Hole (band): Difference between revisions

Hole
Hole
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Background information
Years active	1989–2002
Members	Courtney Love; Eric Erlandson; Melissa Auf der Maur; Patty Schemel; Lisa Roberts; Errol Stewert; Jill Emery; Caroline Rue; Leslie Hardy; Kristen Pfaff; Samantha Maloney

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Revision as of 08:08, 20 August 2006

Hole was an alternative rock band that formed in 1989. The band was fronted by Courtney Love, and co-founded by Love, Eric Erlandson (lead guitar) and Lisa Roberts (bassist and Courtney's neighbor -- dropped the project in a very early stage). The band had a brief period as a three-guitar lineup, with the musician Errol Stewert, but the lineup that recorded the first album included only Love, Erlandson, bassist Jill Emery and drummer Caroline Rue. Emery and Rue left in 1992, to be replaced by Leslie Hardy and Patty Schemel, respectively. Hardy left after recording just one single with the band, Beautiful Son and was subsequently replaced by Kristen Pfaff in 1993. When Schemel left the band in 1998, Samantha Maloney took her place as drummer. After bassist Kristen Pfaff died of an apparent drug overdose in 1994, Melissa Auf der Maur took her place from 1995 until the band's dissolution in 2002. On Vh1's countdown of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Bands Hole was number 77.

History

Early years and Live Through This era

After releasing a number of albums on Sympathy for the Record Industry, Hole released their first full-length album Pretty on the Inside on Caroline Records, which received praise from underground critics. As a result of the albums success, Hole was signed to Geffen Records with an eight album contract. Hole entered the studio to record their major label debut in 1993, around the time that Courtney's husband's band Nirvana released their fourth and final album In Utero. The result of this recording session was the album Live Through This, which included the hit singles "Doll Parts," "Violet," and "Miss World." Outtakes from these recording sessions were later released on My Body, the Hand Grenade, which included "20 Years in the Dakota" and the notorious song "Old Age". This song was the subject of controversy over the true writer of the song; after many conflicting stories from Love, it was eventually learned that it had been written by Kurt Cobain for the Nevermind sessions in 1990 or 1991, and its lyrics were later rewritten by Love. A rare recording from the Live Through This sessions surfaced in 2001 with Cobain providing backing vocals on "Asking for It". After close listening, it was confirmed that Cobain was on the original track, albeit with very quietly-mixed vocals. As many fans had previously thought a Love/Cobain duet did not exist, this was deemed a major discovery in the Nirvana fan community.

Live Through This was released in 1994, one week after the suicide of Love's husband, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. Almost immediately before the album's release, the final song, "Rock Star", was deleted from the album and replaced by the outtake "Olympia". It was widely believed at the time that this was because its lyrics, which included the lines "So much fun to be Nirvana / how would you like to be Nirvana? / I'd rather die", appeared inappropriate in the wake of Cobain's suicide. However, it was later revealed that the band and the Geffen label had already deemed the track unfitting of a major label debut for Hole, as the song had a very "non-artistic" character which fit poorly with the rest of the album. After the decision to remove "Rock Star" was made, the album artwork and various other inserts had already been printed, and since "Olympia" was put in its place, "Olympia" is called "Rock Star" on the artwork.

The New Orleans sessions

No demos have surfaced that were recorded for an abandoned third Hole album. Interviews with Erlandson have confirmed the authenticity of this session. The only song to make it out of these sessions was an extremely early version of "Awful". Courtney was supposedly unhappy with the quality of the songs recorded here and it is believed they had an extremely similar sound to Live Through This. Also denied by Erlandson was a rumor that this album had been completed, but the masters were stolen on an airplane.

My Body, the Hand Grenade

Three years after the release and success of Live Through This, Hole released an album of b-sides and outtakes entitled My Body, the Hand Grenade. Featured on the front cover was a picture of one of Courtney Love's babydoll dresses in a museum setting — showing that the Kinderwhore look she and Kat Bjelland had started was over and dead. Featuring many unreleased songs from the Live Through This sessions, demos, and live recordings including Hole's Valentine's Day 1995 MTV Unplugged performance, this album is regarded as a gem in the Hole fan community. One song included is the Nirvana recycle, "Old Age." Many versions of this song have been discovered, all containing somewhat different lyrics. One version highly rated among collectors is the "Binge and Purge" boombox demo with lyrics such as "What a waste of sperm and egg," and "you can always go back to rehab." Another song on this collection is "20 Years in the Dakota," which is about Yoko Ono's struggles in life as John Lennon's wife. The title of this song is widely believed to be about the apartment building outside which Lennon was killed. Courtney Love has herself been frequently compared to Yoko Ono, due to the perception that Ono drew Lennon away from The Beatles and that Love drew Cobain away from Nirvana. One of the final songs on the album is a "Miss World" demo that features Kurt Cobain on bass and vocals.

Celebrity Skin era and breakup

Hole's third album had a completely new sound for the band. Featuring a more "pop" sound, the album was a critical success with moderately strong sales and successful singles. The group at the time consisted of Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Patty Schemel and Melissa Auf Der Maur, although in interviews Love later said Schemel's drumming was replaced by a session musician. On the the album Celebrity Skin, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan helped with songwriting and recording.

When journalists asked the subtext to the record, Love refused to offer up explanations for the lyrics, as in her 1998 SPIN magazine interview: "I won't talk about it because it's none of your business...because you will never know." Years later in 2005, she spoke of Celebrity Skin to journalist Phoebe O'Reilly, saying "I did not want to make the widow record. I still haven't made the widow record."

Eric Erlandson has later revealed through posts on the fan site Kittyradio.com's message boards that he was very uncomfortable and displeased with Billy Corgan's involvement on the record. All guitar riffs were written by Erlandson and all lyrics were handled by Love and Corgan, who also played bass on several tracks. However, Corgan did state on the Howard Stern interview that he wrote the guitar riff for the lead single Celebrity Skin. This partly lead to conflict of authorship and credit between Corgan and Love. This strife seemed to dissipate without resolution regardless, and Corgan and Love still maintain friendly and professional relations (Corgan has contributed to production and arrangement on Love's recent solo album). Working titles for Celebrity Skin included Reasons to be Beautiful (Love's pick) and Malibu (Erlandson's pick). Three videos and singles were released for Celebrity Skin: the titular "Celebrity Skin", "Malibu", and "Awful" which had a live clip montage as a video.

Love officially disbanded Hole via a message posted at the band's website in 2002. After the split, the four musicians each took on projects of their own. Auf der Maur joined The Smashing Pumpkins and later recorded a solo album; Erlandson continued to work as a session musician; Maloney toured with Mötley Crüe, Scarling., and the Eagles of Death Metal; and Love began a solo career, releasing America's Sweetheart in 2004. Although several of the band's former members are reportedly on bad terms with one another, they have all at various times discussed the possibility of future Hole releases; in particular, Erlandson has expressed willingess to compile a box set similar to Nirvana's 2004 release With the Lights Out.

Discography

Albums

Pretty on the Inside (1991)
Live Through This (1994) (Platinum)
Ask for It (EP) (1995)
My Body, the Hand Grenade (1997)
The First Session (EP) (1997)
Celebrity Skin (1998) (Platinum)

Singles

Retard Girl (1990)
Dicknail (1991)
Teenage Whore (1991)
Beautiful Son (1993)
Miss World (1994)
Doll Parts (1995)
Violet (1995)
Softer, Softest (1995)
Gold Dust Woman (1996)
Celebrity Skin (1998)
Malibu (1998)
Awful (1999)
Be a Man (2000)

References

Erlewine, Stephen Thomas & Prato, Greg. "Hole". All Music Guide. Retrieved June 13, 2005.

External links

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 ==History==
 ===Early years and ''Live Through This'' era===
-After releasing a number of albums on [[Sympathy for the Record Industry]], Hole released their first full-length album  ''[[Pretty on the Inside]]'' on [[Caroline Records]], which received praise from underground critics. As a result of the albums success, Hole was signed to [[Geffen Records]] with an eight album contract. Hole entered the studio to record their major label debut in 1993, around the time that Courtney's husband's band [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] released their third and final album ''[[In Utero]]''. The result of this recording session was the album ''Live Through This'', which included the hit singles "Doll Parts," "Violet," and "Miss World." Outtakes from these recording sessions were later released on ''[[My Body, the Hand Grenade]]'', which included "20 Years in the Dakota" and the notorious song "[[Old Age]]". This song was the subject of controversy over the true writer of the song; after many conflicting stories from Love, it was eventually learned that it had been written by Kurt Cobain for the ''[[Nevermind]]'' sessions in 1990 or 1991, and its lyrics were later rewritten by Love. A rare recording from the ''Live Through This'' sessions surfaced in 2001 with Cobain providing backing vocals on "Asking for It". After close listening, it was confirmed that Cobain was on the original track, albeit with very quietly-mixed vocals. As many fans had previously thought a Love/Cobain duet did not exist, this was deemed a major discovery in the Nirvana fan community.
+After releasing a number of albums on [[Sympathy for the Record Industry]], Hole released their first full-length album  ''[[Pretty on the Inside]]'' on [[Caroline Records]], which received praise from underground critics. As a result of the albums success, Hole was signed to [[Geffen Records]] with an eight album contract. Hole entered the studio to record their major label debut in 1993, around the time that Courtney's husband's band [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] released their fourth and final album ''[[In Utero]]''. The result of this recording session was the album ''Live Through This'', which included the hit singles "Doll Parts," "Violet," and "Miss World." Outtakes from these recording sessions were later released on ''[[My Body, the Hand Grenade]]'', which included "20 Years in the Dakota" and the notorious song "[[Old Age]]". This song was the subject of controversy over the true writer of the song; after many conflicting stories from Love, it was eventually learned that it had been written by Kurt Cobain for the ''[[Nevermind]]'' sessions in 1990 or 1991, and its lyrics were later rewritten by Love. A rare recording from the ''Live Through This'' sessions surfaced in 2001 with Cobain providing backing vocals on "Asking for It". After close listening, it was confirmed that Cobain was on the original track, albeit with very quietly-mixed vocals. As many fans had previously thought a Love/Cobain duet did not exist, this was deemed a major discovery in the Nirvana fan community.
 ''Live Through This'' was released in 1994, one week after the suicide of Love's husband, [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] frontman [[Kurt Cobain]]. Almost immediately before the album's release, the final song, "Rock Star", was deleted from the album and replaced by the outtake "Olympia". It was widely believed at the time that this was because its lyrics, which included the lines "So much fun to be Nirvana / how would you like to be Nirvana? / I'd rather die", appeared inappropriate in the wake of Cobain's suicide. However, it was later revealed that the band and the Geffen label had already deemed the track unfitting of a major label debut for Hole, as the song had a very "non-artistic" character which fit poorly with the rest of the album. After the decision to remove "Rock Star" was made, the album artwork and various other inserts had already been printed, and since "Olympia" was put in its place, "Olympia" is called "Rock Star" on the artwork.