I've been a Hole fan from the moment I first saw the video to Violet. This album, however, takes a slightly different path. This is from the time period when Courtney Love decided to clean up her act to a small degree and go Hollywood. So, she cleaned up her image for Tinsel Town, while she was acting and this album reflects that as well.
This album has seven different writers. Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Patty Schemel (which make up the band), as well as Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame, Charlotte Caffey from the Go-Go's, and Jordon Zadorozny, fellow Canadian and former band mate to Auf Der Maur. Love writes all the lyrics herself, but the music is written by any of the seven listed above. Although Eric is the only one to write on every song's music, and even Love can't say that.
The album kicks of with the title track, which shows off the Grunge Queen's more polished and styled music. It's a prime example of Courtney and group growing as musicians and discovering real production. I instantly fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, and I still love it now.
After that comes Awful, which is almost a step removed from the Grunge scene. I'd almost go as far as to say it's Power Pop, or maybe a hybrid of the two, that has a really polished sound. What I enjoy the most is the melody of the song.
Hit So Hard is a nice song, but a bit mellow for my liking. However, I do often find myself singing along with this song, especially the chorus. "Put me up above the boy / The one I love I should destroy / My sweet tooth has burned a hole / Forget about it all / He hit so hard / I saw stars / He hit so hard / I saw God / He's cold give me my candy coat / He can't swim but he can float / One by one they all fall down / I look at him and drown / He hit so hard / I saw stars / He hit so hard / I saw God / He's so candy my downfall / Melts in my mouth till he's nothing at all / This keeps me I can't sleep / He rages to be true / He hit so hard / I saw stars / He hit so hard / I saw God / Oh, man he hit so hard / I saw stars / He hit so hard / I saw God". My only real complaint about this song is that it's the second song in a row that moves into a slight downtrodden vibe for a few seconds, before going back into the actual music that is part of the song.
Malibu was one of the singles for this album, and for me it was always a bit of an over hyped song. To me it basically sounds like nice girls doing Alice In Chains, with the exception of having more of the classic Courtney Love voice. The grated, rough, and raspy sound that made the vocalist famous.
Reasons To Be Beautiful is more like Hole from Live Through This, but one of the mellower tracks. This song's music was also written by five out of the seven writers on this album. With the exception of Corgan and Schemel.
The next song is really pretty. Dying is written by Corgan and Erlandson, at least the music is, while Love wrote the lyrics. "You see the cripple dance / Pay your money, baby / Now's your chance / Eyes like cyanide / I am so dumb / Just beam me up / I've had it all forever / I've had enough / Remember, you promised me / I'm dying, I'm dying, please / I want to, I need to be / Under your skin / Our love is quicksand / So easy to drown / They steal the gravity, yeah / From moving ground / Remember, you promised me / I'm dying, I'm dying, please / I want to, I need to be / Under your skin / And now I understand / You leave with everything / You leave with everything I am / Withering / And now I know that love is dead / You've come to bury me / There's nothing left here to pretend / Anything / Remember, you promised me / I'm dying, I'm dying, please / I want to, I need to be / Under your skin / I'm dying, I'm dying, please / I'm dying, I'm dying, please / I'm dying, I'm dying, please / Under your skin / Under your skin".
Use Once & Destroy is one of the only songs on the album I really don't care about. It does nothing for me. But, I don't dislike it either.
Northern Star is the only song on the album I'll say that I don't like. It's too accoustic, for the way Courtney delivers her most hard core thrashy vocals to this point on the album. To me this track sounds more like it should have been a b-side. Boy On The Radio is pretty decent. It's nothing overly special, but it's enjoyable.
Heaven Tonight is oddly one of my favourite tracks on the album. I don't have a rational explanation, but it makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, and I like that.
I really love the Eastern feel added to Playing Your Song, especially since this song sounds like that harsh Live Through This kind of Hole. It makes for a great complimentary contrast sound that's totally enjoyable.
To this day I still don't know if I like or dislike Petals. I do know that I think this track should have been switched with Playing Your Song as the last track on the album. I think this was a weak closer, but it is a strong song, just not closer strong.
To this day I have yet to listen to the Nobody's Daughter album, the follow up album that was released over a decade after this one, nor the Pretty On The Inside which came out before Live Through This. Which means I can only compare this album to Live Through this, and I do like this one better. Although most of that comes from the production, which is better on this album. I do enjoy the overall content a bit better as well, but not that much.
It's the mix of pretty and polished, along with rough, and harsh that makes this album pretty damn good. It's a shame that Love couldn't keep it together and instead deteriorated back into her self destructive ways, because this could have really changed her music career drastically.
7/10 - content
7/10 - production
8/10 - personal bias
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