The Hole Truth (Celebrity Skin - Hole)

Member Name: hugon

Product:	Celebrity Skin - Hole
Date:	06/04/01 (147 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to listen to, great lyrics

Disadvantages: One slightly dull track

I first heard this album about two years ago. My then girlfriend insisted on playing it in the car all the time, and to be honest, I didn't really like it that much. I guess I regarded Hole as "angry girl music" and from what I had heard my girlfriend play before, I wasn't that impressed by the whole scene. I don't know why, because now I actually enjoy this album a lot. It's a lot more commercial and easier on the ear than the likes of Live Through This, but I wouldn't have got Live Through This if I hadn't ended up buying this.

The first time I listened on my own I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Yes, it is very radio friendly and well produced, but it also has certain shades of the Smashing Pumpkins on it due to the presence of Billy Corgan on some of the tracks. A few of the tracks didn't appeal to me initially, but I would say that they are the ones that have to be persevered at, and the ones that I appreciate most.

There is a fine mix of songs on this album - the loud, grungier ones to the more heartfelt and acoustic numbers, giving a pleasant variety to the album. The order of the tracks is done well also, the moods of the songs flowing from each to the next, making the album very smooth. This album just keeps creeping back into my CD player, it's quite moody and I enjoy some of the lyrics on it, the words are quite downbeat in places and when I'm feeling down they generally sum up how I'm feeling.

Celebrity Skin
You couldn't have chosen a better song to open the album - full of attitude and thick riffs, yet easy to sing along to, it just grabs your attention from the very first bar. Opening with an superb riff, before giving into just the vocals, the riff stops and starts the whole way through the whole verse before giving way to a much more melodic picked part in the middle of the song. The transition works well, the less abrasive bit just makes you wait before
the song explodes again. It's a short song, but it doesn't need to be long to make its point, but another chorus would have been welcome just because it is such a good song. The lyrics are about Hollywood life, everything being so superficial and fake, and the attitude of the song generates a genuine dislike for the people in the song. It's vital to open an album with a cracking song and we have that in abundance here.

Awful
The album moves into a much more sedate song in Awful. This was a single and when I asked for it in Virgin, I said "Can I have the new Hole single, its Awful" to hoots of derision from the staff. Maybe you had to be there. Anyway, back on topic, the song is certainly not awful, it's very melodic, and there are a number of instruments going at once to create a nice layered effect. There's a simple riff going on throughout the song which catches your attention yet doesn't distract from the rest of the song. The song ebbs and flows between a harsher guitar sound and the more gentle, simple riff, working really well and contrasting nicely. The vocals are full of expression, describing the life of a girl whose life is falling down round her ears, who wants to do something to change it but can't. It showcases the more gentle side of the album well, yet still retaining a bit of edge and aggression.

Hit So Hard
Beginning with a simple riff and picked guitar, this song twists and turns the whole way through, trying to decide if it wants to pick up the pace or slow it down a little more. The verse is beautiful, gentle and slow, there's a guitar going on in the background that is soft and dreamlike, and it merges into a slightly darker chorus where the two guitars really complement each other, working with each other to create a super melody. It works up to a real jumble of sound in the middle, from which the melody appears out of again. He vocals throughout are filled with wonderful backi
ng harmonies, keeping the dreamy feel going. The song is about abuse, being hit by the one you love, but still loving him so much that you do nothing about it, and the dreamy style of the song backs up the dreamlike image of this person she has created in her head.

Malibu
A much more gentle song, with another simple repeated riff throughout the song, it's more acoustic than what has gone before, building up to a more uplifting chorus where the electric guitar is given a little more freedom to emphasise the song a little more, before returning to the simple verse. The way it builds up to little explosions is nice, as are the soaring backing vocals, which give the song life. Everything compliments each other, the song doesn't stay still for too long, it's always taking a different turn, so it holds your attention, and it never gets too heavy and remains relaxing the whole way through. The song is about making the break from your old life into a new one where things are better, the whole song is positive and the sound backs up the words. It's one of my favourite tracks on the album.

Reasons to be Beautiful
This is another of my favourite tracks - it's so aggressive and full of hate, I love the way the vocals are sung - almost shouting, but still retaining the tune. The whole song moves between a simple verse, which is mainly the vocals and a sharp riff, before merging seamlessly into a more aggressive chorus where the whole song swells and the hate grows, the vocals get harsher, the riff heavier, the drums louder. It never becomes intolerable, there is always a tune in it, it just switches thorough various ways of letting the sound out, and you never have to wait for the explosion because it's burning right through the song. Understandably the lyrics aren't the most upbeat, they're about a lack of self-belief, which is probably why I like it so much, looking for a reason to get up and go on living, seeing little
point in life. The song is amazing, when you think it hasn't peaked, it can hit a subtle key change or pace change a little and grab you once again.

Dying
This is one of the more sombre tracks on the album. The lyrics describe having had enough of life, just wanting it to end there and get it over with, end the pain. It opens really quietly, with whispered lyrics and a gentle guitar riff, which gets gradually louder as the other instruments gradually join in, building up bit by bit, but remaining downbeat and slow, beautiful in it's sadness. There are occasional stabs of electric to keep a bit of life in the song, but the tune accurately fits that of someone watching the will to live slowly running out of them.

Use Once and Destroy
Another song brimming with hate and malice. This one uses the bass more effectively than the other songs on the album, opening with a riff on the bass and the drums backing it up, before the vocals join it, the guitar not kicking in for a good while, and playing in smooth strokes rather than in a standard riff. It's another song that builds up to a release in the chorus; the whole sound doesn't really click until then, when you can almost feel the relief as it all flows out. Distortion is used to great effect in this song, creating a sound of confusion as the sounds float around your ears, you never know what's going to happen next, and it works surprisingly well. One thing Hole do really well is the echo-like, dreamy backing vocals and they work to great effect in this song, twisting the lyrics into sounds that back the instruments. It's another downbeat song lyrically, dealing with the emptiness that's left when you've been used, and the confusion of why you're always treated like that.

Northern Star
This is one of the most beautiful tracks on the album. It is so sad, yet so wonderful at the same time. Opening with a simple acoustic guitar and just the vocals, t
he sound of the vocals are so haunting and filled with pain that it actually hurts you. The sound builds a little, drums backing it up, strings adding an edge to the sound as the anger builds and the song climaxes in an outpouring of emotion - the riff provides continuity throughout, keeping up it's simplicity as the vocal becomes filled with much more emotion. This is the song to listen to when you've given up hope, you'll hear someone in exactly the same position as you and feeling the same way as you feel. It's my highlight of the album.

Boys On The Radio
After the intensity of the last few tracks, this is a much easier song to listen to, resuming with a simple riff and a lumbering bassline, swelling and raising to a thicker and meatier chorus. It isn't the most exciting track, it's a little predictable, but it's a welcome rest from what has gone before, raising the mood again. The guitar has so much more life, and the bass line and drums keep the song moving along pretty quickly and your foot tapping, but it's more or less forgotten once the song has finished. It's a fairly standard love song, there isn't anything extraordinary in the lyrics, it certainly isn't bad, and there are just better songs on the album.

Heaven Tonight
In total contrast to some of the heavier songs on the album, this one, by contrast it completely jubilant. The lyrics are about finding heaven in the person you love, and the amazing feeling that's it inspires. The song backs up the lyrics amazingly; the whole sound is so upbeat and happy that it's hard to believe it's the same band. The whole song is driven by a quick little picked part that leads up to little bursts on the electric, with a superb soaring chorus that leaves me with a lump in my throat each time I hear it. There is a lot going on in the background of the song, distorted guitars and those dreamy backing vocals again, all layered well to give th
e great feeling love brings to those who have it. I love this song; it just makes me think of happy things every time I hear it, the belief that I can one day feel like this again. When the song starts you really won't want it to end.

Playing your song
Completely contrasting that is this song, a more full on rock number, full of thick riffs and shouted lyrics. The lyrics are about someone who always gets away with it, and the amazement that people can't see through it and see this person for what they really are. The sound backs the hate in the lyrics up wonderfully. It swells and rises and explodes in the chorus, letting all the hate aimed at this person out. The song is based around simple picked guitars and a stonking riff, there is nothing fancy on display, and it's just the emotion and aggression that makes the song so appealing.

Petals
The song closes on another sombre song, but a really good one. Based around another simple riff, it's another song about disillusionment with life. The verse is simple enough, building to a chorus where the electric joins in, while the other guitar keeps playing its simple part. You can tell it's building up to something, hear the lyrics getting more and more worked up and when the chorus kicks in, it's welcome to let it all out. I like the way it keeps building on the chorus to change the song around a little, the final blast of the song adding a bit of life, soaring away a little becoming much more melodic, before returning to it's original state again. It's another song that uses the transition between different styles really well, and possibly the most complicated song on the album, with plenty of instruments overlaying on each other, but another highlight of the album.

I like this album so much because no matter what mood I'm in, I know I can put it on and really enjoy it. The different types of song on the record mean there is something for every mood a
nd I'm never disappointed or grow bored with it. I find it's a great album for putting on at night and falling asleep to, it clears your head and sorts your thoughts out before you go to sleep.

Don?t buy it if you're expecting all out grunge because you'll be disappointed. If you?re a fan of rock music, go for it because I think you'll love it. I've mentioned before how it sounds a little like the Smashing Pumpkins, but it also puts me in mind somewhat of the Manic Street Preachers when they released their "Everything Must Go" album. I'm glad I bought it as it introduced me to Hole, and since then I have bought Live Through This, which is a more aggressive and basic grunge album. I prefer that album I have to say, but this serves as and excellent introduction to the band.

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