Celebrity Skin
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| Celebrity Skin | ||||
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| Studio album by Hole | ||||
| Released | September 8, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | Conway Studios & Record Plant, Los Angeles; Quad Studios, New York City; Olympic Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Alternative Rock | |||
| Length | 50:23 | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Producer | Michael Beinhorn, Eric Erlandson | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
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| Hole chronology | ||||
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Celebrity Skin is the third and final studio album by the American rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States. Similarly to vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love's refined image during this era, the sound of the album itself moved away from Hole's harder alternative rock past and toward a cleaner and more radio friendly pop rock format. It was Hole's most commercially succesful album, garnering them a #1 hit single on the Modern Rock Tracks chart with the title track. Critical reaction to the album was largely positive, though not as universally so as the band's previous record, Live Through This.
Courtney Love penned all of the lyrics and the music was written by the band. Some songs were co-authored by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. The studio work took almost a year and a half, due to Love's rising movie career,[citation needed] fruitless recording attempts in New Orleans and Nashville in 1997, Corgan's involvement in songwriting and the actual album sessions, between Los Angeles, New York City, London and Miami.
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[edit] Musicians
- Eric Erlandson – lead guitar
- Courtney Love – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Melissa Auf der Maur – bass, backing vocals
- Samantha Maloney – drums (uncredited)[citation needed]
- Billy Corgan – bass on "Hit So Hard" (uncredited)[citation needed]
- Craig Armstrong – strings on "Petals" and "Dying"
- David Campbell – strings on "Northern Star"
Maloney played drums after Patty Schemel left the band during the recordings and photo shoots for the album.[citation needed]
[edit] Production and post-production
Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson posted several messages on the bulletin board KittyRadio.com about the album's recording sessions:[citation needed]
- Love was allegedly "not caring about" playing her instrument on the record, focusing only on singing and songwriting;
- Billy Corgan played bass on "Hit So Hard";
- Patty Schemel didn't play on the album, though she is credited as a Hole member on the sleeve.
- Malibu and Dying were already in the works, nearly done, when Corgan contributed his involvement for eight days, according to Erlandson.
[edit] Personnel
| Producer | Michael Beinhorn |
| Additional producer | Eric Erlandson |
| Engineers | Paul Northfield, Rob Eaton, Joe Barresi, Frank Filipetti |
| Assistant engineers | John Nelson, Ben Holt, Ann Mincieli, Paul PDub Walton, Jan Kybert |
| Mixing | Tom Lord-Alge, Chris Lord-Alge ("Malibu", "Reasons To Be Beautiful", "Northern Star", "Heaven Tonight"), Jack Joseph Puig ("Hit So Hard") |
| Mixing assistants | Leo Ferrera, Femio Hernandez, Rob Hoffman, Mike Dy, Jim Champagne |
| Mastering | Ted Jensen |
| Programming | Michael Beinhorn, Paul DeCarli, Max Risenhower, Chris Vrenna, Nick Franglen |
| Studio Tech | Chris Whitemyer (guitars and drums) |
| A&R: | Jim Barber |
| Art direction | Joe-Mama Nitzberg, Janet Wolsborn |
| Front cover | Guzman |
| Back cover | Ophelia by Paul Steck, 1895 (Giraudon/Art Resource, New York) |
| Photography | Maggie Hallahan, Robert Dawson, Richard Prince |
[edit] Track listings
The domestic releases of the CD and LP differed in track order. Some international releases included bonus tracks.
[edit] CDMusic credits as listed; all lyrics by Love.
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[edit] LPMusic credits as listed for CD; all lyrics by Love.
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[edit] U.K. ltd bonus discA limited 'Tour Edition' release included a "Bonus CD" of six live tracks :[1]
The studio version of "Pretty on the Inside" was part of Hole's earlier album of the same name. "Paradise City" is a cover of a Guns N' Roses song from their 1987 album Appetite for Destruction. * These live tracks also appeared on the "Awful" Australian Tour Souvenir EP. |
[edit] Japanese bonus trackThe release for Japan included a bonus 13th track:[2]
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[edit] Reception
[edit] Reviews
NME said "the first thing you think when Celebrity Skin smacks you in the nose is that you may never need to hear a rock 'n' roll record ever again. It feels that good as soon as Courtney sneers the word "demonology" across a monster riff revived from somewhere in LA in the late-'70s."[3] The two-line review of the album from Blender called it a "mild letdown, not for the greedy pop leanings, but for the subject matter: Hollywood."[4] Rolling Stone described the album as "sprung, flung and fun, high-impact, rock-fueled pop with the body and flexibility of really good hair. ... [It] teems with sonic knockouts that make you see all sorts of stars [and is] accessible, fiery and intimate – often at the same time."[5] The album was featured in several year-end "Best of..." periodicals and also holds a spot in 1001 albums you must hear before you die.
Celebrity Skin was certified Plantinum by the RIAA on December 21st 1998.[6]
[edit] Album chartsThe album charted in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.[citation needed]
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[edit] Single chartsIn the U.S., three songs appeared on various Billboard charts, with all three achieving the greatest success on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.[citation needed] Two songs made the RIANZ Top 40 in New Zealand.[citation needed]
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[edit] Awards and nominations
The album received three nominations at the 41st Grammy Awards:[7] Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. "Malibu" received a Grammy nomination at the 42nd Grammy Awards, for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.[8] The music video for "Malibu" also resulted in a 1999 MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Cinematography for Martin Coppen[9][10][11]
[edit] References and footnotes
- ^ http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/hole/605404/album.jhtml
- ^ http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/hole/588580/album.jhtml
- ^ http://www.nme.com/reviews/hole/91
- ^ http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=1774
- ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/hole/albums/album/227169/review/5942887/celebrity_skin
- ^ "Gold and Platinum Database Search". http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/specials/1999/grammys/bigpicture.html
- ^ http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/04/grammy.noms.01/list.html
- ^ http://www.tv.com/hole/person/87852/trivia.html
- ^ http://www.nbc6.net/entertainment/137546/detail.html
- ^ A few years after the music video for "Malibu" was nominated for an MTV Music Award its cinematographer won the 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award in Cinematography from the Music Video Production Association. See Martin Coppen Receives Lifetime Achievement Award For Music Video Cinematography at the Internet Archive
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