Live Through This is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole. It was released on April 12, 1994, just four days after the body of Kurt Cobain, lead singer Courtney Love's late husband, was found in his house.
Live Through This received critical acclaim, and was regarded as the greatest album by Hole. It was also commercially successful, selling over two million albums worldwide.
History
The album is dedicated to the memory of Joe Cole, a roadie for Black Flag and the Rollins Band who was shot to death in a 1991 robbery.
The album was noted for being more accessible and melodic than the band's previous album, Pretty on the Inside. According to BMI's website, most of the songs credited officially to Hole were written just by Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson. "Doll Parts" was officially written only by Love and "I Think That I Would Die" was written by Erlandson, Love and Kat Bjelland. "Credit in the Straight World" is a Young Marble Giants cover.
Bassist Kristen Pfaff had decided to take a break from the band at the time of Cobain's suicide. In June 1994, she was found dead by boyfriend and bandmate Eric Erlandson from a heroin overdose. Two months after Kristen's death, Hole began an extensive tour, with Melissa Auf der Maur replacing her on bass.
There have been unsubstantiated rumors regarding Cobain's involvement in this record, from alleged instrumental and songwriting contributions, to claims that he effectively wrote the entire album. What is known is that Cobain sang background vocals for two tracks, according to Eric Erlandson; he can be heard in the bridge of the released version of "Asking For It", though his vocals are low in the mix. An alternate mix has surfaced which more prominently features his singing. He can also be heard towards the end of "Softer, Softest", and supposedly at some point in "Doll Parts". After Cobain's vocal takes, Eric, Kristen and Kurt "motored into an intense jam" that included studio engineer Steve on bass.[2]
A year earlier, a b-side track for Beautiful Son, "Old Age", was credited as being written by Hole, but had a more complex origin: the song had been recorded a year before by Cobain's band Nirvana, but its lyrics were almost entirely different. Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson later clarified that the song had been given to Hole to re-write and record. It was originally featured on the "Beautiful Son" single in 1993, which Kurt Cobain was credited as a co-writer for "Old Age." An excerpt of the outtake version of "Old Age" from the "Live Through This" sessions is featured before the track "Credit in the Straight World" on the album.
A song entitled "Rock Star", which took a swipe at The Lemonheads, was originally slated to close the album, however the band chose to replace it with the track "Olympia". Since the artwork had already been printed, however, the title of "Rock Star" remained. There was also concern about the lyric "barrel of laughs to be Nirvana, hope you'd rather die". To those not aware that Live Through This was completed before Cobain's death, the lyric could be potentially misconstrued as a reference made in poor taste regarding the discovery of Cobain's body.
Four singles were released from the album and three promotional videos were shot, for "Miss World" (still with Kristen Pfaff), "Doll Parts" (with L7's bassist Jennifer Finch replacing her) and "Violet" (already with Melissa Auf der Maur). "Softer, Softest" was also released as a single, and Hole's performance of this song at their MTV Unplugged session was used as a promotional video.
Everett True titled a book after the album, which details the rise and fall of the early grunge bands of the Nineties.
Track listing
All songs credited as Hole unless noted otherwise.
- "Violet" – 3:24
- "Miss World" – 3:00
- "Plump" – 2:34
- "Asking for It" – 3:29
- "Jennifer's Body" – 3:41
- "Doll Parts" – 3:31
- "Credit in the Straight World" (Stuart Moxham) – 3:11
- "Softer, Softest" – 3:27
- "She Walks on Me" – 3:23
- "I Think That I Would Die" (Hole, Kat Bjelland) – 3:36
- "Gutless" – 2:15
- "Rock Star" – 2:42
- This song is actually "Olympia" (in reference to Olympia, Washington). To clarify, a song named "Rock Star" was removed from the final track listing and was replaced with "Olympia", but the artwork had already been printed. The original "Rock Star" can be found on Jabberjaw Compilation: Good to the Last Drop and various bootlegs.
Personnel
Production
Reception
Critical reception
The album received unanimous critical acclaim, and was regarded as Hole's greatest album, as well as one of the greatest rock albums of the 90s. Critics praised it for combining the raw energy of the band's previous album, Pretty on the Inside, with a pop rock sound that would characterize the band's next album, Celebrity Skin.
The album was ranked number 466 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and was included in TIME magazine's All-TIME 100 Albums list, as well as the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[3]
Commercial reception
When released on April 12, 1994, Live Through This debuted on the charts at number 56, never hitting the Top 40 in the U.S. In December 1994, the record went Gold, having sold a total of 500,000 copies, going platinum six months later for having sold 1 million copies. To date, the album has achieved worldwide double platinum status.
Accolades
- Included in Rolling Stone's Essential Recordings of the '90s
- Ranked #6 in Spin Magazine's 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s
- Voted Best Album in Rolling Stone's 1995 Critic's Poll
- Included on Jon Pareles' (New York Times) list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94
- Ranked #1 in Spin's list of the 20 Best Albums Of '94
- Ranked #1 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll
- Ranked #9 in Spin's Best Albums since 1985
- Ranked #12 in NME's list of the Top 50 Albums Of 1994.[4]
Charts
Album
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1994 |
The Billboard 200 |
52 |
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Chart |
Position |
| 1994 |
"Miss World" |
Modern Rock Tracks |
13 |
| 1994 |
"Doll Parts" |
Modern Rock Tracks |
4 |
| 1994 |
"Doll Parts" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
58 |
| 1995 |
"Violet" |
Modern Rock Tracks |
29 |
| 1995 |
"Softer, Softest" |
Modern Rock Tracks |
32 |
| 1995 |
"Asking for It" |
Modern Rock Tracks |
36 |
References
Notes
- Weisbard, Eric; Craig Marks (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0679755748.
