Live Through This

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Live Through This
Live Through This cover
Studio album by Hole
Released April 12, 1994
Recorded Triclops Studios, Atlanta, GA (September 1993)
Genre Grunge
Length 38:14
Label DGC
Producer(s) Paul Q. Kolderie,
Sean Slade
Professional reviews
Hole chronology
Pretty on the Inside
(1991)		 Live Through This
(1994)		 Ask for It
(1995)


Live Through This is the second album by the band Hole. It was released on April 12, 1994, just four days after the discovery of Kurt Cobain's body, Courtney's late husband, singer/songwriter of grunge band Nirvana, (see 1994 in music). It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. It also garnered the number 19 spot on Spin magazine's 100 best albums since 1985.

When released on April 12, 1994, Live Through This debuted on the charts at number 56, never hitting the top forty in the U.S. In December 1994, the record went gold, having sold a total of 500,000 copies, going platinum six months later for having sold 1 million copies.

The album was noted for for being more accessible and melodic than the band's previous album, Pretty on the Inside. According to BMI's website, most of the songs credited officially to Hole were written just by Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson; with "Doll Parts", written only by Love, and "I Think That I Would Die", written by Erlandson, Love and Kat Bjelland.

Bassist Kristen Pfaff had decided to take a break from the band at the time of Cobain's suicide. In June 1994, she was found dead by boyfriend and bandmate Eric Erlandson from a heroin overdose. Two months after Kristen's death, Hole began an extensive tour, with Melissa Auf der Maur replacing her on bass.

There have been unsubstantiated rumors regarding Cobain's involvement in this record, from alleged instrumental and songwriting contributions, to claims that he effectively wrote the entire album. What is known is that Cobain sang background vocals for at least a few tracks; he can be heard in the bridge of the released version of "Asking For It", though his vocals are low in the mix. An alternate mix has surfaced which more prominently features his singing. He can also be heard towards the end of "Softer, Softest."

A year earlier, a b-side track for Beautiful Son, "Old Age", was credited as being written by Hole, but had a more complex origin: the song had been recorded a year before by Cobain, but its lyrics were almost entirely different. Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson later clarified that the song had been given to Hole to re-write and record. An excerpt of "Old Age" is featured before the track "Credit in the Straight World" on the album.

A song entitled "Rock Star", which parodied the band The Lemonheads, was originally slated to close the album, but fearing legal action, the band and label chose to replace it with the track "Olympia". As the artwork had already been printed, however, the original song title remained.

Four singles were released from the album and three promotional videos were shot, for "Miss World" (still with Kristen Pfaff), "Doll Parts" (with L7's bassist Jennifer Finch replacing her) and "Violet" (already with Melissa Auf der Maur).

Everett True titled a book after the album, which details the rise and fall of the early grunge bands of the Nineties.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 466 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was also given a spot in TIME magazine's All-TIME 100 Albums list. link

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Hole unless noted otherwise

  1. "Violet" – 3:24
  2. "Miss World" – 3:00
  3. "Plump" – 2:34
  4. "Asking For It" – 3:29
  5. "Jennifer's Body" – 3:41
  6. "Doll Parts" – 3:32
  7. "Credit In The Straight World" (Stuart Moxham) – 3:11
  8. "Softer, Softest" – 3:27
  9. "She Walks On Me" – 3:23
  10. "I Think That I Would Die" (Hole, Kat Bjelland) – 3:36
  11. "Gutless" – 2:15
  12. "Rock Star" – 2:42
    • This song is actually titled "Olympia." Initially, "Rock Star" was slated to close the album. This song is completely different from "Olympia" and features the lyric, "How'd you like to be Nirvana? So much fun to be Nirvana. Barrel of laughs to be Nirvana. Said you'd rather die." The song was removed from the final tracklist and was replaced with "Olympia," but not before the artwork had been printed. The original "Rock Star" can be found on bootlegs.

[edit] Samples

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Production

  • Producers & Engineers: Paul Q. Kolderie, Sean Slade
  • Mixing: Scott Litt (Violet, Miss World, Asking For It, Jennifer's Body, Softer Softest), J Mascis (Gutless)
  • Mastering: Bob Ludwig
  • A&R: Mark Kates
  • Creative Director: Robin Sloane
  • Art Direction: Janet Wolsborn
  • Photography: Margaret Morton, Frank Rodriguez, Juergen Teller, Ellen Von Unwerth
  • Portraits: Ellen Von Unwerth

[edit] Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1994 The Billboard 200 52

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1994 "Doll Parts" Modern Rock Tracks 4
1994 "Doll Parts" The Billboard Hot 100 58
1994 "Miss World" Modern Rock Tracks 13
1995 "Asking for It" Modern Rock Tracks 36
1995 "Softer, Softest" Modern Rock Tracks 32
1995 "Violet" Modern Rock Tracks 29
Hole
Courtney Love | Eric Erlandson | Patty Schemel | Melissa Auf der Maur
Jill Emery | Leslie Hardy | Samantha Maloney | Kristen Pfaff | Lisa Roberts | Caroline Rue | Errol Stewert
Discography
Studio albums and EPs: Pretty on the Inside | Live Through This | Ask for It | The First Session | My Body, the Hand Grenade | Celebrity Skin
Singles: "Retard Girl" | "Dicknail" | "Teenage Whore" | "Beautiful Son" | "Miss World" | "Doll Parts" | "Violet" | "Softer, Softest" | "Gold Dust Woman" | "Celebrity Skin" | "Malibu" | "Awful" | "Be a Man"
Related articles
Sympathy for the Record Industry | Kurt Cobain | Nirvana | Billy Corgan | Kat Bjelland | "Asking for It" | "Old Age"
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