Celebrity Skin

I usually prefer cds because they don’t require any WiFi or internet connection (and because I’m stuck in the 90s). I love this album, though there are only a few songs from it that I like

I'm not going to go into great detail about each song, but just say that almost every song on this album is at least solid, and some of them are all-time classics. This is definitely an album I can listen to all the way through without skipping tracks and I haven't (yet) gotten sick of it...it's got that great replayability factor going for it. My favorite songs are "Celebrity Skin", "Malibu", "Reasons to be Beautiful", "Playing Your Song", and "Petals". As others have said, the Corgan influence is very strong here, but that's all for the good as far as I'm concerned because the Pumpkins outrock just about anyone. If you had Billy sing instead of Courtney on "Northern Star" or "Petals", you could drop them right into Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness and no one would be the wiser. The only song I really don't much like is the 2nd track "Awful". I almost like it, but its overly-poppy blandness annoys me. This must be one of those polarizing songs because a lot of people hate it and many say it's their favorite on the whole album...go figure. I usually don't pay much attention to lyrics, but on this album they do have meaning and resonance, and I actually found myself trying to figure out at various points what she was saying (the lyrics of "Hit So Hard" are interesting to try to interpret...it might not be as obvious as it looks at first). Anyway, I don't give 5 stars lightly like many people do when they just "don't hate" something. This is a great, great album that should be in your collection. It's totally addicting. The production values are very good here, much better than the somewhat muddier-sounding Live Through This (also an excellent though very different album). It will be a shame if Hole never does another album. I expect it will be as different from this as this was from LTT. I'd like to see Courtney collaborate with Black Francis (Pixies) or Johnny Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls) or Ed Kowalczyk (Live)...could make for a powerful combination. Since with Courtney's earlier work we have to assume she was basically "collaborating" with Kurt Cobain, and she had the Pumpkins/Go-Gos influence on this album, I think she's at her best working with others. Too much emphasis is put on who takes credit for writing a song, or if the artist is selling out or "staying true to their roots", but if it's good it's good, in my book. And this is very good.

Actually a great CD. I was not familiar with them until family told me about them. All as expected and arrived quickly

Celebrity Skin. For me, (and most people who know me would never suspect that I ever listened to this much less own it, but I do,) is a very good commercial Rock Album, with songs from a woman who had finally grown up, but still alienated. The tunesmithing, vocals and musicianship, all show a huge amount of maturity over earlier outings for Hole, and this remains my favorite, as I have to be in the right mood to appreciate the older stuff, but I still do, albeit rarely. It is too bad (to me) that the flack Ms. Love received as being a sell out for making a more mature and more commercial CD resulted in her going back to the teen-age anger by the time "America's Sweetheart" came out, which just comes across as an angry middle aged woman who doesn't get it. But here in "Celebrity Skin" the raw emotions are tempered with well crafted music, and ironically pretty vocals. I hope that one day Ms. Love may grow up for good and all and make this kind of album again. But that's just me

Having listened to "Live Through This" for weeks on end before returning to "Celebrity Skin, at first CS sounds pastel by comparison; CS is definitely smoother than its predecessor. But now that I've gotten to know it again on its own merits, I understand why this is Hole's most commercially successful album. The more prevalent major key melodies takes edge off of Courtney's anger. Conversely, this album contains Courtney's most memorable lyrics to translate the inevitably angry, searing subtext. "Awful" sounds practically joyous, yet its message is not and the contrast is compelling. Said formula works well throughout the record. Highlights include: (1) "Northern Star": a haunting ballad, a cry for help, a prayer. Is this song about Kurt Cobain? Maybe ..... and (2) The album's poignant final cut "Petals" wherein Courtney reminisces about the "the sweet boys in the summer of their youth". The quasi-orchestral instrumental coda of "Petals" is a brilliant fade-out for this song as well as for the entire record. I'll end with some of my favorite quotes from "Celebrity Skin":***** "..... A walking study in demonology." "..... I'm glad I came here with your pound of flesh." "..... So so sugarless / Hooker waitress / Model actress / Oh just go nameless." "..... I can't be near you / But I just radiate." "..... Love hangs herself / With the bedsheets in her cell." "..... I know that you are rotten to the core." "..... She's the grace of this world / She's too pure / For the likes of this world / This world is a whore." "..... Tear the petals off of you / Make you tell the truth." *****For whatever lyrics I misheard, I paraphrase. Stephen C. Bird Author, "To Be to Is to Was"

love hole so much this album is amazing

Classic late 90s sound, glad to add to my collection. Vinyl pressing is good, flat, no warps or any loud surface noise. A bit pricey though.

Awesome

Diese Platte war damals schon ein absolutes Brett. Zugegeben, sie war nicht mehr so hart wie ihre Vorgänger, aber dafür melodisch rau durch und durch. Vor allem hat es Courtney Love mit diesem Werk geschafft, sich aus dem Schatten ihres Mannes zu lösen und nicht mehr länger nur die Witwe zu sein. MALIBU ist vielleicht der Sommerhit, aber auch alle anderen Stücke sind fantastisch. Da gibt es keinen Hänger. Dazu ist das ganze noch fantastisch produziert und das von Billy Corgan. Viele bemängeln das Hole hier viel zu glatt und poppig agieren, aber wenn Pop so rotzig ist wie hier, dann finde ich, hat man alles richtig gemacht. Die Neuveröffentlichung auf Vinyl ist ohne Makel. Klarer und guter Sound, tolles Cover. Eine ganz klare Kaufempfehlung.

This was a gift and it was so well received.

Esperava mais do vinil. Não da pra dizer que não esta bem feito. Mas, deveria ter mais sonoridade, ficar mais distante de uma versão em cd. Não é o caso. É apenas um otimo disco do Hole, como uma prensagem honesta. A embalagem não vem lacrada. Ao contrario do que eu pensava, é um padrão da gravadora Music On Vinyl, enviar os discos em um envelope plastico com lacre abre e fecha colante. Uma boa ideia pra conservar, mas que deixa o disco aberto a qualquer um no processo a abrir e enfiar os dedos no vinil.

I actually have it since a long time and im only reviewing it now but my cd is still awesome

Fin pressning, mycket bra kvalité på ljudet!