Background

Hole was a indie rock band formed in 1989 and (officially) disbanded in 2002, fronted by Courtney Love and co-founded by Eric Erlandson. Featuring Patty Schemel on drums, and Melissa Auf der Maur on bass from 1995 until the band's disbandoment in 2002 (Live Through This era bass player Kristen Pfaff died of a drug overdose in 1994 shortly after the album's release). Also heavily linked was Love's husband, Kurt Cobain (Live Through This) ,and Smashing Pumpkins frontman, Billy Corgan (Celebrity Skin).

Early Years / Live Through This Era

After a number of releases on independent record labels, including their first full length album Pretty on the Inside which received praise from underground critics, Hole was signed to DGC (David Geffen Company) to release 8 albums. Hole entered the studio to record their major label debut in 1993, around the time that Nirvana released it's third and final album In Utero. Many songs were recorded including the hits , Doll Parts, Violet, and Miss World. B-Sides that were later released on My Body The Hand Gernade included 20 Years in the Dakota which was about Yoko Ono, and the infamous Old Age which has been sorrounded in a mist of controversey over the true writer of the song (Which was revealed to be Cobain after many conflicting stories from Love), that turned out to be an recycled song from the Nevermind sessions in 1990/1991. Love rewrote most of the lyrics and made the song her own. A rare recording from Live Through This surfaced in 2001 with Kurt Cobain providing backing vocals on Asking for it. After close listening, it was confirmed that Cobain was on the original track with very turned down vocals. Many though a Love/Cobain duet would never exist, and this was deemed a major discovery in the Nirvana community.Live Through This (1994) was released very shortly after the suicide death of Love's husband Kurt Cobain. Due to Cobain's suicide, one of Live Through This's tracks had to be renamed and one was entierly deleted. Rock Star originally was a song making fun of rock stars and contained the lyrics "So much fun to be Nirvana, how would you like to be Nirvana? I'd rather die" and in the wake of his suicide, these lyrics would be highly incensitive. After the decision to remove Rock Star was made, the album artwork and various other inserts had already been printed. To fix this, Olympia, an hidden track after Rock Star was renamed Rock Star and filled the gap.

The New Orleans Sessions

Unsurfaced demos recorded for an abandoned third Hole album. Interviews by Eric Erlandson confirm the legitimacy of this session. The only song to make it out of these sessions was an extremely early version of Awful. Courtney was supposedly unhappy with the quality of the songs recorded here that had an extremely similar sound to Live Through This. Billy Corgan was not involved at all in this project.

Celebrity Skin Era

Hole's third album and an completley new sound for the band. Featuring a more "Pop" sound, the album was an phenonimal sucess with many sucessful singles. Working titles included Reasons to be Beautiful (Courtney's Pick) and Malibu (Eric's Pick). The first single was Celebrity Skin which reached #1 on the charts and was about Courtney's feelings about the pressures of being a public figure. Band members have changed frequently over the years; the line-up of Hole's last album Celebrity Skin (1998) was Love (lead vocals), Melissa Auf der Maur (bass), Eric Erlandson (guitars), and Patty Schemel (drums).

End Comments

Although Love's flamboyant personality and controversial statements have often overshadowed the reception of Hole's music, it should be stressed that Hole's records all sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, and that their music releases (as well as the musicianship of the band members) have been critically praised.

Discography

• Pretty on the Inside (1991)
• Live Through This (1994)
• Ask For It (1995)
• My Body The Hand Grenade (1997)
• Celebrity Skin (1998)

External links

• Drown Soda (unofficial fan site)