Album Flashback #11: Hole - Pretty On The Inside
Almost twenty-three years ago, Hole
unleashed their collective work upon the world who cared and started something
that people have been arguing about ever since. That is, is Courtney Love, or
even the band she formed - Hole, actually worthy of your enjoyment?
In all honesty, anybody who stands up to
create and face the inevitable audiences who will aim their empty beer cans,
trash and what-have-they at you is worthy in themselves to be considered some
kind of artist and after all the bad words and tabloid journalism – the quality
of the music still stands out.
Starting from the very beginning of
the band’s catalog you begin with the explosively powerful Pretty On The
Inside. If you’d listened to any of the follow up albums Live Through This,
Celebrity Skin or Nobody's Daughter previously then a visit to this album would
be a jarring experience indeed.
Some reviews from two decades back,
surely the time it takes for reviews to be literature in themselves I think,
have called it an album that you will either love or hate, and nothing in
between. After many listens you tend to agree with said observation. The sheer
force of energy it presents to you from the first note to the last is
potentially off putting to the regular listener and an extremely fascinating and
literate listen with that.
It is a loud, almost primeval offering
that is sure to empty a dinner party of anyone but Grunge addicts and the open
minded. The screams, growls and excellent lyrics written by Courtney Love
herself are compelling to this writer and it’s easy to imagine that some will
be raising an eyebrow as they read this now as a result of twenty years plus of
past events from Love's somewhat hectic and surely one of a kind life cycle
that has overtaken her artistry too much on occasion. But – some may argue that’s
rock ‘n’ roll!
Pretty on the Inside is, though, the
kind of album that most people will listen to only once, or even half way
through because of its sheer noise levels, static soaked dirtiness and off
kilter topics, but there is an undeniable beauty to the juxtapositions
presented on this album. The music is angry, frustrated even, but there is
plenty of real emotion in the lyrics and when one looks at the pink-tinted
cover art you can see the Gothic element of the influence and a small
concession to the fact that this album may be Pretty on the Inside, even if
it's loud, aggressive, primeval, dark and somewhat of a difficult listen for
the average listener. Art, some may say, is as such. Those that enjoy the album
will supremely revel in its qualities, but those not keen on it will run a
mile.
The influences on the album are
diverse and those that I detect, are early Patti Smith in the poetic yet raw
lyrics and delivery, the then burgeoning Grunge scene which this album is part
of and more that could only be guessed at. The production from Sonic Youth's
Kim Gordon and Don Fleming is impressive in its raw qualities and although this
album is the only one like it in Hole's catalog, with Live Through This
arguably much more accessible to the average listener.
It's a fact that every
band starts somewhere and this is where Hole, and Courtney Love, really
announced themselves to the world with such an energy that not noticing them
was not an option.
Words by C. Agent.
