Hole (band)

Categories: American musical groups | Grunge groups

Hole
Image:Afi24.jpg
Years active	1989–2002
Status	Dissolved
Origin	Olympia, Washington, USA}}}
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Grunge
Label(s)	Sympathy for the Record Industry Caroline Records Geffen Records
Members	Courtney Love Eric Erlandson Melissa Auf der Maur Patty Schemel

Hole was an indie rock band formed in 1989 and (officially) disbanded in 2002, fronted by Courtney Love and co-founded by Eric Erlandson, and featuring Patty Schemel on drums and Melissa Auf der Maur on bass from 1995 until the band's disbandment in 2002; original bassist Kristen Pfaff died of an apparent drug overdose in 1994. Also heavily involved with Hole were Love's husband Kurt Cobain (on Live Through This), and Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan (on Celebrity Skin).

1 History
2 Discography
- 2.1 Albums
- 2.2 Singles and EPs
3 References
4 External links

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History

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Early years and Live Through This era

After a number of releases on Sympathy for the Record Industry, Hole released their first full-length album Pretty on the Inside on Caroline Records, which received praise from underground critics. After the success of Pretty on the Inside, Hole was signed to Geffen Records to release eight albums. Hole entered the studio to record their major label debut in 1993, around the time that Nirvana released their third and final album In Utero. The resulting album, Live Through This, included the hit singles "Doll Parts", "Violet", and "Miss World". Outtakes from these recording sessions, some of which were later released on My Body, the Hand Grenade, included "20 Years in the Dakota" and the notorious song "Old Age", which was the subject of controversy over the true writer of the song; after many conflicting stories from Love, it was eventually learned that it had been written by Kurt Cobain for the Nevermind sessions in 1990 or 1991, and its lyrics later rewritten by Love. A rare recording from the Live Through This sessions surfaced in 2001 with Cobain providing backing vocals on "Ask for It". After close listening, it was confirmed that Cobain was on the original track, albeit with very quietly-mixed vocals. As many fans had previously thought a Love/Cobain duet did not exist, this was deemed a major discovery in the Nirvana fan community.

Live Through This was released in 1994, very shortly after the suicide of Love's husband Kurt Cobain. Almost immediately before the album's release, the final song, "Rock Star", was deleted from the album and replaced by an outtake, "Olympia". It was widely believed at the time that this was because its lyrics, which included the lines "So much fun to be Nirvana / how would you like to be Nirvana? / I'd rather die", appeared inappropriate in the wake of Cobain's suicide; however, it was later revealed that the band and the Geffen label had already deemed the track unfitting of a major label debut for Hole, as the song had a very "non-artistic" character which fit poorly with the rest of the album. After the decision to remove "Rock Star" was made, the album artwork and various other inserts had already been printed, and since "Olympia" was put in its place, "Olympia" is called "Rock Star" on the artwork.

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The New Orleans sessions

No demos have surfaced that were recorded for an abandoned third Hole album. Interviews with Eric Erlandson have confirmed the authenticity of this session. The only song to make it out of these sessions was an extremely early version of "Awful". Courtney was supposedly unhappy with the quality of the songs recorded here and it is believed they had an extremely similar sound to Live Through This. Also denied by Erlandson was a rumor that this album had been completed, but the masters were stolen on an airplane. These demos are slated for possible inclusion on the Hole box set. Billy Corgan was not involved in this project.

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My Body, the Hand Grenade

Three years after the release and success of Live Through This, Hole released an album of b-sides and outtakes entitled My Body, the Hand Grenade. Featured on the front cover was a picture of one of Courtney Love's babydoll dresses in a museum setting — showing that the Kinderwhore look she and Kat Bjelland had started was over and dead. Featuring many unreleased songs from the Live Through This sessions, demos, and live recordings including Hole's Valentine's Day 1995 MTV Unplugged performance, this album is regarded as a gem in the Hole fan community. One song included is the Nirvana recycle, "Old Age." Many versions of this song have been discovered with all containing somewhat different lyrics. One version highly rated among collectors is the "Binge and Purge" boombox demo with lyrics such as "What a waste of sperm and egg," and "You can always go back to rehab." Another song on this collection is "20 Years in the Dakota," which is about Yoko Ono's struggles in life as John Lennon's wife. The title of this song is widely believed to be about the apartment building outside which Lennon was killed. Courtney Love has herself been frequently compared to Yoko Ono, due to the perception that Ono drew Lennon away from The Beatles and that Love drew Cobain away from Nirvana. One of the final songs on the album is a "Miss World" demo that features Kurt Cobain on bass. This collection is regarded as a rarity among Hole fans due to it being out of print for so long.

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Celebrity Skin era and breakup

Hole's third album had a completely new sound for the band. Featuring a more "pop" sound, the album was a critical success with somewhat strong sales and successful singles. Many of the lyrics in the album are an outcry from Love about her grief at the death of her husband. "Northern Star", "Playing Your Song", and "Malibu" are said to be the songs about Kurt Cobain. "Northern Star" in particular is about Cobain's ghost, with a story that during a concert a fan held up a Kurt Cobain t-shirt and Love began to cry while performing to back up connections. "Malibu" is about Cobain's final rehab session being in Malibu and how he ran away to Seattle only to be found dead days later. "Playing Your Song" is in reference to Love's reading of Cobain's suicide note days after his death. Eric Erlandson has later revealed through posts on the fan site Kittyradio.com's message boards that he was very uncomfortable and displeased with Billy Corgan's involvement on the record. All guitar riffs were written by Erlandson and all lyrics were handled by Love and Corgan, who also played bass on several tracks. Working titles included Reasons to be Beautiful (Love's pick) and Malibu (Erlandson's pick). The first single was "Celebrity Skin", which was about Love's feelings about the pressures of being a public figure. Three videos and singles were released for Celebrity Skin: the titular "Celebrity Skin", "Malibu", and "Awful" which had a live clip montage as a video. Band members have changed frequently over the years; the line-up of Hole's last album Celebrity Skin (1998) was Love (lead vocals), Melissa Auf der Maur (bass), Eric Erlandson (guitars), and Samantha Maloney (drums).

Hole was officially disbanded by Love via a message posted at the band's website in 2002. After the split, the four musicians each took on projects of their own. Auf der Maur joined The Smashing Pumpkins and later recorded a solo album; Erlandson continued to work as a session musician; Maloney toured with Mötley Crüe, Scarling., and the Eagles of Death Metal; and Love began a solo career, releasing America's Sweetheart in 2004. Although several of the band's former members are reportedly on bad terms with one another, they have all at various times discussed the possibility of future Hole releases; in particular, Eric Erlandson has expressed willingess to compile a box set similar to Nirvana's 2004 release With the Lights Out.

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