Hole
Live Through This

THE REVIEW

Album released between two tragedies, the suicide of Kurt Cobain and the overdose death of bassist Kristen Pfaff, Live Through This is by far the best work from Hole and a truly remarkable album, among the best put to record in Seattle (forever blessed, the Bologna of the U.S.A.).
A predominantly female quartet led by Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, which included Eric Erlandson on guitar (the only male), Kristen Pfaff on bass, and Patty Schemel on drums.

The album is perfectly balanced between punk fury and melodic ballad, with tracks in perfect Seattle sound where the anger seems to calm for a moment only to suddenly and swiftly reignite, with Courtney Love always charmingly raucous as the leading star, with her voice capable of lashing out and captivating at the same time.

Songs like “Violet,” “Miss World,” “Doll Parts,” and “Softer Softest” are classics and could serve as examples of what grunge was, but the rest of the lineup is also captivating and engaging, never a drop in tone, never the urge to skip a track.
Legend has it that behind this album is the handiwork of the late Cobain (Gutless is a Nirvana outtake, I’m ready to bet on that) whether true or not at this point matters little, even if for an album of such beauty the doubt arises spontaneously. Is Mrs. Love capable of producing such tormented and anguished music?! Seeing (or rather listening to) the before and after would suggest not. Certainly, if not, the interpretation of another’s score is applause-worthy.

A great slice of uterine rock, that when listened to in times of Evanescence and Avril Lavigne, makes us long for our adolescence and the good old '90s that once were.