Live Through This
by Hole

One of the great rock albums of the nineties. Live through this, the follow up to debut, pretty on the inside, is a brilliant sneering rock classic. Courtney Love is on top form throughout, her voice is excellent, a totally underrated singer, who deserves a little more credit. There are some fantastic songs here in, miss world, doll parts, and, credit in the straight world. Just as good as, nevermind, in my humble opinion. Excellent.

I'm not going to lie I only bought this because it was discounted at the store, but fuck me this is an incredibly-impressive album. Female or male, Love's growling vocals are sure to light a spark in just about any listener (hey, it certainly did with me).
Not only are the songs powerful and incessantly-catchy, but they also carry some heavy messages particularly regarding feminism, sexuality, depression and female imagery in western society.
"Doll Parts" is by far the standout for me, with it's catchy hooks and straight-to-the-point lyricism, though the blistering "Violet" and "I think that I would die" are not far behind.
Certainly an essential classic of the 90's that has gone under the radar for too long. Kudos Courtney and co.

From sophialeviev 05/17/2018 16:49 | #215002 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Not bad at all. Dig the energy of the album and the Riot Grrrl nature of it. Can't say it's memorable, however. (Edited)

I think this is my personal favorite grunge album -- it's as loud and powerful as others, but has a lot more in the way of catchiness and hooks. Courtney Love's voice isn't for everyone, and it's certainly not 'pretty,' but in my opinion, her vocals are fantastic and really interesting, especially on dynamic songs like "Violet" and "Doll Parts." My favorite song is "Jennifer's Body," and in addition to the already mentioned, another favorite of mine is "Miss World." I really appreciate that songs like "Miss World" feel very sad and beautiful, while "Violet," "Plump," etc. all burst with anger.

There's a lot to like here, such as muscular guitar riffs and very good songs. The album is strongest when Love lets loose on the vocals, as on "Jennifer's Body". Then some parts are too screechy for my taste, and I found the chorus and verse too repetitive at times. And the quiet-loud dynamic gets old. Overall though I still like this, and the tracks aren't too long. (Edited)