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Pretty on the Inside, Hole's 1991 debut, is a blistering heat rash of an album, full of ragged guitars, tabloid-sensational lyrics, and vocals that cut like cat claws. In all of Riot Grrrl-dom, there's not an album that has held up as well. Live Through This, the '94 follow-up, dropped the combative stance for more mature and more vulnerable moments of self-appraisal. The album's most memorable track, "Doll Parts," sounds like a last confession given at the point of exhaustion and performed without any hope of salvation. Love, for once, sounded like she was actually singing instead of just venting. A third album, Celebrity Skin showcased yet another side of the band, emerging this time dappled in the Technicolor sunshine of '60s/'70s California pop. A public grown accustomed to a crowd-baiting Courtney arrayed in dirty laundry didn't know what to make of the new image and sales were never better than tepid. But if the Power Pop make-over wasn't to your tastes, keep checking back, Love and company will no doubt have completely re-invented themselves by the next go-round -- for better or worse. |
