Wednesday, May 05, 2004
April 29: Hole - Celebrity Skin
Now, Courtney Love waited to have her train wreck until 2003's solo album. This is Courtney polished up all pretty while she tries to be the Fleetwood Mac of grunge. Billy Corgan kindly came in and provided the songwriting help that Courtney got from Kurt previously, while the band all got $1000 haircuts and the producer layers the songs like a good soufflé.
I don't think I have the same reaction to this album that most people do; it came out when I was living in England, so I heard "Celebrity Skin," "Malibu," and "Awful" in between Spice Girls and Robbie Williams songs, which makes them sound a lot better. And there was a big magazine feature in the NME about how Courtney and Michael Stipe were best of friends now. And I clearly remember being in a restaurant in some small town in France right after Christmas '98, being crazy homesick and sitting there at the bar watching the "Malibu" video all the way through on French MTV because it reminded me of the U.S. So I have a soft spot for Hole that I doubt many others do.
Here's a question for the message boards: which is the real Courtney Love, the polished pop princess (and movie star), or the screwed-up, drugged-out ex-stripper? Has she just gone back to the old look (and the old antics) because Celebrity Skin wasn't that popular, or because it's the 10th anniversary of Kurt's death, or what? And how pissed off does she have to be that Dave Grohl's death-metal side project is outselling her solo debut?
I don't think I have the same reaction to this album that most people do; it came out when I was living in England, so I heard "Celebrity Skin," "Malibu," and "Awful" in between Spice Girls and Robbie Williams songs, which makes them sound a lot better. And there was a big magazine feature in the NME about how Courtney and Michael Stipe were best of friends now. And I clearly remember being in a restaurant in some small town in France right after Christmas '98, being crazy homesick and sitting there at the bar watching the "Malibu" video all the way through on French MTV because it reminded me of the U.S. So I have a soft spot for Hole that I doubt many others do.
Here's a question for the message boards: which is the real Courtney Love, the polished pop princess (and movie star), or the screwed-up, drugged-out ex-stripper? Has she just gone back to the old look (and the old antics) because Celebrity Skin wasn't that popular, or because it's the 10th anniversary of Kurt's death, or what? And how pissed off does she have to be that Dave Grohl's death-metal side project is outselling her solo debut?
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