Nobody's DaughterMercury
****
Although released 16 and 12 years ago respectively, Hole's
Live Through Thisand
Celebrity Skinwere potent post-grunge statements with Courtney Love liberally dosing the songs with arresting emotional melodramatics. Love has been pursuing a so-so solo career since the last Hole album and, no doubt, dealing with "personal issues".
Why this wasn’t released as a solo album is anybody’s guess – Love is the only original Hole member on it – but that aside, there’s much to recommend here. With Billy Corgan and Linda Perry helping out in the songwriting stakes, you get the full-on New York Dolls-styled Skinny Little Bitch, the plaintive blues-inflected Pacific Coast Highway and the mordant Samantha. At times sounding like a ragged Stevie Nicks, there’s a real horse kick to this album, and Love sure knows her way around a penetrating lyric. See myspace.com/courtneylove
Download tracks: Pacific Coast Highway, Skinny Little Bitch