Live Through This
Encyclopedia
Live Through This is the second studio album by American alternative rock
band Hole
. It was released by Geffen Records
on April 12, 1994, just four days after frontwoman Courtney Love
's husband, Kurt Cobain
, was found dead in their home.
Musically and lyrically, the album differed greatly from the band's debut, Pretty on the Inside
(1991), which was heavily influenced by punk
and noise rock
. For Live Through This, Hole sought a more accessible rock sound, focusing more on melody and dynamics and utilizing less of the distortion and experimental touches that dominated their previous record. Lyrically, the album heavily reflected Love's life at the time, her transition into public notoriety, and her role as a wife and mother, as well as articulating a "third-wave feminist
consciousness".
The album was extremely well received by music critics, garnering rave reviews and "best album of the year" awards in major periodicals, such as Rolling Stone
, Spin
, and The New York Times
. The album was also a major financial success, selling over two million copies worldwide and going multi-platinum within just a year of its release. It also spawned four singles, including "Doll Parts
" and "Violet
", with "Doll Parts" reaching number 58 in the Billboards Hot 100 as well as peaking at number 4 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
In recent years, Live Through This has often been considered a contemporary classic of alternative rock, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time. The album's title is derived from a monologue
by Vivien Leigh
in Gone with the Wind
(1939).
in May 1993 with Nirvana
producer, Butch Vig. Nothing is reported to have come from the sessions, and a second attempt at recording the album was done at Hanzek Audio in Seattle in August 1993 with producers and engineers, Chris Hanzek, Jack Endino
and Craig Montgomery. During this attempt at recording Live Through This the band recorded instrumental versions of a number of songs, including "Jennifer's Body" and the unused Nirvana song "Talk To Me", however the session "wasn't very productive" and eventually, the recordings were left in the studio for years before Eric Erlandson
reclaimed them.
The sessions for Live Through This began on October 8, 1993 at Triclops Studios in Atlanta, where The Smashing Pumpkins
- friends of the band - recorded their second studio album, Siamese Dream
. The first week of recording was spent record basic tracks, such as drums, bass, scratch guitars, and scratch vocals. After the first tracks were laid down, Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, joined the band in-studio on October 18 before Nirvana were set to tour to promote their latest album, In Utero
. When shown the work in progress, the band invited Cobain to sing on a few unfinished numbers. Cobain refused at first, due to being unfamiliar with the material. When Cobain asked, "how can I sing on it if I haven't heard it?", Courtney answered by encouraging him to "just sing off the top of [his] head."
Due to this and that a year earlier, a b-side for "Beautiful Son
", "Old Age
" was credited as being written by Hole but the song had been recorded a year before by Cobain's band Nirvana
, 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 both Erlandson and Love; he can be heard in the bridge of the released version of "Asking For It", though his vocals are low in the mix and during "Softer, Softest." An alternate mix of "Asking For It" was broadcast on radio in 1994 which more prominently features his singing. Some recent claims state he can be heard at some point in "Doll Parts
". Having taken a break for dinner, the session devolved into a formless jam with Cobain on drums, Eric and Courtney on guitars and session co-producer Sean Slade on bass. The band eventually finished on October 31 and finished off their stay in Atlanta with a show at The Masquerade.
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 after attending a Hole show at the Whisky A Go Go
in West Hollywood. 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 death in April, 1994. In June 1994, she was found dead by boyfriend and bandmate Eric Erlandson
from an apparent heroin overdose. Two months after Kristen's death, Hole began an extensive tour, with Melissa Auf der Maur
replacing her on bass.
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.
, which was lauded for its disturbingly poetic lyrics and abrasive guitar riffs and arrangements, Courtney Love sought a more mellow sound for Live Through This: "I want this record to be shocking to the people who don't think we have a soft edge, and at the same time, [to know] that we haven't lost our very, very hard edge." The resulting music was starkly less aggressive than the band's former work, blending more structured melodies and smoother arrangements with still heavy guitar riffs, described as " a loud, lush rock record of uncompromising strength and unexpected depth."
Lyrically, the album was also less aggressive, very much reflecting Love's life between 1991 and 1994. The opening song, "Violet
", described as "one of their strongest songs" was purportedly written about Billy Corgan
, though this has been disputed among fans and other musicians. Before a Later... with Jools Holland performance of the song, Love described it as "a song about a jerk— I hexed him and now he's losing his hair." Nonetheless, the song expresses a deep-seated female rage ("Go on, take everything/Take everything, I want you to"). "Miss World
", with its upbeat musical structure, makes references to depression
and suicide
, while "Plump" appears to reference Love's pregnancy and the ensuing custody battle that took place over her infant daughter, Frances Bean Cobain
, following an unflattering Lynn Hirschberg article written for Vanity Fair
, which painted Love and husband Kurt Cobain as drug addicts and unfit parents. In a 1994 interview, Love said, "If you read Vanity Fair, you probably think I swig Jack Daniel's first thing in the morning, after I smoke my crack
, and don't see my daughter for ten days."
"Asking for It" was inspired by an occurrence at a 1991 concert when Hole was touring with Mudhoney
, in which Love was assaulted and had her clothes ripped off of her while crowdsurfing, leaving her entirely naked. "Doll Parts
", the album's most successful single, seems to reflect love and the need for acceptance. In a 2010 interview, Love stated: "I still don't understand why that one song with just three chords is such a big thing. But it's definitely got some good lyrics. That was a song about Kurt. I wrote it in Boston."
The last half of the album rounds off with a cover of the Young Marble Giants
' "Credit in the Straight World", alluding to "the critics who had dismissed [Love] as a starfucking phony" and the rock ballad "Softer, Softest
", which makes indelible references to Love's troubled childhood. "I Think That I Would Die" contains the only lyrics on the album not written solely by Love; the song was a collaboration between her and friend/former bandmate Kat Bjelland
.
A song entitled "Rock Star" was originally slated to close the album, but a last-minute decision was made to replace the track with "Olympia." Since the artwork had already been printed, however, the title of "Rock Star" remained and was also used for further releases. The purported reason for the song replacement was concern about the lyric "a barrel of laughs to be Nirvana
, 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 (the same could be said of the album title as well, but the title was actually lifted from the lyrics for "Asking for It" which, coincidentally, featured Cobain on guest vocals).
Nonetheless, the actual song that closes the album, "Olympia" (under the title "Rock Star"), criticizes the riot grrl music scene in the Pacific Northwest, which Love was associated but not involved with, and has been described as "a rollicking, good-humored fuck-you to Olympia hipsters
." Love had been vocal about her criticism of the riot grrl movement, calling the musicians "imperious", and pointing out their particular form of feminist politics: "The whole riot grrl thing is so... well, for one thing, the Women's Studies
department at Evergreen State College, where a lot of these bands come from, is notorious for being one of the worst programs in the country. It's man-hating, and it doesn't produce intelligent people in that field." Alternate mixes
of the song included even more satirical lyrics, such as: "When I went to school in Olympia/And everyone's the same/What do you do with a revolution?/You just forget your name/When I went to school in a fascist state/And everyone's the same/We took punk rock, and we got a grade".
said: "There is that myth that Kurt wrote a lot of our songs— it's not true. Eric [Erlandson] and Courtney wrote Live Through This." According to a Kurt Cobain biographer, interviews were conducted with everyone associated with the record, and universally, they all contested that Love and Erlandson wrote the songs.
Although these rumors circulated for years to follow, much of the content on Live Through This had been written and performed during Hole's Pretty on the Inside
tour. Both "Violet" and "Doll Parts", two of the album's most notable songs, had been performed as early as 1991 at various concerts, and presumably been written in 1990 or '91, when Love and Cobain were acquaintances. The first studio recordings of the songs took place during a BBC
Radio broadcast for John Peel
in 1991, inbetween US and European tours to promote Pretty on the Inside; these recordings would later appear on the group's 1995 EP Ask for It
. Early versions of "Softer, Softest", another one of the singles from Live Through This, were also performed during the tour. "Violet", "Doll Parts", and "Softer, Softest" were all performed in the same set at during a December 1991 concert at the U.L.U. in London, and "Violet" was performed at Exeter several days later at a concert with Daisy Chainsaw
and Therapy?
. The songs were individually performed at various concerts in Paris, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, and Germany throughout the 1991 tours along with songs from Pretty on the Inside.
Several magazine publications also mentioned the rumors regarding the writing credits, and in a 2006 Time Magazine piece, it was noted that "[the rumors] started immediately that it was Cobain, not his wife, Courtney Love, who wrote the majority of these churningly catchy songs. Forget that there's no proof, that their marriage was collaborative and that it's a nasty thing to say, Live Through This is clearly a woman's work [and is] far more swaggering than any album any grunge man ever came up with. When Love sings, "I went to school in Olympia / Where everyone's the same," it's obvious she thinks she's not, and that she's right."
Courtney Love made several responses to the rumors, first in 1998: "All this time I have never addressed this. But here I am finally saying for the very first time that Kurt did not [write] Live Through This. I mean for fuck's sake, his skills were much better than mine at the time - the songs would have been much better. That's the first thing." Later on, in 2010, she commented again, saying: "If Kurt had written on it, I would have said something. He didn't. That's all."
Although the band members denied Cobain's involvement in the songwriting, they have openly stated that Cobain was briefly in the studio and performed uncredited backup vocals with Kristen Pfaff on two of the tracks— "Asking for It", and "Softer, Softest". The album's liner notes credit Hole as the sole writers of the album, except for on two songs: "I Think That I Would Die", co-written by Kat Bjelland, as well as the band's cover of "Credit in the Straight World". The liner notes read: "all songs [were] written by Hole except "I Think That I Would Die", written by Hole and K. Bjelland [. . .] "Credit in the Straight World" written by Stuart Moxham
." Additionally, an interlude verse lifted verbatim from a Janitor Joe
song appears in "Miss World"; bassist Kristen Pfaff had previously been in Janitor Joe.
is shown on the cover of the album, dressed in beauty pageant attire with a tiara and a bouquet of flowers, with mascara running down her eyes in tears of joy. Courtney Love stated in an interview that she "wanted to capture the look on a woman's face as she's being crowned... this sort of ecstatic, blue eyeliner running, kind of 'I am, I am—I won! I have hemorrhoid
cream under my eyes and adhesive tape on my butt, and I had to scratch and claw and fuck my way up, but I won Miss Congeniality!'" The band logo introduced on the front cover of the album is thought to be modeled after the '90s Mattel
Barbie
logo.
The back cover of the album features a family photo of a young Courtney Love during her childhood in Marcola, Oregon
, with the individual track listings appearing to the left, printed on embossing tape
.
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 1990s. 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 later characterize the band's next album, Celebrity Skin
.
'. More significantly, Live Through This may be the most potent blast of female insurgency ever committed to tape", while
Entertainment Weekly
gave the album a B+ rating, saying, "What Live Through This makes perfectly clear, though, is that Love is a greater star. She has charisma and attitude to burn, and she knows it. " NME
called the album "a personal but secretive thrash-pop opera of urban nihilism and passionate dumbthinks", and Melody Maker
called it "the high watermark of the genre that survived the crass label of `foxcore
'..."
Musician Magazine
said, "[Kurt] Cobain's much-discussed, little heard other half finally gets the chance to escape gossip-column purgatory and succeeds with flying colors... Courtney Love's foul, funny eloquence...cuts through all the bullshit with a mighty flourish." This sentiment was reassessed in a 2008 BBC
review of the album, which stated, "In 1994 and the years that followed, tragedy and controversy seemed to overshadow everything Courtney Love touched. Thankfully, with every year that passes, it becomes easier to put the record's emotional baggage
to one side and appraise it on the strength of its songs."
Spin
perhaps gave the album its greatest praise, awarding it a rare 10/10 rating and naming it the #1 album of the year on their "20 Best Albums of 1994" list, noting, "Love rode her band's gargantuan riffs through a shy loner's air-guitar fantasy: rock stardom as revenge upon the entire human race."
The album's prolificness has been recognized in more recent years as well— it 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
.
Personnel
Singles
Note: Even though it did chart, "Asking for It
" was never released as a single, and it should not be mistaken with Hole
album Ask for It
, also released in 1995.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
. It was released by Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
on April 12, 1994, just four days after frontwoman Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
's husband, Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
, was found dead in their home.
Musically and lyrically, the album differed greatly from the band's debut, Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. Released August 23, 1991 on Caroline Records, it was Hole's first major label release after their formation in 1989 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
(1991), which was heavily influenced by punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
. For Live Through This, Hole sought a more accessible rock sound, focusing more on melody and dynamics and utilizing less of the distortion and experimental touches that dominated their previous record. Lyrically, the album heavily reflected Love's life at the time, her transition into public notoriety, and her role as a wife and mother, as well as articulating a "third-wave feminist
Third-wave feminism
Third-wave feminism is a term identified with several diverse strains of feminist activity and study whose exact boundaries in the historiography of feminism are a subject of debate, but often marked as beginning in the 1980s and continuing to the present...
consciousness".
The album was extremely well received by music critics, garnering rave reviews and "best album of the year" awards in major periodicals, such as Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
, and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. The album was also a major financial success, selling over two million copies worldwide and going multi-platinum within just a year of its release. It also spawned four singles, including "Doll Parts
Doll Parts
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour...
" and "Violet
Violet (song)
"Violet" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was written circa 1991, and was played at several live shows between 1991 and 1992 during Hole's Pretty on the Inside tours...
", with "Doll Parts" reaching number 58 in the Billboards Hot 100 as well as peaking at number 4 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
In recent years, Live Through This has often been considered a contemporary classic of alternative rock, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time. The album's title is derived from a monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
by Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
in Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
(1939).
History and recording
Sessions for Hole's second album begun initially in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in May 1993 with Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
producer, Butch Vig. Nothing is reported to have come from the sessions, and a second attempt at recording the album was done at Hanzek Audio in Seattle in August 1993 with producers and engineers, Chris Hanzek, Jack Endino
Jack Endino
Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
and Craig Montgomery. During this attempt at recording Live Through This the band recorded instrumental versions of a number of songs, including "Jennifer's Body" and the unused Nirvana song "Talk To Me", however the session "wasn't very productive" and eventually, the recordings were left in the studio for years before Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
reclaimed them.
The sessions for Live Through This began on October 8, 1993 at Triclops Studios in Atlanta, where The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
- friends of the band - recorded their second studio album, Siamese Dream
Siamese Dream
Siamese Dream is the second album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 27, 1993 on Virgin Records. The album fused diverse influences such as shoegazing, dream pop, grunge, classic rock, heavy metal, and progressive rock.Despite recording sessions fraught...
. The first week of recording was spent record basic tracks, such as drums, bass, scratch guitars, and scratch vocals. After the first tracks were laid down, Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, joined the band in-studio on October 18 before Nirvana were set to tour to promote their latest album, In Utero
In Utero
In Utero is the third and final studio album by the American grunge band Nirvana, released on September 13, 1993, on DGC Records. Nirvana intended the record to diverge significantly from the polished production of its previous album, Nevermind...
. When shown the work in progress, the band invited Cobain to sing on a few unfinished numbers. Cobain refused at first, due to being unfamiliar with the material. When Cobain asked, "how can I sing on it if I haven't heard it?", Courtney answered by encouraging him to "just sing off the top of [his] head."
Due to this and that a year earlier, a b-side for "Beautiful Son
Beautiful Son
"Beautiful Son" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written collectively by frontwoman Courtney Love, lead guitarist Eric Erlandson and drummer Patty Schemel. The song was released as the band's fourth single in April 1993 on the European label City Slang...
", "Old Age
Old age
Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle...
" was credited as being written by Hole but the song had been recorded a year before by Cobain's band Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, 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 both Erlandson and Love; he can be heard in the bridge of the released version of "Asking For It", though his vocals are low in the mix and during "Softer, Softest." An alternate mix of "Asking For It" was broadcast on radio in 1994 which more prominently features his singing. Some recent claims state he can be heard at some point in "Doll Parts
Doll Parts
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour...
". Having taken a break for dinner, the session devolved into a formless jam with Cobain on drums, Eric and Courtney on guitars and session co-producer Sean Slade on bass. The band eventually finished on October 31 and finished off their stay in Atlanta with a show at The Masquerade.
The album is dedicated to the memory of Joe Cole
Joe Cole (roadie)
Joseph Dennis "Joe" Cole was a roadie for Black Flag and Rollins Band. He was the best friend and roommate of the musician/author/actor Henry Rollins. His memoirs were published posthumously by 2.13.61 publishing, Planet Joe, in which he documented his experiences on the last Black Flag tour and...
, a roadie for Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
and the Rollins Band who was shot to death in a 1991 after attending a Hole show at the Whisky A Go Go
Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.-History:...
in West Hollywood. The album was noted for being more accessible and melodic than the band's previous album, Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. Released August 23, 1991 on Caroline Records, it was Hole's first major label release after their formation in 1989 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
. According to BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
's website, most of the songs credited officially to Hole were written just by Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
and Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
. "Doll Parts
Doll Parts
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour...
" was officially written only by Love and "I Think That I Would Die" was written by Erlandson, Love and Kat Bjelland
Kat Bjelland
Katherine "Kat" Bjelland is an American musician who is currently the lead singer-guitarist of the band Katastrophy Wife, and is the former lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band Babes in Toyland....
. "Credit in the Straight World" is a Young Marble Giants
Young Marble Giants
Young Marble Giants were a post-punk band formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1978. A trio, their music was constructed around the powerful and minimal instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham along with the vocals of Alison Statton.-History:...
cover.
Bassist Kristen Pfaff
Kristen Pfaff
Kristen Marie Pfaff was an American bass guitarist, best known for her work with Hole.-Early life and career:Pfaff was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, attending Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. She spent a short time in Europe and briefly attended Boston College before ultimately...
had decided to take a break from the band at the time of Cobain's death in April, 1994. In June 1994, she was found dead by boyfriend and bandmate Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
from an apparent heroin overdose. Two months after Kristen's death, Hole began an extensive tour, with Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur is a Canadian rock musician from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. Her second solo album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010. She is also a...
replacing her on bass.
Four singles were released from the album and three promotional videos were shot, for "Miss World" (still with Kristen Pfaff), "Doll Parts" (with L7
L7 (band)
L7 was an American rock band from Los Angeles, that was active from 1985 to 2000. Due to their sound and image, they are often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s.-History:...
's bassist Jennifer Finch
Jennifer Finch
Jennifer Finch , born August 5, 1966, is an American photographer and musician, notable for her involvement in the all-female punk rock group L7.-Music:...
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
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
session was used as a promotional video.
Music and lyrics
In contrast to the band's debut album, Pretty on the InsidePretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. Released August 23, 1991 on Caroline Records, it was Hole's first major label release after their formation in 1989 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
, which was lauded for its disturbingly poetic lyrics and abrasive guitar riffs and arrangements, Courtney Love sought a more mellow sound for Live Through This: "I want this record to be shocking to the people who don't think we have a soft edge, and at the same time, [to know] that we haven't lost our very, very hard edge." The resulting music was starkly less aggressive than the band's former work, blending more structured melodies and smoother arrangements with still heavy guitar riffs, described as " a loud, lush rock record of uncompromising strength and unexpected depth."
Lyrically, the album was also less aggressive, very much reflecting Love's life between 1991 and 1994. The opening song, "Violet
Violet (song)
"Violet" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was written circa 1991, and was played at several live shows between 1991 and 1992 during Hole's Pretty on the Inside tours...
", described as "one of their strongest songs" was purportedly written about Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
, though this has been disputed among fans and other musicians. Before a Later... with Jools Holland performance of the song, Love described it as "a song about a jerk— I hexed him and now he's losing his hair." Nonetheless, the song expresses a deep-seated female rage ("Go on, take everything/Take everything, I want you to"). "Miss World
Miss World
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
", with its upbeat musical structure, makes references to depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
and suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, while "Plump" appears to reference Love's pregnancy and the ensuing custody battle that took place over her infant daughter, Frances Bean Cobain
Frances Bean Cobain
Frances Bean Cobain is the daughter of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Hole singer Courtney Love.-Childhood and youth:...
, following an unflattering Lynn Hirschberg article written for Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, which painted Love and husband Kurt Cobain as drug addicts and unfit parents. In a 1994 interview, Love said, "If you read Vanity Fair, you probably think I swig Jack Daniel's first thing in the morning, after I smoke my crack
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
, and don't see my daughter for ten days."
"Asking for It" was inspired by an occurrence at a 1991 concert when Hole was touring with Mudhoney
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the...
, in which Love was assaulted and had her clothes ripped off of her while crowdsurfing, leaving her entirely naked. "Doll Parts
Doll Parts
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour...
", the album's most successful single, seems to reflect love and the need for acceptance. In a 2010 interview, Love stated: "I still don't understand why that one song with just three chords is such a big thing. But it's definitely got some good lyrics. That was a song about Kurt. I wrote it in Boston."
The last half of the album rounds off with a cover of the Young Marble Giants
Young Marble Giants
Young Marble Giants were a post-punk band formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1978. A trio, their music was constructed around the powerful and minimal instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham along with the vocals of Alison Statton.-History:...
' "Credit in the Straight World", alluding to "the critics who had dismissed [Love] as a starfucking phony" and the rock ballad "Softer, Softest
Softer, Softest
"Softer, Softest" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's eighth single and fourth and final single from their second studio album, Live Through This, in December 1995...
", which makes indelible references to Love's troubled childhood. "I Think That I Would Die" contains the only lyrics on the album not written solely by Love; the song was a collaboration between her and friend/former bandmate Kat Bjelland
Kat Bjelland
Katherine "Kat" Bjelland is an American musician who is currently the lead singer-guitarist of the band Katastrophy Wife, and is the former lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band Babes in Toyland....
.
A song entitled "Rock Star" was originally slated to close the album, but a last-minute decision was made to replace the track with "Olympia." Since the artwork had already been printed, however, the title of "Rock Star" remained and was also used for further releases. The purported reason for the song replacement was concern about the lyric "a barrel of laughs to be Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, 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 (the same could be said of the album title as well, but the title was actually lifted from the lyrics for "Asking for It" which, coincidentally, featured Cobain on guest vocals).
Nonetheless, the actual song that closes the album, "Olympia" (under the title "Rock Star"), criticizes the riot grrl music scene in the Pacific Northwest, which Love was associated but not involved with, and has been described as "a rollicking, good-humored fuck-you to Olympia hipsters
Hipster (contemporary subculture)
Hipsters are a subculture of young, recently settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers with musical interests mainly in alternative rock that appeared in the 1990s...
." Love had been vocal about her criticism of the riot grrl movement, calling the musicians "imperious", and pointing out their particular form of feminist politics: "The whole riot grrl thing is so... well, for one thing, the Women's Studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
department at Evergreen State College, where a lot of these bands come from, is notorious for being one of the worst programs in the country. It's man-hating, and it doesn't produce intelligent people in that field." Alternate mixes
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
of the song included even more satirical lyrics, such as: "When I went to school in Olympia/And everyone's the same/What do you do with a revolution?/You just forget your name/When I went to school in a fascist state/And everyone's the same/We took punk rock, and we got a grade".
Songwriting allegations
Following the album's release in the wake of Kurt Cobain's death, rumors began wildly circulating about the album's lyrical content and songwriting, with many people alleging that Cobain had written the album, not Courtney Love. In response to the allegations, drummer Patty SchemelPatty Schemel
Patricia Theresa Schemel is an American drummer, most notably known as the drummer of the alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998.-Early music career:Schemel learned to play drums after her father bought her a drum kit at age 11...
said: "There is that myth that Kurt wrote a lot of our songs— it's not true. Eric [Erlandson] and Courtney wrote Live Through This." According to a Kurt Cobain biographer, interviews were conducted with everyone associated with the record, and universally, they all contested that Love and Erlandson wrote the songs.
Although these rumors circulated for years to follow, much of the content on Live Through This had been written and performed during Hole's Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. Released August 23, 1991 on Caroline Records, it was Hole's first major label release after their formation in 1989 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
tour. Both "Violet" and "Doll Parts", two of the album's most notable songs, had been performed as early as 1991 at various concerts, and presumably been written in 1990 or '91, when Love and Cobain were acquaintances. The first studio recordings of the songs took place during a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Radio broadcast for John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
in 1991, inbetween US and European tours to promote Pretty on the Inside; these recordings would later appear on the group's 1995 EP Ask for It
Ask for It
Ask for It is the first EP by alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1995. It was the band's second and last release on Caroline Records, the first being their debut album Pretty on the Inside . Although the EP was released after 1994's platinum-selling Live Through This, its contents...
. Early versions of "Softer, Softest", another one of the singles from Live Through This, were also performed during the tour. "Violet", "Doll Parts", and "Softer, Softest" were all performed in the same set at during a December 1991 concert at the U.L.U. in London, and "Violet" was performed at Exeter several days later at a concert with Daisy Chainsaw
Daisy Chainsaw
Daisy Chainsaw was an English alternative rock band, active between 1989 and 1995. It originally featured KatieJane Garside as lead vocalist and lyricist on the band's early EPs and debut album, Eleventeen , before her departure in 1993...
and Therapy?
Therapy?
Therapy? is an alternative metal band from Northern Ireland. The band was formed in 1989 by guitarist–vocalist Andy Cairns from Ballyclare and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing from Larne, Northern Ireland. The band initially recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar...
. The songs were individually performed at various concerts in Paris, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, and Germany throughout the 1991 tours along with songs from Pretty on the Inside.
Several magazine publications also mentioned the rumors regarding the writing credits, and in a 2006 Time Magazine piece, it was noted that "[the rumors] started immediately that it was Cobain, not his wife, Courtney Love, who wrote the majority of these churningly catchy songs. Forget that there's no proof, that their marriage was collaborative and that it's a nasty thing to say, Live Through This is clearly a woman's work [and is] far more swaggering than any album any grunge man ever came up with. When Love sings, "I went to school in Olympia / Where everyone's the same," it's obvious she thinks she's not, and that she's right."
Courtney Love made several responses to the rumors, first in 1998: "All this time I have never addressed this. But here I am finally saying for the very first time that Kurt did not [write] Live Through This. I mean for fuck's sake, his skills were much better than mine at the time - the songs would have been much better. That's the first thing." Later on, in 2010, she commented again, saying: "If Kurt had written on it, I would have said something. He didn't. That's all."
Although the band members denied Cobain's involvement in the songwriting, they have openly stated that Cobain was briefly in the studio and performed uncredited backup vocals with Kristen Pfaff on two of the tracks— "Asking for It", and "Softer, Softest". The album's liner notes credit Hole as the sole writers of the album, except for on two songs: "I Think That I Would Die", co-written by Kat Bjelland, as well as the band's cover of "Credit in the Straight World". The liner notes read: "all songs [were] written by Hole except "I Think That I Would Die", written by Hole and K. Bjelland [. . .] "Credit in the Straight World" written by Stuart Moxham
Young Marble Giants
Young Marble Giants were a post-punk band formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1978. A trio, their music was constructed around the powerful and minimal instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham along with the vocals of Alison Statton.-History:...
." Additionally, an interlude verse lifted verbatim from a Janitor Joe
Janitor Joe (band)
Janitor Joe, a Minneapolis noise-rock band, formed in 1992. Founding members were guitarist/vocalist Joachim Breuer , bassist/vocalist Kristen Pfaff and drummer Matt Entsminger, though bass duties were later assumed by Wayne Davis following Pfaff's departure in 1993 to join Courtney Love's band,...
song appears in "Miss World"; bassist Kristen Pfaff had previously been in Janitor Joe.
Packaging and artwork
Model Leilani BishopLeilani Bishop
Leilani Bishop is an American fashion model. At 15, she was discovered on Kauai by a model agent of and subsequently appeared on the covers of Flare and Allure magazines, and modeled for clients such as Tommy Hilfiger, Balenciaga, Esprit, and Victoria's Secret.In 2000, she played the role of...
is shown on the cover of the album, dressed in beauty pageant attire with a tiara and a bouquet of flowers, with mascara running down her eyes in tears of joy. Courtney Love stated in an interview that she "wanted to capture the look on a woman's face as she's being crowned... this sort of ecstatic, blue eyeliner running, kind of 'I am, I am—I won! I have hemorrhoid
Hemorrhoid
Hemorrhoids or haemorrhoids , are vascular structures in the anal canal which help with stool control. They become pathological or piles when swollen or inflamed. In their physiological state they act as a cushion composed of arterio-venous channels and connective tissue that aid the passage of...
cream under my eyes and adhesive tape on my butt, and I had to scratch and claw and fuck my way up, but I won Miss Congeniality!'" The band logo introduced on the front cover of the album is thought to be modeled after the '90s Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
Barbie
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
logo.
The back cover of the album features a family photo of a young Courtney Love during her childhood in Marcola, Oregon
Marcola, Oregon
Marcola is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States, northeast of Springfield on the Mohawk River.-History:The post office at this location was established in 1876 and originally called "Isabel" for early settler Isabel Applegate. About 1900, a railroad was built through...
, with the individual track listings appearing to the left, printed on embossing tape
Embossing tape
Embossing tape is a labelling medium usually of hard plastic. Embossing tape is used with embossing machines, often handheld.- Method :The machine features a wheel with raised characters, similar to a daisy wheel. The user turns the wheel to align the desired character with the tape and presses a...
.
Release
When released on April 12, 1994, Live Through This debuted on the charts at number 52, 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 one million copies. To date, the album has sold more than 1.6 million copies in the United States and has well over 2 million worldwide. It has also achieved platinum status in Canada and Australia.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 1990s. Critics praised it for combining the raw energy of the band's previous album, Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. Released August 23, 1991 on Caroline Records, it was Hole's first major label release after their formation in 1989 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
, with a pop rock sound that would later characterize the band's next album, Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States...
.
Critical reception
Live Through This was praised unanimously by music critics and rock periodicals. Rolling Stone said, "Love delivers punk not only as insinuating as Nirvana's but as corrosive as the Sex PistolsSex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
'. More significantly, Live Through This may be the most potent blast of female insurgency ever committed to tape", while
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the album a B+ rating, saying, "What Live Through This makes perfectly clear, though, is that Love is a greater star. She has charisma and attitude to burn, and she knows it. " NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
called the album "a personal but secretive thrash-pop opera of urban nihilism and passionate dumbthinks", and Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
called it "the high watermark of the genre that survived the crass label of `foxcore
Foxcore
Foxcore is an umbrella term associated with female fronted bands of the 1990s. The term was coined as a joke by Thurston Moore during the early 1990s to describe a wave of loud and aggressive female fronted bands that was occurring at the time...
'..."
Musician Magazine
Musician (magazine)
Musician was a monthly magazine that covered news and information about American popular music. Initially called "Music America", it was founded in 1976 by Sam Holdsworth and Gordon Baird. The two friends borrowed $20,000 from relatives and started the publication in a barn in Colorado...
said, "[Kurt] Cobain's much-discussed, little heard other half finally gets the chance to escape gossip-column purgatory and succeeds with flying colors... Courtney Love's foul, funny eloquence...cuts through all the bullshit with a mighty flourish." This sentiment was reassessed in a 2008 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
review of the album, which stated, "In 1994 and the years that followed, tragedy and controversy seemed to overshadow everything Courtney Love touched. Thankfully, with every year that passes, it becomes easier to put the record's emotional baggage
Emotional baggage
Emotional baggage can be defined as 'Painful memories, mistrust and hurt carried around from past sexual or emotional rejection'.It is an image of 'a big sack that you carry around with you at all times...[with] every disappointment, trauma, and wrong that you've ever experienced....This image, the...
to one side and appraise it on the strength of its songs."
Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
perhaps gave the album its greatest praise, awarding it a rare 10/10 rating and naming it the #1 album of the year on their "20 Best Albums of 1994" list, noting, "Love rode her band's gargantuan riffs through a shy loner's air-guitar fantasy: rock stardom as revenge upon the entire human race."
The album's prolificness has been recognized in more recent years as well— it was ranked number 466 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
, and was included in TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's All-TIME 100 Albums list, as well as the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd...
.
Accolades
- Included in Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Essential Recordings of the '90s - Ranked #6 in SpinSpin (magazine)Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
's 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s - Voted Best Album in Rolling Stones 1995 Critic's Poll
- Included on Jon Pareles' (New York Times) list of the Top 10 Albums of '94
- Ranked #1 in Spins list of the 20 Best Albums of '94
- Ranked #1 in the Village Voices 1994 Pazz & JopPazz & JopThe Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
Critics' Poll - Ranked #9 in Spins Best Albums since 1985
- Ranked #12 in NMENMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
s list of the Top 50 Albums of 1994.
Musicians and personnel
Musicians- Courtney LoveCourtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
– vocals, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Eric ErlandsonEric ErlandsonEric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
– lead guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Kristen PfaffKristen PfaffKristen Marie Pfaff was an American bass guitarist, best known for her work with Hole.-Early life and career:Pfaff was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, attending Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. She spent a short time in Europe and briefly attended Boston College before ultimately...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, backing vocals - Patty SchemelPatty SchemelPatricia Theresa Schemel is an American drummer, most notably known as the drummer of the alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998.-Early music career:Schemel learned to play drums after her father bought her a drum kit at age 11...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Dana KletterDana KletterDana Kletter is an American musician and writer.Kletter and her twin sister Karen were born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in New York. Dana began playing piano at age four. She attended American University in Washington, DC where she studied piano with Alan Mandel...
– additional vocals - Kurt CobainKurt CobainKurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
– backing vocals on "Asking for It" and "Softer, Softest" (uncredited)
Personnel
- Paul Q. KolderiePaul Q. KolderiePaul Q. Kolderie is a record producer, engineer, and mixer. He has worked with Pixies, Radiohead, Orangutang, Hole, Dinosaur Jr., Juliana Hatfield, Wax, Warren Zevon, Uncle Tupelo, Throwing Muses, Morphine, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Abandoned Pools, and The Go-Go's...
– producer, engineer - Sean SladeSean SladeSean Slade is a record producer, engineer, and mixer. He has worked with artists including Hole, Radiohead, Warren Zevon, Juliana Hatfield, Dinosaur Jr., Uncle Tupelo, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Boo Radleys, Sebadoh, Lush, the Go-Go's, and The Dictators among others. In 2005 he produced The...
– producer, engineer - Scott LittScott LittScott Litt is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums.-Biography:...
– mixing (on "Violet", "Miss World", "Asking for It", "Jennifer's Body" and "Softer, Softest") - J MascisJ MascisJ Mascis is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr.. In 2011, he was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.- Biography :...
– mixing (on "Gutless") - Bob LudwigBob LudwigBob Ludwig is an American mastering engineer.He is a well known and respected figure within the music industry. His name is credited on the covers of albums released across the world, and he has won numerous awards....
– mastering
- Mark Kates - A&R
- Robin Sloane – creative direction
- Janet Wolsborn – art direction
- Front artwork and portraits – Ellen Von UnwerthEllen von UnwerthEllen von Unwerth is a photographer and director, specializing in erotic femininity. She worked as a fashion model for ten years herself before moving behind the camera, and now makes fashion, editorial, and advertising photographs.Ellen von Unwerth found fame when she first photographed Claudia...
- Back artwork – Frank Rodriguez
- Inlay artwork – Juergen TellerJuergen TellerJuergen Teller is an artist and fashion photographer.-Life and career:Teller studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich, Germany...
, Margaret Morton
- Front artwork and portraits – Ellen Von Unwerth
Track listing
All songs credited as Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson unless noted otherwise.- "Rock Star" is a mislabel of a Live Through This outtake titled "Olympia" (in reference to Olympia, WashingtonOlympia, WashingtonOlympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
). The original song, "Rock Star", was removed from the final track listing before pressings were made and was replaced with "Olympia", but as the artwork had already been printed, the title "Rock Star" remained.
Chart positions
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Billboard 200 | 52 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Miss World Miss World (song) "Miss World" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's fifth single and the first from their second studio album, Live Through This, in March 1994.-Origin and recording:Erlandson and... " |
Modern Rock Tracks | 13 |
| 1994 | "Doll Parts Doll Parts "Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour... " |
Modern Rock Tracks | 4 |
| 1994 | "Doll Parts Doll Parts "Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour... " |
Billboard Hot 100 | 58 |
| 1995 | "Violet Violet (song) "Violet" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was written circa 1991, and was played at several live shows between 1991 and 1992 during Hole's Pretty on the Inside tours... " |
Modern Rock Tracks | 29 |
| 1995 | "Softer, Softest Softer, Softest "Softer, Softest" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's eighth single and fourth and final single from their second studio album, Live Through This, in December 1995... " |
Modern Rock Tracks | 32 |
| 1995 | "Asking for It Asking For It "Asking for It" is a song by alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released on the band's second studio album and major label debut, Live Through This, in April 1994... " |
Modern Rock Tracks | 36 |
Note: Even though it did chart, "Asking for It
Asking For It
"Asking for It" is a song by alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released on the band's second studio album and major label debut, Live Through This, in April 1994...
" was never released as a single, and it should not be mistaken with Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
album Ask for It
Ask for It
Ask for It is the first EP by alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1995. It was the band's second and last release on Caroline Records, the first being their debut album Pretty on the Inside . Although the EP was released after 1994's platinum-selling Live Through This, its contents...
, also released in 1995.