The expression of rage in its rawest form was not something any of us had a conduit to as teenagers in the late 80s and first half of the 90s, unless you were into metal, and that was a male heteronormative club by default. As a woman, Courtney Love bridged this channel to girls and gays alike. The counterculture was in full force, and people like Courtney, pj Harvey, Tori Amos and Björk were exploring intimacy and inner darkness and the pain body with a candor never before seen. In many ways what they were doing in the indie world was a graduation point from the work that Madonna had done in the mainstream, which is probably why you have so many gay men in their 40s and early 50s who love this album and are here for your Madonna journey!
surprised no one has told you that most of the times that “milk” appears in the album, courtney is talking about heroin. this is one of the things her lyrics are famous for
Great album. Hole is also featured in the film Jennifer's Body (although the song itself isn't there), so there's certainly some inspiration there for sure. If you're looking for something more polished and a little lighter in sound, then Celebrity Skin is *the* one to listen to! Back to back hits without losing what makes Hole and Courtney so great.
@@bennshouts You'll definitely know a couple. It's 100% worth the listen. It's more streamlined, more melodic, and all around more accessible. It was labeled by purists at the time as their "sell out" album (you know how that goes), but it still received critical acclaim and is revered to this day. Truly a gorgeous record front to back. Sounds like driving on the Pacific Coast Highway with the top down and running around Hollywood.
Diablo Cody, the writer of Jennifer’s Body, named the movie after the song. I think she even asked Courtney Love. She also wrote Juno and the song Doll Parts was featured!
she was writing it from 1991-1993-4ish, and she was pregnant and also gave birth so that inspired it a lot obviously also rockstar is basically making fun of riot grrrls.. literally lmao
ONE OF THE RECORDS OF ALL TIME TO ME 🖤 i genuinely love and had a lot of punk/grunge ol’ teenage times with this album (and still have)! u unblocked deep rebel emotions bennnn!!!! OMFG
Yes Courtney!! i was the guy who wrote under the madonna video that courtney was so wasted in the interview because kurt was died a year before in 1994 and that madonna was pissed too because courtney declined to go to madonnas music label. i´m not into rock too but i love hole very much!
Some of the raunchiest guitars and slamming drums ever committed to tape. Brilliant songcraft with lilting melodies perfectly piggybacked along by powerhouse vocal deliveries. This album was a phenomenally underrated and underappreciated gem than can hold it's own with EVERY SINGLE ONE of the many fantastic albums released by their peers in the 90's.
Doll Parts and Violet were the big hits off the album. That really raw sound is why they called it "Grunge". You for SURE will like the Celebrity Skin album. Its way more your speed.😊
Courtney and Hole put it all out there with their first two albums. Their debut album Pretty on the Inside was a juggernaut of dirty, raw, unfiltered emotion and anger that held you in a chokehold and didn't let go. It was nasty and honest and like a bleeding wound that you couldn't look away from. Remember that Live Through This was released a week after Kurt killed himself and Courtney was a mess and falling apart in front of the world with everyone accusing her of being the reason that Kurt was dead. She was crucified and pummeled by the media and public for years after that and that led to all the well publicized drug problems and public demons that she had to deal with which made her life a living hell and made her public enemy number one. She didn't deserve any of it. Madonna said that when Courtney interrupted the Kurt Loser interview on MTV she felt incredibly sad and sorry for her cause she saw the hurt and sadness when they locked eyes for a few moments. Madonna admired Courtney very much and thought she was extremely talented and gutsy and she wanted to sign Hole to her Maverick Records label. They met many times after that and crossed paths at the Versace mansion where both of them stayed and visited Donatella at the same time and again spent the whole day together dancing and having fun at the infamous Rolling Stone cover shoot where they put Madonna, Courtney and Tina Turner on the cover together. It was iconic and beautiful. Courtney is a live wire that won't ever be tamed just like Madonna. The energy must be insane when you put those two girls in a room together. Lay low and get out of the way.j
Dude, I was a teenager and my dad had just been arrested for m0lestimg my 3 yr old sister. I’d been locked up in a troubled teen facility for almost 2 yrs and had guys groping me, cornering me in stairwells, and having to fight them off. Like I was being eaten up with rage and guilt and shame and then this album came out. Like all the angry music I’d heard before didn’t talk about what I was dealing with. How gross you felt from being harassed or worse, the shame, constantly worrying about your body. Worrying that that guy driving behind you real slow as you walked alone at night, might kidnap or assault you. Then you hear this album and hear the things you feel as a girl, fcking mind blowing. Like no one is the same and I felt like Courtney especially spoke to us “trashy” girls, the teenage girls who got called wh0res all the time. She got a lot of hate for being messy and toxic but that made her super relatable to me.
@@Comrade_mommyI'm very sorry that you had to endure through all of those experiences of abuse, I can totally see how those experiences led you to have a greater appreciation for this album♡ the social-commentary and the unadulterated rage are very cathartic to listen to, it's one of my favorite albums to listen through from beginning to end:)
@@andysplants thank you I appreciate that. I think evryone needs art that speaks to them and their struggle. No matter if your blk or LGBTQ+ or whatever, we all need that cathartic release that art, and especially music can provide. Not everything speaks to everyone the same so having diversity in music is important. Artists and bands like hole & PJ Harvey were that for me. I’d listened to other music that kinda did it for me, but a lot of my experience were never touched on. Like ppl have different life experiences and sometimes you need an artist who shares your similar experiences to make the music that resonates with you.
@@Comrade_mommy Totally, I agree, I think that it is so important to find art to consume that really speaks to our individual needs, interests, experiences, and perhaps even find our own ways to express ourselves:) I've had some rough times and I truly believe music got me through it many times, artists like Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette, etc have really helped me process stuff:) There's a musician called Sevdaliza and her album Ison is so incredible, I go back to it often when I feel like I need some music therapy:) I feel like Courtney Love/Hole definitely speaks to all of us marginalized folks, pehaps in different ways:) Society has been incredibly critical of her, and a lot of us can definitely relate to that on a personal level, but 'Live Through This' was incredible, and they can never take away those musical accomplishments. I'm a gay man born in 92, so she was a little before my time, but I think her style-evolution through the years was so iconic, and her music and lyrics are criminally underrated! I'll have to check out PJ Harvey as well:)
This is one of my all time favorite albums ❤️ It’s the era of rock where the lyrics are a lot of metaphorical phrases and not always straight forward. I think if you lean more pure pop the 3rd album Celebrity Skin would be more your speed.
There’s a deep meaning behind every song in the album (expect Credit in the straight word as it’s a cover) there are lots of references about pregnancy, break ups, body dysmorphia, drug use, abuse, Frances Bean being taken away after she was born etc all things Courtney experienced her whole life especially during the writing of the album. Songs are short and fast because that’s punk rock. The album was a huuuuge hit, voted by Rolling Stone the best album of 1994 but it being raw and angry had its disadvantages, also not to mention Kurt’s death. Celebrity Skin is definitely their most accessible work. Despite its polished sound it has very deep genius lyrics and it was nominated for for a Grammy and sold millions. Late 90s Hole were EVERYWHERE. Too bad Courtney’s demons never helped her keeping up with everything.
This reaction was priceless. I was thinking...oh sir you are NOT ready for this & it was incendiary back in the 90s. We'd never heard anything like this and we loved it. The milk theme is something her & Kurt used alot at that time. It's in her previous album, Pretty on the Inside and even the last Nirvana album with lyrics like throw down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back. It all ties into life and death and the time of innocence as a child as they both lived tumultuous young lives with extreme pressures and addictions.
It’s funny how energetic this album made me as a teenager but for you it’s exhausting. Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville which came out around the same time. But it’s a very stripped back lo fi sound. Also Melissa Auf Der Maur (the bassist in Hole) has an incredible solo album you should check out.
I dunno about Feel Good. Did we listen to the same record? There’s plenty of loss on that album. Northern Star is about laying on the ground where Kurt died after his death where there was still blood and bits of brain.
This album has helped me for so long and the references and quadruple entendres are insane, Doll parts and I think that I would die make me teary eyed every time lol
The entire Album is fantastic! You can hear Kurt's influence everywhere & it was a mindblowing experience having Hole as my 1st concert so close to the time of his death❤
At the red carpet before a comedy show Courtney was asked what her advice for a young girl moving to Hollywood , she answered: “If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party at the Four Seasons [hotel] don't go.” Six days after the broadcast, Love was sentenced to a 28-day lockdown rehab program for being under the influence of a controlled substance, violating her probation.
As a big fan of Hole/Courtney Love, this is maybe an album who someone new to this music or isn’t used to it - not an album I used suggest to listen to first. Maybe Hole Celebrity Skin or even Nobody’s Daughter first then work your way back on older stuff.
Love this album, got to see them in LA and at Festival Hall in Melbourne. Their Album Celebrity Skin is a lot more polished/pop, you'd probably enjoy that one and possibly know the title track, Malibu and Heaven Tonight which was in the movie Never Been Kissed.
As much of a huge Madonna fan as I am, this album is my favorite album of all time and my most formative one. I was 15 when it came out. I went from pop and freestyle music to Grunge and rock quickly. This album and band is always overlooked in the grunge spectrum but it is one of the best and most important in that genre. I love rock and women in rock and you’re just never going to get as raw and honest and poetic as Courtney. Not Debbie, Not Chrissie, and not Siouxsie. And I say that as huge fans of them. The only one who can maybe touch her is Wendy O Williams and I’m not as familiar with her work. Courtney would stage dive and people would rip her clothes off and violate her and she’d do it again and again. Hole is the only female band that can tour with Marilyn Manson ( the one time I saw her on tour before that tour fell apart) Only Courtney could have beefs with him Trent Reznor and Axl Rose. Only she could have relationships with Kurt Cobain and Billy Corgan. There is no bigger mythical female rock star than her. If you think this is raw, listen to Pretty on the Inside. Live Through This is actually very polished. You may like Celebrity Skin better, but it doesn’t have the same sting and the rawness is more buried under a more polished sound. Babes in Toyland. L7. Bikini Kill. Hole. We were really headed to somewhere with women in rock. Then came Alanis and It was all watered down and then we had Jewel and ultimately the Spice Girls. We don’t have women in music that his hard anymore. Amy Winehouse was one of the exceptions. People will always hate Courtney and Madonna because they were smarter than their male counterparts and they outperformed them and outlived them. Women will always be punished by men when they accomplish more than them. Are you a fan of Olivia Rodrigo? I thought for sure you’d clock that Live Through This “inspired” cover. I recommend her autobiography by Poppy Z Brite. Great book and will give you some background on her wildly interesting young life. 💖
I know Eric Erlandson the co - founder.. he replied to me yesterday! Live through this is a timeless classic in my opinion. Beautiful melodic record. For Eric❣️, Kurt and Kristen. C was here in November 2023'
Love Eric. Met him at Club Makeup in LA in 1999ish I think it was. I was a bit shy and proud to bother celebrities but my friend did and so we have a pic of us in outrageous makeup/drag with him.
No hate to you but I think an album like this wasn't totally consumed by you because you're a man and most women instantly know, embrace, and accept the struggles and life navigated in Live Through This. The lyrics are gut-wrenching and 'Asking for it' is literally about sexual assault!! I am making this remark to show you how your impression of the song was an interpretation of something else but any woman would look at the title and know it is about SA. Again, no hate to you but I think (though her lyrics aren't simple, don't get me wrong, not everyone can get a grip on them) that Live Through This needs a special kind of appreciation and a closer look at the songs and lyrics and what the possibility of the symbolism. I love that you've listened to it, though!
Can’t believe I missed this! It’s an album that grows on you for sure and once it sinks in it doesn’t let go. Would love you to check out their album Celebrity Skin, it’s very polished and a complete 180 from this production if you’d like a pop album. Also Courtney and Madonna have a pretty interesting history. Madonna tried to sign Hole to her label and they declined, seemed to create some tension between them.
Only one of the most incredible albums of all time. The rawness, the power, the underhanded pop sensibility that is actually running through the whole thing, but not in a way that made the next album, Celebrity Skin totally bland. Her voice, her lyrics, her intensity. For me there is not one bad note on this.
this is an incredibly 'female' and feminist album but the lyrics are also poetry so if you're looking for straight up, hit you over the head cliches you're in the wrong decade. That's 'feminist' pop music now. Thank god artistry rather than marketing and selling products used to be a thing and we still have these albums to cherish.
Also, Kurt had literally just died when this came out. And yes, she had a young baby. And suspected drug issues. It was impossible to not hear these songs through the lens of that. The album was called Live Through This for starters! There were also endless accusations that Kurt had written the album, Personally I couldn't have cared less either way. For me this is a way more gripping album than anything Nirvana put out. And she was a natural born star
I feel like you would like black box recorder specifically England made me(the 25th anniversary or not js the original album the original has 12 while the 25th anniversary has 17)Sarah Nixey's vocals and how she sings the somewhat morbid lyrics almost like a bruised lullaby and not to mention the guitars backing up her vocals they should beautifully together whilst occasionally having male vocals mixing together its just a really nice touch.But back to the lyrics the lyrics are a story when you close your eyes and carefully listen to their songs I feel like you can just see everything or atleast thats how i feel you can really see and feel what's going on especially with Sarah singing voice and when there is male backup vocals ugh such suchhha nice touch to the songs along with the guitar flowing with her voice such a nice addition,but really it's so lyrical oh and there's also another album it's more poppy though but it's called passionoia it still has thoses lyrical touchs but still really nice story telling in my opinion it just has a electric pop feel to it. My favorite songs from the album is The New Diana and Kidnapping An Heirness while for England Made Me is Swinging, Hated Sunday,Brutality,Child Psychology, and Its Only The End Of The World. I really hope you can take a listen and share your reaction ALSO I am really like this video, Hole is 1 of my favorite bands right now along with Black Box Recorder!
This is very grunge. Grunge is known for very dark subject matter, loud/soft chorus/verse with a lot of dissonance. Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins are like this. Pearl Jam is more melodic, less dissonant but very dark subject matter. Grunge lyrics are less concrete more symbolism and can’t be taken at face value. Growing up during this time, non grunge/early 90s alternative music seems very cleanly produced which is I tend to not like, but I think it is more of what you grew up. I love the messy, dissonant aspect of grunge. If you want a really dissonant, dark song listen to XYU by Smashing Pumpkins from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It’s like 9 minutes of pain from Billy Corgan that is rumored to be about Courtney Love.
I miss my old Hole shirts. I had one with the cover with a glitter border, a sky blue one with a silver Hole heart logo and one from the tour with cherries/Awful on it. All from when these albums came out.
Courtney Love dated Kurt Cobain, and Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. Violet is the song I listen to when I'm having a bad day. It''s very cathartic. Doja cat actually covered "Celebrity Skin" by Hole, and it's definitely worth a listen. Doja's cover of Hole was wasted on her old fanbase. Doja cat has always been a rock girly, and I was so excited when she released it. Hole is straight grunge music, which is basically anti-pop. Courtney Love did have help from both Kurt Cobain, and Billy Corgan on several songs in her discography. I will say some of Hole's later music is a bit more digestible. It's definitely a bit more polished.
Interestingly, Olympia - known as Rock Star on the album - was never sposed to be on the album! It replaced the original Rock Star after Kurt’s death because of the lyric “how would you like to be nirvarna?….I’d rather die” but they didn’t have time to change the artwork, so Olympia kind of just got renamed! I do think Olympia is the better song tho! Def listen to Celebrity Skin, I think you’ll much prefer it!
@@bennshouts yeh, IKR! This is the original ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EjqPiRWwRBg.htmlsi=kXmlua7EQjuLWvXv as I said, I think Olympia is the better album closer, and its nice to have this as a piece in the vaults!
Love Courtney and everything these chickadees were doing for the time. But It just doesnt hit for me at all lol. I like alot of aspects of the vocals but tbh Brody Dalle sounds very similar but over a more modern sound and more polished production. /shrug 🙂Enjoy your honest reactions like always 💖
You were looking WAY TOO deep into it like politics/feminism & shit? Just feel the emotions in the lyrics, music & her voice. It’s very rebel/raw/emotional/anger & just different energies all manifesting throughout not only the album, but each song🖤
@@divinecrime I should’ve clarified “3rd wave feminism” that is the current day feminism and politics now aren’t the same as they were went the album came out.
@bennshouts First of all, much of the music from the 90s is more raw and emotional compared to the overproduced, lifeless music you're accustomed to. Before reviewing these albums, you should research them thoroughly."
It’s a reaction video, not a thorough investigation. I’m happy doing things how I do them 🥰 I have heard LOTS of incredible music from all decades, from many artists that have been full of life.
@@bennshouts "Well, I will say, music in general is highly intentional regardless of the era. Just like comments taken out of context, someone listening to music without understanding the era may have reactions similar to yours. Everything you noted in your reaction was actually what the artist was aiming for. However, understanding the era the music comes from is crucial when deciding if something is good or bad. That's all."
