Celebrity Skin

by

Hole

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Celebrity Skin is a brilliant, shimmering guitar-driven album that showcases everything from divine hallucinations induced by orgasms ("Hit So Hard") to the posthumous gross commercialization of a certain nineties icon's musical legacy ("Playing Your Song") in a style that is as serious as it is tongue-in-cheek. Undoubtedly one of the best musical works of the nineties (a list which includes their 1994 breakthrough, Live Through This), Celebrity Skin blends variety, musical genius, lyrical fortitude, and unabashed irony. Prelegend lead vocalist Courtney Love isn't afraid to illuminate her songs with intense intimacy and a self-proclaimed warped view of California crumbling into the sea, while not so much as flinching about fans' frequent accusations of selling out (which 9/10 times indicates an artist has made a great record). The real hero here, however, may be Eric Erlandson, the songwriter and man behind the axe, who has an unsurpassed ability to create sickening-sweet atmospheric riffs and (without any warning) rip into them in cutthroat, perfect punk rock form. Boasting no throwaways and a sonically perfect soundscape, the sometimes underrated Celebrity Skin is a destined classic and a must-have for all serious guitar rockers, whether you like Love's provocative persona or not...