Celebrity Skin
All this talk about Spinnerette and 90s female-fronted alt-rock bands had me strolling down memory lane (I’d referenced Vercua Salt just a few weeks ago when introducing Bad Flirt). Earlier today I made comparisons between different Spinnerette tracks and Garbage or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but I started to think about it, and I think a better comparison would use Hole’s second (Live Through This) and third (Celebrity Skin) albums. Both were recognizable as Hole, but used wildly different soundscapes.
At any rate, I thought it might be a good time to revisit what I was listening to in 1998, and Celebrity Skin certainly frequented my playlist that year. Sure, it was slick and polished, which was tantamount to heresy for some Hole fans, but I always liked it. It was pop, but well-crafted pop. It’s a nice reminder that Billy Corgan could once pen some pretty decent tunes – after that last so-called Smashing Pumpkins CD it’s an easy enough fact to forget. I know Courtney tried to downplay his participation, but it’s pretty obvious he wrote or co-wrote at least half the tracks.
While watching this video for the title track, I can’t help but wonder if it’s painful for Courtney to watch. After all, this is the best she ever looked, and she soon went totally overboard with the plastic surgery and ruined it. Well, that and all the drug abuse. Not only that, but 10 years on Melissa Auf Der Mar looks more or less how she did here. Still, there’s a lot from this period for her to be proud of – The People Vs Larry Flint and Man On The Moon, as well as this record, IMHO.
Tags: hole, Smashing Pumpkins, spinnerette, veruca salt
fucking LOVE Hole