Song:Doll Parts
Album:Live Through This
Courtney Love is best known as the widow of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain. But she had success with her band Hole especially the 1994 album Live Through This. Hole probably would have been successful if she had been able to keep the band together for any length of time. Hole started in 1989 when guitarist Eric Erlandson answered an ad Courtney placed in the Los Angeles paper The Recycler. She was a big Sonic Youth fan and he reminded her of Thurston Moore. While they worked on songs, Courtney worked as a stripper to finance the band. After releasing a couple of singles, Hole signed with Caroline Records and released the 1991 album Pretty on the Inside produced by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon. This album was hardcore punk with a lot of screaming. But it did well enough that major labels came calling. Hole signed with Geffen in 1992. Courtney and Erlandson were already working on a new album. But the previous bassist and drummer left. Drummer Patty Schemel joined followed by bassist Kristen Pfaff. By that time, Courtney was married to Kurt Cobain and pregnant with their daughter. She wanted Hole to have that alt rock sound that Nirvana had popularized. Some accused Courtney of riding on Cobain's coattails. But the hard core punk sound was never going to be commercially successful. The change worked as the 1994 album Live Through This was certified Platinum. Doll Parts charted but it wasn't a big hit. Live Through This is available as a digital download. The album was released one week after Cobain's death. And then Kristen Pfaff died from a heroin overdose two months later. Hole's tour was delayed until bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur joined in Aug. 1994. And the album Celebrity Skin was released in 1998. The album did well but there was always a circus surrounding Courtney Love and that killed Hole. They disbanded in 2002. Courtney went solo and Erlandson became a session musician and producer. Courtney reformed Hole with guitarist Micko Larkin in 2009. Courtney started the album Nobody's Daughter as a solo album. But it was released as a Hole album in 2010. After touring, that version of Hole split up. There was talk of Courtney possibly reuniting with Melissa and Patty. But that's not happening. Courtney even admitted that releasing Nobody's Daughter as a Hole album cheapened the name. These days Courtney has done more acting than music. I'm sure she will record again but not as Hole. Here's the video for Doll Parts by Hole.
I really liked this group and their songs and their music. It's to bad it all had to explode and then self-destruct. To bad, they could have made some more good music.
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