opener to this album, 'Violet', is arguably the best song on the album. Courtney Love's raw, savage energy and vocal performance is inspiring, her shouts of "Go on, take everything" chill-inducing. Fortunately, while 'Violet' is my favourite track on the album, it's far from the only good one. The album oscillates between higher intensity, grunge tracks ('She Walks on Me' being one of the heaviest) to more mellow, introspective tracks like 'Doll Parts'. 5⭐️
I think I would like it better with a different singer
Okey, super punk y con esa voz rasposa y agresiva del rock. Debo decir que quizas no es muy mi estilo, pero aun asi disfrute escuchando She Walks On Me, Plump y alguna que otra más.
I had heard some of these songs but not the whole album. It was better than I thought it would be.
Meh meh meh
Not as good as Celebrity Skin imo. This really just seemed like Courtney screaming into a mic for 40ish minutes.
I've never been able to separate this album from Cobain's death-think this released just a few weeks after his death. musically this was a good listen, but Love's vocals just never appealed to me.
You cannot give less than one star so this album has a star it does not deserve who is doing the list of 1001 albums includes this drekk
A triumph of mainstream alternative rock, crashing and limping through the female experience and the razor's edge existence of 90's culture. Provocative motifs of motherhood, violence, and innocence lost, the songs showcase raw emotion on a spectrum from anger to depression, poking at things in between. Feels like a band that is hitting it's stride and was ready to show the world something; perhaps the world's own twisted preconceptions and the people & things we turn a blind eye to.
didnt catch me
Courtney Love’s voice steals the show, which is saying a lot because the instrumentation is often solid on here as well. “Violet” blew me away as an opening track. I can see why she and Kurt Cobain went so well together in at least one aspect: her voice has that same harmonic chainsaw quality to it. She sings with such a sharpness, but still hits every note right where it’s needed. I loved the first part of “Credit In A Straight World”. It was a needed little switch in composition/approach right at the perfect time. Beautiful track sequencing. “She Walks On Me” - holy shit! The ability to turn on the screaming voice mode and then dice right back into more mellow, melodic singing. I’m impressed. Last shoutout is to the closer “Rock Star”, on the ever-relatable feeling of thinking you’re not the same as any other kids in high school. Maybe this was actually true a bit more for Courtney Love. Either way, I too went to a school in Washington and used my taste in music to leverage the angsty ideology that I wasn’t the same as most kids too. Funny. Though this hit me as a 3/5 on first listen, I know that I’ll go back and in my heart of hearts feel like this is more 4/5
Lived through it.
It’s unfortunate that the whole Kurt and Courtney drama and her other personal issues tend to overshadow Hole but this album is great.
I had this band's other album earlier in the project and thought it was pretty meh, so I expect mediocrity from this as well. It's actually a lot better than I would have thought(and Celebrity Skin was). The album is raw, passionate, and angst-filled in that oh-so-early 90s tradition. The lyrics are rage-filled and deeply personal, and the songs are strong alt-rock numbers with clear hooks. The vocals are as passionate as everything else here, and the album as a whole is very angry. It has everything you could expect from a grunge album in spades, and it isn't too polished. It's very of its era, but it encapsulates the spirit of the era perhaps as well as any other album of the era.
Celebrity Skin is way better, in my opinion. I know this is Hole's breakthrough album, but I'm not sure why this is the one they're known for; that being said, Dollparts is a decent song.
Hole sucks
Shouty stripped back noisy fun
learned a lot, but didnt enjoy it as much hehe. should revisit
hi girl
7/10
To my ears, Hole suffers from a similar problem to Alanis Morisette and Cheryl Crow. Sure, the bands are tight and the record’s nicely produced. But they feel like generic Top 40. It’s the same lady in a different dress, so to speak. It’s too MTV and not very innovative.
Wasn't familiar with Hole. Great lyrics, fantastic guy wrenching vocals and some interesting tunes. Not really my style particularly, but enjoyed regardless.
decent overall, actually. Not anything memorable
While this is quite a decent listenable album, it’s another standard 1990s record that doesn’t need preserving.
not bad, liked it more than i thought i would
Fuck this is good.
joan jett energy 🤘🏻
Not really my cup of tea and I think I enjoy Celebrity Skin more by Hole. It’s a little more produced and not as grungy. Doll Parts is my favorite track on this album. “Some day you will ache like I ache” are some heavy lyrics.
Like the vocals and sound, just a little too sad for ya boy... I get that that kinda the point, but we need good vibes in these trying times. Ope, didn't realize this was Courtney Love until I looked into it more...
anyone who doesnt like this album clearly isnt an angry woman
i fucking love hole, this album is so fucking cool and great, i love it. like... i'm miss world too
Live Through This es un álbum con mucho talento y una identidad bien marcada. La interpretación de Courtney Love y las letras crudas le dan un peso emocional fuerte que se aprecia fácilmente. Aunque no es del todo mi estilo, puedo valorar su sonido agresivo y honesto. Me gusta, pero no me encanta—se queda en un punto intermedio. En general, le doy un 3 de 5 sólido y respetable, pero no algo a lo que estaria escuchando todo el tiempo.
This album sucks and so does Courtney Love
I’ve never listened to a Hole album before. I probably heard the occasional song on MTV back when “Live Through This” was released, but it wasn’t music that interested me. I have no recollection of the music. Back then, in 1994, the album was the talk of the town and the subject of wild speculation. Kurt Cobain had taken his life a week before the release date, and suddenly an album by his widow appeared. I don’t wish to engage in speculation about Cobain’s alleged ghostwriting – a certain stylistic similarity is certainly unmistakable. But didn’t half the bands back then sound a bit like Nirvana? From today’s perspective, over 30 years after its release, the album certainly isn’t worth the hype, but it’s better than I feared. Admittedly, if we’re honest, Patti Smith had already been doing this sort of music much better 20 years earlier. A certain ‘polished edginess’ means the album doesn’t really strike me as authentic. But perhaps these are just Yoko Ono-style prejudices that I can’t shake off.
The years have not tuned my ears to make Courtney's voice less grating, quite the opposite it seems. Not sure we're even listening to this is she isn't Curt Cobain's girlfriend/wife. Sure there's moments here and there, and Hole had their moment in the spotlight, just not sure anything here warrants a "gotta hear this!" callout.
I think I like this album now more than it was released.
Passed me by a little at the time - had fairly low expectations, but actually really enjoyed
Mega spoko, przesluchalem najwięcej razy ze wszystkich podanych albumów 8,5/10
Kinda lame
I needed a view runs to get used to it, but finally I liked it a lot. (Except the screaming on some tracks) favourite: "Doll Parts" 3,5
Reikä-Love. Ihan okei rokkenrollia. Laulu oli välillä aikamoista määkimistä, mutta kylläkait tätä mieluummin kuuntelee kun turpaansa ottaa.
En vaan siedä Courtney Loven ääntä yhtään. Ymmärrän, että yrittää varmaan olla joku fem Kurt Cobain, mutta tulee vaan joku yläasteen musiikintunti mieleen soitannan ja laulannan sekamelskasta. Ei jatkoon tämäkään levy. Ihan jotain yksittäisiä pieniä hetkiä oli kun vokaalit ja soitto kohtasi, mutta pääasiassa vaan puudutti todella pahasti
No questioning this is a classic and a very important record in grunge I would give it a 4 but I find my self sick of Courtney screaming the same thing over again by the end of most of the songs 3/5
So annoyed I'd never stumbled across this beforeZ Unfiltered, melodic rage with incredible punk attitude. Superb vocals from Love and this hits HARD. Will add to the rotation.
Banger
No lo conocía. Pura época.
⭐⭐⭐ Ett ok album varken mer eller mindre. Har svårt att se dess kultstatus, tycker det är lite för många spår som är medel och för få som sticker ut positivt. De som är bra är bra men det dröjer till tredje spåret med Plump som jag tycker det först lyfter. Det är möjligt att texterna är något som går mig förbi och att jag saknar den emotionella kopplingen till albumet. Det får bli en 3a, det är nästan definitionen av medel. Bäst är Plump, Jennifer's body, Doll parts, Rock star.
Spotify has just done its annoying thing of starting an album over again once it’s reached the end. Fuck it, this is getting a second whirl. Never gave this the time or respect it deserved when it came out. Violet is one of the best songs of the grunge era.
pewww
This album was released a few days or weeks after Cobain's death and I've always found strange that the title of the album was so strangely foreshadowing of what was to come. Any way, I have memories of listening to this album in a friend's room while discussing all the things teenagers talk about (girls mainly). Nirvana's influence is all around this album but it stands on its own with great songs and Courtney Love screamings. Favorite Songs: Violet ; Doll Parts ; Olympia
Didn't love it. Didn't hate it
Odd I don't have, but there I know and like a few tracks. Its good, poppy grunge, Somewhat samey, but the good ones rise above. 3.5 rounded up Heard before? Some Owned: No 66/267 (24%) Will I get: Yes
Instrumentally, this is much better and far darker than "Celebrity Skin", but Courtney Love is objectively a terrible vocalist, landing squarely in the shockingly bad category. She couldn't hold a tune if her life depended on it, and this is with music that has incredibly simple vocal melodies. 2.0/5.0: Disappointing
this hole was a little sloppier than the other but i preferred this one
I know it's hardly a Beatles or Stones situation, but I was a Babes in Toyland person. On the surface, it seems a little odd to embrace them and basically reject Hole, but that's what I did, and I stand by my reasons to this day. I believed Kat Bjelland, I did not believe Courtney Love. Self Compulsion verses Self-Aggrandizing was what I was subconsciously feeling. Art verses Opportunism. I didn't put a lot of thought into it at the time, but I'm glad my stupid younger self had enough discernment to be on the right side of the screechy, girls with noisy guitars debate. Listening to Live Through This properly for the first time today I've heard a decent-ish album but as I suppressed my obvious bias in order to give it the fairest assessment I am capable of, I didn't hear much to change my mind. Not every song being 100% self-obsessed was perhaps the best takeaway I got. It seems very wrong to me that I have another Hole album to listen to while Babes on Toyland are absent from the 1001. Complaint lodged.
I love the sound of all the instruments and I think Courtney’s voice is one of the best rock voices. Love the raw production, some moments remind me of in utero. But I feel like most of these songs are missing compelling hooks, so you can easily tune it out. I think best enjoyed in a bar or playing at the record store.
I did enjoy some parts, found her voice got a bit grating to my ears as it dragged on.
This was good but she’s kind of gross
no. annoying and whiny and no. felt like i was in a whole of white trash activities. sorry courtney, u just didn’t love this one. gets a bonus star for being an alt girl album tho i rock with that.
Better than the previous one, but still
I only know the opening track. Courtney Love is a very controversial figure and always has been. To the point where people write off her talent. This opening track is a banger. Looking forward to the rest of the album. I don’t know how she does it but she just teeters at being off-key when she sings. And it brings so much character and emotion to the songs. Ok, I might get pushback on this, but if someone wanted to understand 90’s music. This is the album to start with. It’s brilliant in a way where it sounds like it will fall apart at anytime but yet seems bulletproof.
After learning who ‘Hole’ were before listening I was expecting some scream type grunge and I was not disappointed with this woman fronted grunge punk bands album. The first 3 songs had even my daughter looking up from her breakfast and asking who I was listening to so she took note too. She loves Paramore and Olivia Rodrigo and I reckon both those have taken inspiration from Courtney Love. ‘Doll parts’ was a welcome well placed track which showcased some softer vocals. ‘She walks on me’ showcasing the best guitar work on the album in my opinion along with some solid vocals so is my best song on the album. By the time the last song ‘Rock star’ appeared I felt like Courtney was well overdue a throat sweet. Overall I enjoyed the album and can see where lots of the female punk acts that have arrived on the scene of the 00s will have taken lots of inspiration.
So Hole - Live Through This Blistering companion to Nirvana's In Utero with Kurt's fingerprints all over it but with Courtney and Kristen's feminine swagger. And, whisper this, Patty Schemel is a puncher and balls out drummer than Dave Grohl. Not a single weak track, although the standouts for me are Violet, Doll Parts, She Walks on Me and Olympia. Perhaps the greatest set of postpartum songs recorded? Not sure how many other albums have that as a major theme though 😂 8.5/10
Oh Courtney love, I can never form a solid opinion on you
9/10
Meh. This was ok. Courtney love is only notable due to her association with Cobain. Plus the whole time I jist think about Anna ferris from Just Friends singing the songs. Its what they sound like.
Big week for 🪨music
Brilliant ! Loved it !!!
Really a record of two halves. The first was average at best. She is not the best singer in the world, especially when she goes to high pitch. The second half I really enjoyed it didn't seem so forced
Great Songs: Plump, Jennifer's Body, Credit in the Straight World, Gutless Good Songs: Violet, Miss World, Asking For It, Doll Parts, Softer, Softest, She Walks On Me, I Think That I Would Die, Rock Star Mid Songs: Bad Songs:
This was my first listen of this album and I'm honestly blown away. Definitely a controversial figure, but her music stands strongly and distinctly.
3- Stars (7/15)
fuck this album. I can not stand her fucking voice. 1/5
Like a female nirvana or pixies. The loud soft loud approach to music. Not really my style but not really bad either
Once again listening to a v familiar album all the way thru for the first time in a while - every track is a 5 out of 5.
2/5. This'll be short, as I already wrote it and accidentally navigated away and lost two much better thought out paragraphs. Good: simple and moving grunge/pop-punk riffs, some lyrics, some of Courtney's singing Bad: most lyrics, most of Courtney's singing Takeaway: Courtney definitely has talent but this is a rough listen thanks to the variation of vocal delivery quality and an overreliance on emotion to sell the songs. I wish there was more focus on melody. Grunge is weird bc you get stuff like this that has the "message is more important than the music" attitude that you get with punk but none of the genuinely transgressive/novel messaging that often accompanies early punk. Lots of potential but not worth being on this list imo.
Gave this one a couple listens through. Was already familiar with Doll Parts and the remainder of the album delivered a style I would expect from Hole. Didn’t find the time to dig much further than that.
No standouts
Giving a 4 cause women.
4 stars I love this. So 90s. Angry female energy. It’s great! More of this!
Didn’t mind this sound. DNF but wouldn’t mind returning.
I generally think Courtney Love is a despicable person and this is a Nevermind rip-off but still a pretty decent record
Good
Really great Album, can hear the nirvana influences
Hellllll yeah. Courtney Love is such a good lyrical writer. I can’t help but spaz out when I get to, “I want it again, but violent, more violence / Yeah, I’m the one with no soul / ONE ABOVE AND ONE BELOW!!!!” Ugh, this may be my favorite heroin addict of all time, barring maybe her husband. Doll Parts is also obviously goated similarly, but softer. The contrast between the hard and soft elements in this album is part of what makes it so good.
To be honest, I kinda like this album more when the songs are rougher and more aggressive. Which there is plenty of, I just find it a bit ironic when this was supposed to show off the band's "soft edge". I liked it overall, a good album with songs that, unfortunately, have lyrics that still are very relevant.
un po’ disonesta perché ho sentito pochissimo, però la sua voce mi piace un sacco
Do un 4 per premiare il fatto che le hole siano state praticamente le uniche donne a fare grunge, per il resto un album carino ma non speciale per me
rock folk girlie, me gustó no me mato. siento que me puedo encariñar si lo sigo escuchando.
Apple suggested there were rumors that Kurt Cobain had more influence on this album, and I can see why. It's much more grungy and Nirvana-like than Celebrity Skin. They are both good but in different ways!
Ugh, ful mam mešane občutke glede Courtney Love. Po en stran je edina probala javno od Weinsteina govorit milijon let prej, po drugi strani je pa clusterfuck od človeka, ki je dokazano večkrat javno lagal o random shitu + to kar sm zjutraj na wiki od tega albuma prebrala, mi je pustil nek grenak priokus - kot prvo je izšel en teden po Kurtovi smrti, kot drugo je Courtney promovirala album na fakin vigilu od Kurta. Da fak. Probejmo bit objektivni. Prvi komad, "Violet", mi je sicer amazing. Unfortunately. V primerjavi s Soundgarden, k je bil zadnji grunge, k sm ga dobila, je tole men severely boljše. I guess pomaga, da je album prežet s tematikami, ki se velikrat tičejo žensk? Ampak niso sam besedila, muska mi je kul.
Dobra purva pesen everything else mid/bad
very inconsistent grunge album attempt with few good songs
Ei ollu ehkä iiihan mun juttu, en kuunnellut kai ees ihan loppuun. Pitää antaa kyl uus mahis paremmalla ajalla sillon ku tekee mieli vähän heavympää.
In my opinion I did not like this.
This is so much better than most of the shit this list put me through. Not a grunge fan but this is probably the best album i've heard from the genre (possibly better than NIrvana) Also Courtney Love is one the only good artist that's idiotic enough to complain about her band's rating on RYM
Yeah not for me. I’m sure it was big for empowered women of the time but doesn’t have much re-listen ability. Entire album sounds like it should be the soundtrack to the show “Yellowjackets”
Great rock album. Courtney Love's vocals are perfect for this music. Really enjoyed this. Violet was my fav song and first listen. Doll Parts and She Walks On Me were my other highlights
I'm not sure what the term "This Is My Jam" is supposed to mean exactly, but I'm pretty sure this is that for me.
A grunge album that does everything I like about the style in a super straightforward manner: it is angry, youthful, energetic, raw, melodic, catchy and rebellious. It is hard to say what element shines the most about this, because I did love both Courtney's voice delivery and the instrumentation, with the two of them contributing incredibly well in the sentimental and frenetic sides. In the more melodic moments, the vocals sing super soothingly and guitars switch to clean or acoustic; and in the powerful moments the voice screams and shows an incredibly amount of attitude while the guitars play some incredibly hard hitting riffs and the tempo is fast. Beyond of all that, there is not really anything more about the record. The composition is very simple but incredibly effective thanks to the incredible performances. Although it sometimes may be too formulaic, like the songs "Doll Parts" and "Softer, Softest" sounding way to similar in therms of structure and melody. Either way, a very fun and great experience.
Ik vond het lowkey wel iets hebben. Redelijk stevig maar tegelijk ook niet overweldigend. Ik moet ooit eens de tekst ervan opzoeken.
my god pouts on the cover of the magazine
Yes I love Joan Jett type rock music
Not bad
muy rockero para mi gusto
I MADE MY BED I'LL LIE IN IT I MADE MY BED I'LL DIE IN IT
Great songs throughout this album. Lyrics drip with sarcasm as they lay out many of the negative aspects of the female experience. There's a tinge of punk throughout, musically as well as any time Love releases a guttural yell. There are radio hits scattered throughout, showing that Hole can write a great hook to go with their interesting lyrics and music with an edge. There is a little bit of filler on a fairly short album, preventing it from getting a full five stars, but excellent nonetheless.