such a great album. 'malibu' is my default answer but it could be so many others at any given point.
― lex pretend, Friday, 29 May 2009 15:06 (fifteen years ago) link
voting for "petals" but really, could be "malibu" or "boys on the radio" as well. love this album
― daria-g, Friday, 29 May 2009 19:17 (fifteen years ago) link
HE'S DRUNK / HE TASTES LIKE CANDY / HE'S SO BEAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTIFUL / HE'S SO DEEP / LIKE DIRTY WATER / GOD HE'S AWFUL
― my Sonicare toothbrush (difficult listening hour), Monday, 15 August 2011 14:14 (twelve years ago) link
how many references to candy are there on this album exactly? counting the part on the title track where she complains "it's all so sugarless".
― my Sonicare toothbrush (difficult listening hour), Monday, 15 August 2011 14:17 (twelve years ago) link
i voted for the winning option, but in retrospect i realize it's a song title and not the description of the album i most agree with
― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Monday, 15 August 2011 14:19 (twelve years ago) link
you should have thrown "use once & destroy" a vote
― my Sonicare toothbrush (difficult listening hour), Monday, 15 August 2011 14:22 (twelve years ago) link
I wish I didn't hate Courtney's voice so much, I greatly respect the things she did with Hole even if I never ever want to hear them
― CLUB PISCOPO (DJP), Monday, 15 August 2011 14:27 (twelve years ago) link
I was in a bad mood yesterday so I flew down PCH blasting TI's "What You Know" on a loop and then put this on once I got to Malibu, because duh. The back end works really during dusk/sunset.
As a native Los Angeleno this is still my favorite album about L.A. (it helps that I was 17 and just driving when this came out). The numerous refs to candy are completely in line with her view of the city, all sensory pleasure that disguises deep rot and decay--not for nothing that soon after this Hollywood success she'd spiral into coke and crack. Courtney is such a great chronicler of Los Angeles, but I won't forgive her for ruining "Pacific Coast Highway" (at least the demo remains stunning).
― one big boob fulla bad stitches (billy), Monday, 15 August 2011 14:44 (twelve years ago) link
IT'S FUCKIN WONDERFUL THEY SOLD YOU OUT
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 August 2011 14:50 (twelve years ago) link
that "fuckin wonderful" god, what a great singer
― one big boob fulla bad stitches (billy), Monday, 15 August 2011 14:52 (twelve years ago) link
Not enough love for "Playing Your Song," which I contend has the most awesome "fuckin'" in rock. And what a yowl on the chorus!
― Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, May 29, 2009 9:17 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 August 2011 15:00 (twelve years ago) link
best backing vocals of the '90s: melissa auf der maur
the harmonies are the rich hidden text of this record
― mutant slow drum (BradNelson), Monday, 15 August 2011 15:27 (twelve years ago) link
word Auf der Mar was so good I wanted to buy her solo record on principle, then I heard the single and no longer wanted to. Her vocals on this sound like waves at Leo Carillo.
― one big boob fulla bad stitches (billy), Monday, 15 August 2011 15:35 (twelve years ago) link
whatev northern star is sweet
― fauxmarc, Monday, 15 August 2011 15:40 (twelve years ago) link
saw the patty schemel doc the other day, it's great. the story about the producer for this record making her do re-takes over and over for two weeks so that she would quit and he could bring in deen castronovo was crazy.
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Monday, 23 April 2012 16:44 (twelve years ago) link
billy upthread otm re. this album and LA.We also had a pretty good discussion here: Recommend me something similar to Hole's 'Celebrity Skin'
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:52 (twelve years ago) link
i watched the patty schemel documentary, which was pretty good but the whole time i was kind of like "why does this movie exist?"
that shit about the asshole producer of celebrity skin was crazy.
― william tyler the creator (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 19 February 2013 20:04 (eleven years ago) link
i started to watch this, thinking the same question, but turned it off after 5 seconds, when she pointed at a graveyard from the tour bus like it was an amazing moment of profound spiritual meaning
― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 19 February 2013 20:07 (eleven years ago) link
i mean, it was kinda good! i guess. there was some cool footage of kurt cobain just being goofy and stuff, lots of video of what the 90s really looked like.
she seems like a nice person overall, as did Erik from Hole and Roddy from Faith no More
― william tyler the creator (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 19 February 2013 20:08 (eleven years ago) link
uhm not sure where to put this but this is pretty cool footage (even if publicizing it may be less cool, I don't know if CL cares) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-xUwDARVb4
― niels, Thursday, 2 October 2014 15:56 (nine years ago) link
that's the worst guitar playing I've ever heard – unless she's going for Arto Lindsay.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 2 October 2014 16:12 (nine years ago) link
hey this is the best album ever
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 May 2015 18:13 (nine years ago) link
HE'S SO DEEPLIKE DIRTY WATER
― difficult listening hour, Tuesday, 19 May 2015 18:40 (nine years ago) link
If only she sang every Corgan song
― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 19 May 2015 19:14 (nine years ago) link
BEST. ALBUM. OF. MY. LIFE.really.
malibu and boys on the radio are favs, but i have a deep admiration for heaven tonight as well.
― Nourry, Wednesday, 20 May 2015 00:06 (nine years ago) link
"Malibu" and "boys on the radio" for me too but that drumming on "awful" doe
― Tim F, Wednesday, 20 May 2015 00:10 (nine years ago) link
― mutant slow drum (BradNelson), Monday, 15 August 2011 15:27 (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Tim F, Wednesday, 20 May 2015 00:12 (nine years ago) link
miles and miles of perfect skin
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 00:24 (nine years ago) link
I love how this album hires Billy Corgan to write songs about feminine lust.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 00:25 (nine years ago) link
Not sure much of that is Billy. The lyrics seem pretty pure Courtney to me. So many great lines on this record.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 15:43 (nine years ago) link
I'm referring to the music.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 15:53 (nine years ago) link
actually the best songs are Erlandson-Love.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 15:54 (nine years ago) link
Ah, right. Yeah, I've always thought Billy's role on this album was exaggerated (mostly by him). He's obviously part of it, but not much of it really sounds like him.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 16:02 (nine years ago) link
Erlandson definitely the unsung hero of Hole.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 16:03 (nine years ago) link
That sequence from "Boys on the Radio" to "Playing Your Song" is immense.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 16:05 (nine years ago) link
It's too bad Michael Beinhorn was such a jerk to Patty Schemel, but he sure made the record sound amazing.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 16:16 (nine years ago) link
i don't if i ever read a decent review/thinkpiece about this record. It deserves.
― Nourry, Thursday, 21 May 2015 03:51 (nine years ago) link
we don't talk about this album enough
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 19 May 2016 23:09 (eight years ago) link
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, August 15, 2011
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 May 2016 23:13 (eight years ago) link
idk what i was talking about with the poll; "dying" and "use once and destroy" is def my favorite section of this record
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 19 May 2016 23:21 (eight years ago) link
brad was right of course, great harmonies record. great guitar record too.
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 19 May 2016 23:43 (eight years ago) link
I realized a few weeks ago that this album will be 20 next year, and if anything deserves a big anniversary retrospective it does. So I've started a blog to go through the 12 songs, one each month.
https://celebrityhole.wordpress.com/
My wife's going to write at least one (she claimed "Awful") and there are a few that I feel strongly about myself (title track, Boys on the Radio), but if anyone wants to contribute a 500-1000 word entry on a song of your choice, hit me up -- jmayshark AT geemail. I haven enough thoughts about the album to write them all myself, but I'm also partial to group projects.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 30 December 2017 15:20 (six years ago) link
how many references to candy are there on this album exactly?so many, and when you add in the "sugar coma"/"boys on the radio factor" i think the whole thing is about sweetness and decay and boys
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 30 December 2017 15:34 (six years ago) link
oops i put the quotation marks in the wrong placei don't want to write 1000 words about any of the songs but i do have feelings about it
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 30 December 2017 15:36 (six years ago) link
also i love her singing -- it's so expressivemaybe not pretty but very expressive. "malibu" almost always makes me cry.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 30 December 2017 15:39 (six years ago) link
Yeah I think she's hugely underrated as a singer. Will definitely get into that in zee blog.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 30 December 2017 15:40 (six years ago) link
there were a few albums that came out around the same time that had a similar sugar-pop-leaning -- GBV had Do the Collapse (with a song on the Buffy sdtk iirc?), Wilco released Summer Teeth (featuring "Candy Floss", another song about candy) -- I'm sure there were others. On a personal level, I was just meeting and getting to know my partner (<3) which I think adds to the sweetness/sugar coma feeling of these albums for me.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 30 December 2017 15:47 (six years ago) link
Great idea, tipsy!
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 30 December 2017 15:53 (six years ago) link
I listened to this loads at the time but now it's mainly Awful that sticks in my head <3
20 years tho
can't hear 'miles and miles of perfect skin' without instead thinking 'miles and miles of carpet tiles'
― kinder, Saturday, 30 December 2017 16:30 (six years ago) link
Around the time “Awful” came out I went to a nightclub for fun for like, the 2nd time in my life. It was one of those alternative-music nights called like, Clockwork Orange or something.Anyway they played Awful & i just remember being thrilled by the poppiness of it & how new it sounded, and how great Courtney sounded too. No-one was dancing & I had the dancefloor to myself & i just lost myself in the song, it felt so good. Man I love that song.
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 30 December 2017 17:45 (six years ago) link
HE TASTES LIKE CANDY
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 30 December 2017 17:46 (six years ago) link
aw that is a sweet memory VG!!
i have a lot of memories around this time -- it's kind of hard for me to separate them from the songs
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 30 December 2017 17:50 (six years ago) link
"Awful" was great then, and just gets better with age.
― clemenza, Saturday, 30 December 2017 18:50 (six years ago) link
First proper blog entry is up -- https://celebrityhole.wordpress.com/2018/01/13/1-celebrity-skin/. One of my favorite album openers of all time.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 13 January 2018 14:25 (six years ago) link
(I didn't even get to some of my favorite lines in the song, because I realized I could write a paragraph each on nearly every one.)
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 13 January 2018 14:33 (six years ago) link
Reasons to be Beautiful deserves a vote!
This album has really withstood the test of time huh? Listening to it right now and it’s so good. Also a good document on where alt rock and the music industry was at the end of the 90’s, huge budget, glossy production and Love becoming finally a big, mainstream rockstar.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 13 January 2018 16:27 (six years ago) link
yeah it still sounds so warm & ~lush~
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 13 January 2018 17:52 (six years ago) link
This month, my wife weighs in on "Awful." https://celebrityhole.wordpress.com/2018/02/28/2-awful/
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 28 February 2018 18:13 (six years ago) link
oh i love it! it shows how much older i am than she is because i totally identified with this "a big sister who’s gone through the wringer"i never really thought about how it would sound to someone younger than me, it's way more powerful than i gave it credit for! when i was 16 i had "sixteen blue" :-/ everything drags and drags
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Wednesday, 28 February 2018 18:23 (six years ago) link
Man I have to listen to this record again. I've been on a Nirvana kick lately but on balance Live Through This + Celebrity Skin is about as good as Nevermind + In Utero.
― It's like an Christian pop (thewufs), Saturday, 24 March 2018 08:29 (six years ago) link
Musically I'd still give the edge to Nirvana but lyrically the decision goes to Hole, no question. Did Kurt ever write anything as profound or with as many bons mots as "Awful"? And there's more where that came from.
― It's like an Christian pop (thewufs), Saturday, 24 March 2018 08:36 (six years ago) link
If I was to draw up a list of essential '90s American alternative rock albums, both of those albums would be no-brainers to include!
― Full of bile and Blue Nile denial (Turrican), Saturday, 24 March 2018 08:44 (six years ago) link
Next entry on the Celebrity Skin blog: Hit So Hard. https://celebrityhole.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/3-hit-so-hard/
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 31 March 2018 13:30 (six years ago) link
OK, didn't quite make my April deadline for this, but here's Malibu: https://celebrityhole.wordpress.com/2018/05/03/4-malibu/.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 3 May 2018 23:00 (six years ago) link
<3
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Thursday, 3 May 2018 23:08 (six years ago) link
Next! This month, Jody Beth considers “Reasons to Be Beautiful.” https://celebrityhole.wordpress.com/2018/05/10/5-reasons-to-be-beautiful/
Courtney’s miles and miles of perfect skin are not contiguous: they start around the blonde yoginis of Sunset Junction and flow out to in-home glam squads of the Palisades, and they start around the Korean spas of Wilshire Center and zoom off to the surgeons in Westwood high-rises and get stuck in traffic en route to a sugaring session in Santa Monica, and they twist up the 101 through the restful shade trees of Laurel Canyon and bounce over the potholes outside every specialty chemist and dermatologist on Ventura Boulevard until the Valley peters out in Kardashian Kountry somewhere. There’s imperfect skin, of course, but it lives to the side of the step-and-repeat. It opens the mail and sends the rejections. It knows that Bar Keepers Friend gets unusual stains out of porcelain. You tip it a pittance at holidays, maybe.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 10 May 2018 11:00 (six years ago) link
And for June, "Dying." (Which is about surviving.)
https://celebrityhole.wordpress.com/2018/06/26/6-dying/
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 26 June 2018 12:03 (five years ago) link
This month, Anthony Easton has thoughts about Courtney, Kim Gordon, Olympia and L.A.
https://celebrityhole.wordpress.com/2018/07/26/7-use-once-and-destroy/
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 27 July 2018 11:28 (five years ago) link
(their innocence tastes like candy, yeah / get so fat on it it's a tragedy, yeah ) <--- one of CL's career highlights imo. Rarely listen to it because the verses are kinda irritating to my ears, but so very exhilarating.
― Turangalila, Tuesday, 17 December 2019 14:41 (four years ago) link
the best rock album of the ‘90s
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Sunday, 12 June 2022 15:37 (two years ago) link
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, May 19, 2016 7
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 June 2022 15:46 (two years ago) link
This poll should be redone, I suspect many many people didn’t see it and thus didn’t vote
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, 12 June 2022 16:44 (two years ago) link
Not sure if I voted at the time. Would’ve been “Malibu” for me.
i’m happy to repoll this one even though deciding between “boys on the radio” and “petals” should be illegal
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Sunday, 12 June 2022 16:46 (two years ago) link
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings),
oh make me over?
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 June 2022 16:54 (two years ago) link
I’m all I wanna be
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, 12 June 2022 17:59 (two years ago) link
Poll Twice and Destroy
the best rock album of the ‘90s― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Sunday, 12 June 2022 15:37 (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Sunday, 12 June 2022 15:37 (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Tim F, Tuesday, 14 June 2022 02:43 (two years ago) link
miles and miles of perfect posts!
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 June 2022 02:45 (two years ago) link
the revive reminds me that I need to go back and finish that song by song project. I started a business in the middle of that and never went back to it.
I voted for Awful in this poll, I think I'd probably go Boys on the Radio now.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 14 June 2022 03:17 (two years ago) link
The production sounds kind of close to nevermind but a notch below
― calstars, Sunday, 19 June 2022 00:01 (one year ago) link
There’s some very weird vocal manipulation happening here and there
I never warmed to this record the way I did to the one before TBH
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, 19 June 2022 02:37 (one year ago) link
(I guess I prefer “punk” Hole to Fleetwood Mac Hole, or whatever)
― Johnny Bit Rot (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 June 2023 02:07 (eleven months ago) link
I love the Runaways vibe of "Awful."
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Sunday, 25 June 2023 02:44 (eleven months ago) link
It wouldn't be my number one choice but I feel like "Hit So Hard" is weirdly underrated by virtue of being so obvious in its Corganisms (whereas "Malibu" feels sui generis even though it's not really). Melissa's sighing harmonies are A+. A perfect album pretty much.
― Tim F, Sunday, 25 June 2023 06:42 (eleven months ago) link