#106 Hole, 'Live Through This' (1994)

New Entry

It’s easy and lazy to compare Courtney Love to husband, Kurt Cobain. Their music both sits in an alternative world, vocals rough and unpolished. But Love stands on her own two feet as an artist in her own right. On this record, Love sought to write more melodic music than on Hole’s debut record. Cobain and Love would push each other, musically. They were a competitive couple. The songs on this album are a departure for the band. A mix of the noisier songs, for which they were known, with the soft-loud melodic songs such as ‘Asking For It,’ on which Cobain sang backing vocals (albeit quite buried in the mix). In fact, Cobain sang backing vocals on a few of the songs.

The lyrics on this record are great. In ‘Plump,’ “And I don't do the dishes/I throw them in the crib.” On ‘Doll Parts,’ another softer moment on the record, Love earnestly sings “I want to be the girl with the most cake.” The album was a breakthrough for female rockstars in the ‘90s. It’s also a raw record. Also on ‘Doll Parts’ Love implores “And someday, you will ache like I ache.” She was hurting. Her and her husband were drug addicts, both tortured souls. Kurt Cobain committed suicide exactly one week before the release of this record, just to put in context where they were at during its inception and release. Love went straight into rehab after recording the album. Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bassist died of a heroin overdose 2 months after the release of the album. It was just such a crazy, sad and tragic time for Love and Hole. All that pain and conflict is laid out on this record. Despite all, the album was a critical and commercial success, selling more than 1.6m records, although it failed to break the Top 50 Billboard charts.

#rs500albums