Celebrity Skin

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
When last we saw Courtney Love, she was performing on the silver screen and posing for Versace, a far cry from her formative days stumbling across stages wearing ripped thrift-store clothing. But Love's Hollywood transformation is just the latest in her crusade for adoration, whatever the environment. And Celebrity Skin is just the latest manifestation of that obsession. Instead of screaming in rage over a muscular din of power chords, Love sings in a restrained, melodic alto voice; the band matches the euphony with rhythms and hooks that draw from such mainstream acts as Fleetwood Mac, the Go-Go's, and, of course, Smashing Pumpkins, whose frontman, Billy Corgan, cowrote five songs. What makes Celebrity Skin more than another good rock album, however, is Love's lyrics, which remain confessional and scathing, addressing such topics as physical abuse ("Hit So Hard"), drugs ("Use Once and Destroy"), the music industry ("Awful," "Boys on the Radio"), and her late husband's suicide ("Reasons to Be Beautiful"). If nothing else, Celebrity Skin is proof to all the skeptics that superstars have feelings, too. --Jon Wiederhorn --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Rolling Stone
[Celebrity Skin] is sprung, flung and fun, high-impact, rock-fueled pop.... [It] teems with sonic knockouts that make you see all sorts of stars. It's accessible, fiery, and intimate.... --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Celebrity Skin

Average customer rating:

One Of The Best Rock Albums Ever
One of Hole's Best
Very nice
The Skin Controversy
Grunge plus Go-Go's? Hole Greater than the Sum of its Parts

Celebrity Skin
Hole
Manufacturer: Fontana Geffen
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

America's Sweetheart
Pretty on the Inside
Garbage
Version 2.0
Ask for It

ASIN: B00000AFWW
Release Date: 1998-09-08

Tracks:

Celebrity Skin
Awful
Hit So Hard
Malibu
Reasons To Be Beautiful
Dying
Use Once And Destroy
Northern Star
Boys On The Radio
Heaven Tonight
Playing Your Song
Petals

Amazon.com

When last we saw Courtney Love, she was performing on the silver screen and posing for Versace, a far cry from her formative days stumbling across stages wearing ripped thrift-store clothing. But Love's Hollywood transformation is just the latest in her crusade for adoration, whatever the environment. And Celebrity Skin is just the latest manifestation of that obsession. Instead of screaming in rage over a muscular din of power chords, Love sings in a restrained, melodic alto voice; the band matches the euphony with rhythms and hooks that draw from such mainstream acts as Fleetwood Mac, the Go-Go's, and, of course, Smashing Pumpkins, whose frontman, Billy Corgan, cowrote five songs. What makes Celebrity Skin more than another good rock album, however, is Love's lyrics, which remain confessional and scathing, addressing such topics as physical abuse ("Hit So Hard"), drugs ("Use Once and Destroy"), the music industry ("Awful," "Boys on the Radio"), and her late husband's suicide ("Reasons to Be Beautiful"). If nothing else, Celebrity Skin is proof to all the skeptics that superstars have feelings, too. --Jon Wiederhorn

Customer Reviews:

One Of The Best Rock Albums Ever.......2007-05-22

As emotionally drained as any Courtney Love shenanigans can make us, she is foremost a musician and this is her and thus her band's greatest achievement in a relatively short list of recorded music. Ditching the complete garage grunge angst of Pretty On The Inside and Live Through This, Courtney and company brought Billy Corgan in for a couple things and went to California for inspiration. Conjuring up images of the 70s California rock scene, Courtney left a lot her angst in the Northwest and went for more melody. I love every single song on this disc and when it came out I played it over and over - from the beginning guitar crunch and Courtney's vocal "oh make me over/ I'm all I want to be" the title cut breaks into the catchy yet dramatic "Awful" followed by "Hit So Hard" and it goes on and on with a radio friendly tune thrown in before crunching into the pain grunge we love from our Courts... so much better than her ill fated (and I wanted to love it) solo album from a few years ago - for those unsure of Hole's reasons for success and with an ear more for melody than angst, this is the CD to go to.

One of Hole's Best.......2007-02-27

Originally I thought this was too poppy, but its actually a very nice polished rock album. Their are a couple of songs that are too sugary, but its still a good CD and worth the money.
Hole From Best To Worst (As Of Feb.26.2007, it changes all the time)

1.Live Through This
2.Celebrity Skin
3.Pretty on The Inside

Very nice.......2006-11-11

Ok, I didn't find any Hole cd to buy here in Brazil, that is why I bought it from Amazon.com. It took 15 days to arrive in my house, very fast.

Well, I decided to buy Hole because I was curious to hear Courtney Love singing. I started to hear this cd through web radio and I loved it, that's why I bought. I know this is the most commercial Hole cd but it is nice to hear all the time. Now I'm planning to buy the rest.

Yes, my opinion for you, if you are in doubt or if you are curious too is 'buy it'.

The Skin Controversy.......2006-11-03

Hole's "Celebrity Skin" is nothing like any of Love's other albums. That's just a statement of fact; don't buy this if you want to know what she's really about. Love is grunge and screaming and almost-vulgar honesty, and you don't get a lot of that on this record. But if you want to hear some high-quality, edge-of-mainstream music, then this is a good bet.

"Skin" has, for better or for worse, changed Love's image. It was regarded by many Nirvana and early Hole fans as a sell-out, a betrayal of their earlier work. In the mainstream music world, "Skin" was a hit. It's now the album most people recognize when they think of Hole, and it had decently popular hits in "Celebrity Skin" (also known as "Make Me Over"), "Malibu," and "Reason to be Beautiful." Love has stated many times that her intention on this album was to make a pop record; she says that most musical elitists don't "get it." She was sick of comments about her one-dimensional act (a howling product of drugs and promiscuity with a foothold in screeching guitars and raw lyrics) and this does showcase her versatility as an artist.

What you'll find in "Celebrity Skin" depends on what you're looking for. If it's an extension of "Live Through This" or "Pretty on the Inside," stay away. If it's your first taste of Hole and you're a little nervous about it, or if you think their other material is too loud and unpolished, this is perfect for you.

But if it's your first Hole purchase and you think you're ready for the unleashed, Kobain-influenced Love, I would recommend "Live Through This." Happy buying!

Grunge plus Go-Go's? Hole Greater than the Sum of its Parts.......2006-10-22

I never liked grunge -- it wasn't even offensive, just slightly annoying. (Grunge hit while I was at Concrete Paradise College in Sacramento, where students wore creased flannel, pre-faded jeans, and unscuffed hiking boots... uhhhh?!) But post-grunge Celebrity Skin may have the most staying power of all my 90's albums... (maybe rivalled by Brit-pop Blur's Great Escape)....

To this layman's ears, Celebrity Skin works because the set list is eclectic, the songs freakin' rock, Courtney Love's vocals are second to none (even the cracks are gorgeous), the style is attacking rather than grungey-internalizing, the takes on Hollywood are more incisive love/hate than a Day of the Locusts novel, and the HARMONIES are richly gorgeous -- floating from edgy to ethereal... angelic.... (Belinda Carlisle adds uncredited backing vocals and Go-Go Charlotte Caffey pens a song).

In short: Imagine you're a teen, and the hottest girl - who happens to smoke and yell at her parents - just transferred to your Burbank High School. You go to pick her up, and she's scrubbed fresh and clean... but the edge still comes through. When she snaps, "Go &#* Yourself!", you're hooked.

Average customer rating:

Celebrity Skin

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Alternative Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000F6YP7S
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Average customer rating:

Good Clean Fun
Celebrity Skin
Manufacturer: Triple X Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000005ZLU
Release Date: 1994-02-23

Tracks:

Introduction
Hello
Dot Dot
Celebrity
Evicted
Poisanna
Visible Man
Rat Fink
Sweet Fisted Nanny
Dog Race
Monkey Brains
Be A Star

Average customer rating:

A single, a rarity and a demo
Good
I reviewed Celebrity Skin and it was awesome
The Newly Glamorous Courtney does it again...

Celebrity Skin
Hole
Manufacturer: Geffen
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Be a Man
Ask for It
The Crow: City Of Angels - Original Miramax Motion Picture Soundtrack

ASIN: B00000G6FG

Album Description

First single from & the title track to the 1998 album byCourtney Love's band Hole. It's backed with two non-albumtracks, 'Dying' (Original Demo) & the previously unreleased'Best Sunday Dress'. Slimline jewel case. 1998 Geffenrelease.

Customer Reviews:

A single, a rarity and a demo.......2004-07-11

This single has three songs, two from the _Celebrity Skin_ era and one old unreleased track. First is the title track and first single from the 1998 album _Celebrity Skin_. It is the LP, radio version. No surprises or alternate version. The second song is the long awaited official release of the Hole rarity "Best Sunday Dress." There have been many bootlegs of this song passed around, some live, some rough studio demos. When Hole played it during their 1995 MTV Unplugged performance, it became the one most circulated and many thought there would never be an "official" version. So finally, a CD-quality, official version. I don't like this set of lyrics as much as some of the others, but the tone of the original remains intact. The third song is the demo version of "Dying." Unlike the LP version, this is not a rock or even a pop song. Courtney sings over a drum machine giving the lyrics full attention and the song a very stripped-down quality (even more than the album version!) Though it is annoying at first listen, it grows on you. It has an alternate set of lyrics than the LP version.

If you are a Hole fan, you will really appreciate this release. If you really liked _Live Through This_, but hated _Celebrity Skin_ this single will not change your mind. If you liked both of those albums or just _Celebrity Skin_ you will thoroughly enjoy this.

Good.......2000-04-28

This is a good song from "Hole". I heard on Triple J Hottest 100 Volume 6.

I reviewed Celebrity Skin and it was awesome.......1999-01-05

Celebrity Skin is a great, catchy song, and one of the best of the year. This single also contains Dying and the previously unreleased track Best Sunday Dress. If you like Courtney Love and you want to listen to something other than Live Through This, or Celeb. Skin, then this song would be a good choice

The Newly Glamorous Courtney does it again..........1998-08-12

exploring the Hollywood dream from the top she scratched, bit and kicked to get to - it is a more radio friendly album with lots of vocal overlaps and big power chords, pretty harmonies and melodies but her biting sarcasm and excellent writing remains. One song "Awful" sounds like 1998 GoGo's gone angry...