Hole Celebrity Skin CD

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 Fabulous... surprisingly fabulous!
I was never a huge fan of Hole's two previous albums. If I liked Hole it was due to a specific song. Thank God "Celebrity Skin" is totally different! Great songs all the way through. The title track "Celebrity Skin" is an awesome song with a rock feel! A great song to drive and sing to! "Awful" is not in the least (Ha ha ha... worst pun ever...)! A wonderful song! Love the guitar in "Hit So Hard". The song is more even-paced than I expected, but it actually works very well. "Malibu" I have yet to get tired of listening to! It's a great tune with great lyrics, and just a little bit sad. Perfect! "Reasons to be Beautiful" is almost woeful. Not the sound, but the words, yet they all work together well. If anything, this song is a tad long. "Dying" is a slow, mournful song that's surprisingly peaceful. Quite unlike any of Hole's previous stuff. "Use Once and Destroy" sounds enduring at the beginning, but out of all the songs on this album, it's probably the least effective. "Northern Star" has some fascinating lyrics, but I found it can be difficult to appreciate. You have to listen to it several times. Now I adore it. "Boys on the Radio" is a great song! Great lyrics that have a lovely beat to it. Similarly to "RTBB", it's a bit long, but it's riveting throughout it, so it's not such an issue. "Heaven Tonight" is fantastic! It could almost be considered a pop song. It forces you to listen to it even if you didn't intend to! "Playing Your Song" is another great song with echoing guitar sounds. You could head-bang to this one - if you have the guts! Last, but not least is "Petals". A sweet song. Not the greatest, but still worthy! Overall, a great album! Totally worth 5 stars.
Submitted by Kat (Australia)
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 A post-grunge Masterpiece
My first exposure to Hole was, like most everybody’s, 1991’s ‘Pretty on the Inside’. Which, for all its acclaimed grungy-punky angst-art, was so lacking in musicality as to be unlistenable. (And no, I’m not a punk-hater: I was into it from the start in ’76. It’s just that I think music ought to offer at least a PRETENSE of melody and harmony.) So, I evaded ‘Live Through This’ (to my loss—although that’s finally been remedied by my very own copy of the CD). And I skipped ‘Celebrity Skin’ too for the same reason: not wanting the bad taste that comes from knowing there’d be plenty of interesting and relevant lyrics lost in a barrage of abused instruments. Now, don’t ask me why, but just this year I decided to give Hole a fresh listen. (And it’s not because I think Courtney’s hot: I ignore media-frenzy publicity to the point where if I had to pick out Love from a lineup of 10 brunettes, I’d probably get it wrong.) Anyway, after getting a hold of all 3 discs, I started at the beginning, and then promptly winced as my worst memories of ‘Pretty’ proved true. Ugh. How pleasant then, that ‘Live Through This’ was so much better. Ever more hopeful, I moved on to ‘Celebrity Skin’. And…ah… PARADISE! What GREAT rock! Driven in equal parts by hard-edged guitars, solid bass and Courtney's Love often ragged but always effective alto. Is it commercial in comparison to the earlier two albums? Sure, but so what? Commercially viable music isn’t automatically Bad – although, admittedly, plenty of commercially viable music is pure junk. Not this. This stuff is unambiguously brilliant. A set of 12 great songs that completely vindicates itself from the cleverly sequenced first two tracks that starts out rockin’ (‘Celebrity Skin’ the song) and then kicks into an even higher gear (‘Awful’), before leading inexorably to the fine ‘Heaven Tonight’ and ‘Petals’. Any Hole originalist-hold-outs oughta relax their sense of betrayal long enough to give this CD a listen on its own terms, ‘cuz frankly it’s a waste of time to pine away for Courtney’s long-gone grungy angst. She grew up and away from it, both musically and emotionally. The least we can do is honor that growth by hearing Hole’s last album through unbiased ears. Then, and only then, we just might understand it for what it really is: a post-grunge masterpiece.
Submitted by Nicholas (Port Townsend, WA)
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 Too commercial to be rock?
The flaws of this album are obvious, Courtney made herself a household name by living the life of a rockstar. She screamed over heavy gritty guitar chords, with a heroin needle in one hand and her legendry husbands suicide note in the other. Just as Hole gained the respect and love of millions of people with "Live Through This" (which was never that hard a rock album either), Courtney decides to take a more glam-rock route. Until hearing her debut solo album, I thought it may just be a phase while she was a hollywood actress- I was wrong. The silver lining on this cloud is made of up the infectousness of the album, Courtney's much improved vocals and the deep lyrics. If you were a fan of Garbage "Version 2.0" then you may like a few tracks on this album, such as the melancholy "Dying" and uplifted "Northern Star". If you were a fan of Alanis "Jagged Little Pill" then "Reasons To be Beautiful" will be right up your street. The most commercialised tracks on the album ("Boys On The Radio", "Awful" & "Malibu") were all released as singles for some bizare reason. Title track "Celebrity Skin" stands out with its poppy chorus and polished guitar chords. Another amazing track to look out for is "Petals" which has deep lyrics and husky vocals.
Submitted by Xander (England)
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 Judge it on its own, grunge is long gone!
I did not like this cd when I got it a year ago, only because I was so obsessed with holes older music. In time however,this cd has kind of grown on me and it is my opinion that it is a pretty damn good album. Great vocals, excellent lyrics, very upbeat. Thats mainly what I like about this...the songs are well crafted and make you feel good, but that doesnt mean they are about fluff...there is still a lot of emotion in holes music. Best tracks are "Celebrtiy Skin" "Awful" "Reasons to be beautiful" and "Malibu"....the only track I usually skip is "Use once and Destroy" I must admit that I still sometimes have a hard time swallowing the fact that this is Hole...I do, sometimes, find this cd too poppy for my tastes, and overall the cd is not a fabourite of mine....however there are times when I need some happier, beautifully polished music and thats when I put on Celebrity SKin. People who say that the band sold out with this cd are being ignorant...Hole had done the angry riot girl thing, the grunge thing...they needed to grow and mature and try something different... "Celebrity Skin" is just a product of that evolution. Sure, the band was trying to appeal to a larger audience but I really dont blame them...I dont think hole gets enough credit...and not just COurtney, the whole band does a great job. BUy "Celebrity skin" for some upbeat, really well written "power pop/rock" Also recomended: live through this( my fav!)
Submitted by john D. roche (california)
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 Not a bad cd if you like pop music....
I loved "Live through this" and some of holes earlier 90's work, so I felt I just had to get "celebrity skin." I had heard that this album was the "sellout" point of holes career, but I was doubtful...they could only have gotten better right? Well, in many ways they have gotten better, and thats a great thing. Courtneys voice has improved dramatically. She was always a powerful singer but a little rough around the edges(not that i minded) and the power is still present on "Celebrity skin" but with a better overall sound. Very good singing and backing vocals. Now, the songs....most are just too poppy for my taste. If im in a certain happy,light mood, then i can listen to most of the cd through...but usually theres only a handfful of songs I can listen to. "celebrity skin," "playing your song," "malibu" "reasons to be beautiful" and "dying" are my favourite songs. The rest of the album is just too poppy for me. I prefer just straight rocking guitars and "celebrity skin" has just too many glossy sounds on it...just listen and youl know what i mean....)Sure the songs are catchy and the lyrics are better then most crap you here from pop nowadays, but its just too much sugar.I gave this cd 4 songs because it is a solid pop album. When i listen to this album, I get the feeling that hole was trying to remove themsleves from that whole "grunge" scene, all the darkness, all the past...its a band maturing, and evolving and thats good....but for older hole fans like me, "celebrity skin" is a bit of a dissapointment.
Submitted by cedes roche (toronto,canada)
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