| Celebrity Skin | ||||
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| Released | September 8, 1998 (1998-9-8) | |||
| Recorded | April 1997 – February 1998 | |||
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| Length | 50:23 | |||
| Label | DGC | |||
| Producer | Michael Beinhorn | |||
| Hole chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Celebrity Skin | ||||
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Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by Americanalternative rock bandHole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States onDGC Records and internationally onGeffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before their dissolution in 2002. Hole intended for the record to diverge significantly from their previousnoise andgrunge-influenced sound as featured onPretty on the Inside (1991) andLive Through This (1994). The band hired producerMichael Beinhorn to recordCelebrity Skin over a nine-month period that included sessions in Los Angeles, New York City, and London. It was the band's only studio release to feature bassistMelissa Auf der Maur. DrummerPatty Schemel played on the demos for the album but was replaced by session drummerDeen Castronovo at the suggestion of Beinhorn. This issue created a rift between Schemel and the band, resulting in her dropping out of the tour and parting ways with the group, though she was still credited.
The band sought to use Los Angeles and the state of California as a unifying theme and began writing what they conceived as a "California album" in 1997. Unlike Hole's previous releases, the final songs onCelebrity Skin featured instrumental contributions from several musicians outside the band, primarilyBilly Corgan, who co-wrote the musical arrangements on five songs. Auf der Maur's former bandmateJordon Zadorozny, as well asGo-Go's guitaristCharlotte Caffey, also contributed to the composition of one track. FrontwomanCourtney Love, who wrote all of the lyrics, named the album and its title track after a poem she had written that was influenced byT. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land". Motifs of water anddrowning are also prominent throughout the album.
Celebrity Skin is Hole's most commercially successful album. It peaked at number nine on the USBillboard 200, number four on theAustralian Albums Chart, and number 11 on theUK Albums Chart. To date, it has sold over 1.4 million copies in the United States alone, has been certified as double-platinum in Australia by theAustralian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), and platinum in Canada byMusic Canada (MC) and the United States byRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It garnered Hole a number-one hit single on theModern Rock Tracks chart with the title track, "Celebrity Skin". Critical reaction to the album was very positive and it was listed on a number of publications' year-end lists in 1998, including those byTime andThe Village Voice. The album was named the 265th greatest album of all time by a 2013 poll byNME magazine and was featured in the book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
In September 1995, Hole completed the final leg of their year-long tour in promotion for their second studio album,Live Through This (1994).[1] During the hiatus that followed, the members of Hole began working on individual projects. FrontwomanCourtney Love was cast asAlthea Flynt inThe People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) alongsideWoody Harrelson,[2] lead guitaristEric Erlandson collaborated withRodney Bingenheimer andThurston Moore on the short-lived projectRodney & the Tube Tops from 1996 to 1997,[3] bassistMelissa Auf der Maur provided backing onRic Ocasek's albumTroublizing (1997),[4] and drummerPatty Schemel played withthe Lemonheads on the tribute albumSchoolhouse Rock! Rocks (1996).[5]
After Love completed her obligations promotingThe People vs. Larry Flynt, the band reunited to write new material for their next album, titledCelebrity Skin. According to Love, the embryonic versions of the songs "weren't very good" and "not written well".[6] However, the songs developed following the band's relocation to several parts of the United States, includingNashville,Memphis, andNew Orleans.[7][8] During their time in New Orleans, the band recorded a number ofdemos, including an early version of "Awful" (1999) and songs which later developed into "Dying" and "Hit So Hard".[8] During these writing and recording attempts, Love had grown frustrated as she felt the songs were not coalescing into a unifying whole.[9] Erlandson later said he felt that "everything was falling apart... Making that record was insane. There were obstacles at each step of the way."[9] Because of this perceived lack of direction, Love decided to useCalifornia as a theme to build the songs around: "Let's tie this together with a concept, even if it's fake," she recalled, "for directional purposes."[9] Specifically, Love sought to interpret California as "a metaphor for the American dream".[9]
The band enteredConway Recording Studios[10] inLos Angeles in April 1997 to begin the recording sessions of the album.[11] The original plan was to haveBilly Corgan asexecutive producer, who was a second choice afterBrian Eno,[11] however, Corgan did not initially participate in, or contribute to the recording process.Michael Beinhorn was hired as head of production instead. Recording sessions for the album were spread out over the course of eight to nine months in various locations. The majority of the album was recorded at Conway Recording Studios, however, additional recording was done atRecord Plant West in Los Angeles andOlympic Studios inLondon, United Kingdom.[10][12] The final recording sessions were completed at Quad Studios in early 1998. These sessions were also video-taped by a friend of the band, as noted in an October 1998 article inSpin magazine.[13] Auf der Maur characterized the sessions as being based around Love's busy schedule at the time: "It was her Hollywood phase", during which she would "chain-smokeMarlboro lights", "go to the beach at 7AM with a personal trainer and auditioning. She'd just done[The People vs.] Larry Flynt."[14]
According to Love, her vision for the album was to "deconstruct theCalifornia Sound" in the L.A. tradition of bands likeThe Doors,The Beach Boys andThe Byrds,[8] but she was struggling with the composition of the record and felt like she was "in a rut".[8] After sending early recordings of the songs to Corgan, he decided to join the band in the studio for a total of twelve days in an attempt to help Love with her songcraft.[8] Love compared Corgan's presence in the studio to "a math teacher who wouldn't give you the answers but was making you solve the problems yourself",[8] and stated that he had her studykey changes as well as melodies and phrasing from songs byFrank Sinatra andThe Beatles:[8]
What [Billy's] great at for me— what he did for me has nothing to do with Eric and Melissa. It has to do with me. I was in a rut; I could not even get out of bed. I didn't want to make this record; I didn't want to do anything. I was dull, my blade was not sharp, and he's probably one of the only people on the planet that can challenge me. My craft was at this place and Eric and Melissa and Patty couldn't help me; they all have brilliance and craft, but because I'm in a band within a family context with them, they weren't outsiders enough to really just help me.[8]
Of the album's twelve tracks, Corgan shares instrumental songwriting credits on five.[15] In addition to Corgan, Auf der Maur's formerTinker bandmate,Jordon Zadorozny, andGo-Go's guitarist and songwriterCharlotte Caffey helped co-compose the track "Reasons to Be Beautiful".[16]
A wide variety of guitars,effect pedals and equipment were used during the recording ofCelebrity Skin. Love usedFender tube amplifiers,Matchless amps,Ampeg amps and aRandall Commander that belonged to Love's late husbandKurt Cobain.[17] Love's primary guitars during the sessions were her customFender Vista Venus and aChet AtkinsGretsch.[17] Erlandson's guitar set-up was much more complex, using numerous guitars through different effects in a set-up he arranged with Beinhorn. He used three of hisVeleno guitars that were also used to recordLive Through This, a 1968Fender Telecaster and "numerous other guitars".[17] Each signal from each guitar was split to two separate channels. One channel included aTech 21 SansAmp, a collection of vintageanalogsynthesizers, including aSerge modular system, anARP 2600 and aMoog modular system with a Bode frequency shifter. The other side included aWatkins Dominator, which "provided tons of low end",[17] and generators that were later used during the production process. Recording was officially completed in London in late February 1998.[18]
Despite receiving credit on the album,Patty Schemel only recorded drum tracks for its demos, and was replaced by session drummerDeen Castronovo during the final recording sessions; thus, her drumming does not appear on the finished tracks.[19] According to Schemel, Beinhorn was actively "psyching her out" in the studio when she began recording.[20] According to sound technician Chris Whitemeyer, Beinhorn would request endless takes of Schemel's drumming, only to then lower the volume in his booth to inaudible levels, sit back, and read a newspaper.[21] Whitemeyer also stated that Schemel was forced to drum in the studio eight hours a day for over two weeks, and that Beinhorn "wanted Patty to give up".[21] Schemel later likened the recording sessions to "athletic training".[22] After Schemel completed over two weeks of recording, Beinhorn brought Love into the studio and had her listen to recorded loops of Schemel's "weakest playing",[21] and then suggested Castronovo as an alternative.[23] Beinhorn also claimed to Love that Schemel would get "red-light fever" in the studio, implying that she was incapable of remembering the correct parts to play during recording.[23] Whitemeyer claimed that Castronovo had been asked by Beinhorn to play on the record before Love or any of the other band members heard Schemel's drum tracks, and that Beinhorn "had it all planned out" early on.[21]
Beinhorn's pressure, coupled with a feeling that Love wasn't supporting her, resulted in Schemel leaving the studio, requesting asettlement, and breaking ties with the band.[24] Several months later, Schemel showed up to join the band for promotional photoshoots as per her original contract with the label, but refused to tour with the band to support the record.[25] In 2002, Love admitted in an interview withCarrie Fisher that despite Beinhorn's meddling, it had ultimately been her decision to have Schemel replaced on the album:
Patty, who's been my drummer for years and years and years, she had like a two-year living-in-a-tentcrack existence [in] downtown [Los Angeles]. I did this very "classic rock" horrible thing where I let the producer tell me that she sucked, let him play me a tape—this is so, like, out of the rock bad cliché book—let him play me a tape of her sounding the worst, that he had basically cobbled together. He'd kept a guy on retainer the whole time [...] I ruined her life for two years because I kicked her out of the band for the duration of the record.[26]
Celebrity Skin marked a major shift in Hole's musical style, emphasizing a more mainstream alternative rock sound.[14] Jael Goldfine ofPaper magazine notes that the album "defined thepost-grungepower pop sound of the '90s."[27]Rolling Stone's James Hunter observed that the album features shifts in guitar sounds that alternate from "silveriness to something rougher in a heartbeat," adding that it is teeming with "minimalist explosion, idiomatic flair and dead-on rhythms."[28]The Independent later referred to the album as having ushered in apop rock "era" for Hole.[29]
In 2018, Melissa Auf der Maur reflected "That wasn't something I was striving for but it was something Courtney and the label were. At the time I was like, 'why are you making this so fancy?' but she had a whole vision for her art."[14] Rebecca Nicholson ofThe Guardian observed a darker subtext to the album's glossy production, however, noting: "Celebrity Skin's aesthetic is caught up in that turmoil of competing identities, a push-pull of glossy glamour and its seedy underbelly. For all the slickness of Michael Beinhorn’s production and the big-budget videos that accompanied its singles, the songs remain raw and cynical, as wary and worn as they are defiant."[30]
While writing the lyrics forCelebrity Skin, Love aimed to "marry great hooks with a dense [lyrical] vision... I want to be as perverse as I'd like to be—while making you hum along with it."[31] She cited an array of literary influences, includingT. S. Eliot.[32] Several songs on the album reference, and sometimes directly quote, multiple literary works: The album's title track directly quotesThe House of Life byDante Rossetti ("my name is might-have-been"),[33] as well asWilliam Shakespeare'sThe Merchant of Venice ("So glad I came here with your pound of flesh").[34] "Awful", the album's third single, referencesNeil Diamond's "Cherry, Cherry", as well as the Americanspiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".[35]
Various lyrical references to Hollywood and California culture are present throughout the album.[31][36] Whereas the band's debut,Pretty on the Inside, had dealt with the "repulsive aspects of L.A.—superficiality, sexism, violence, and drugs",[37]Celebrity Skin examined the more opulent elements of Los Angeles—specifically from the perspective of Love, who at the time had risen as an A-list star[36]— but "deconstructed the concept, picking off the healing scab of her public reinvention to rehash the wounds of her past".[36] Commenting on the themes, James Hunter ofRolling Stone notes that the album is lyrically obsessed with "the promises and the agonies of Southern California. Sold-out sluts, fading actresses, deluded teenagers, “summer babes” and hunks—all this “beautiful garbage” crowds the roadside of the album."[28] Gil Kaufman, writing about the album forMTV, noted that "Love's crash-and-burn lyrics are full of provocative, self-referential phrases that might harbor double or triple meanings."[31]
Another prominent lyrical and aesthetic theme on the record is water anddrowning, as noted by Erlandson in a 1998 interview on the album's composition and recording sessions.[38] Erlandson cited the drowning death ofJeff Buckley, as well as the deaths of both Erlandson's and Auf der Maur's fathers ofpulmonary edema andlung cancer, respectively.[38] "Those were literal things," said Erlandson, "but drowning became a metaphor for this record and for all the people we had lost."[38] Additional lyrical motifs includeangels, stars, andheaven.[39] Commenting on the recurring images throughout the album, Love said: "I'm aCancer. I recycle."[39]
On the album's title, Love divulged that she initially wanted to name itHoly War, as she felt it was "a mission statement. It's a statement of such pretense and import. It's incredibly ambitious."[13] Erlandson alternately wanted to name the recordSugar Coma, which Love opposed, stating it was "pedestrian—it denotes the end of a cycle. Something deadly. If executives like it, you know it's bad."[13] The final title,Celebrity Skin, was teased by Love during a 1995 interview withJools Holland, in which she joked that she was considering naming their upcoming albumCelebrity Skin because she had "touched a lot of it".[40] She subsequently clarified that she had derived the name from a short-lived band in Los Angeles named Celebrity Skin, as well as a bootlegpornographic magazine featuring nude candid photos of celebrities.[40]
Celebrity Skin was released internationally on September 8, 1998.[31] It was the last album released by Hole before their dissolution in 2002,[41] though frontwoman Courtney Love later revived the band with new members for the release ofNobody's Daughter in 2010.[42]
Despite the extreme measures undertaken by Hole's label,DGC Records, to prevent the album from leaking (including an "iron clad" agreement that prohibited music journalists who received advance copies from allowing anyone else to hear or record the album), the first single from the album, "Celebrity Skin", was leaked three weeks before its intended release dates and played "nearly a dozen times" on New York radio stationWXRK (92.3 FM) and their Los Angeles-based sister station,KROQ-FM (106.7 FM), on the weekend of July 31 to August 2, 1998.[43] DGC spokesperson Jim Merlis denied that the leak originated from them and issued WXRK acease and desist order on August 3, 1998.[43] Nevertheless, San Francisco radio stationLive 105 (105.3 FM) played the single again the following weekend.[44]
The lead single, "Celebrity Skin", was officially released on September 8, 1998, the same day of the album release.[45][31] It peaked at number 85 on the USBillboard Hot 100,[46] and entered the top 20 of the United Kingdom, Scotland, and Iceland.[47][48][49] It also topped the USAlternative Songs chart and the Canadian Rock/Alternative chart.[50][51] The single was nominated forBest Rock Song andBest Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group at the1999 Grammy Awards.[52] It was followed by "Malibu", released on December 29, 1998.[53] The single peaked at number 81 on the USBillboard Hot 100,[46] and entered the top 40 of Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.[54][55][56]
"Malibu" was nominated forBest Cinematography at the1999 MTV Video Music Awards and nominated for a Music Video Cinematography Achievement provided by the Music Video Production Association.[57][58] The single also received a nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group at the2000 Grammy Awards.[59] The third and final single, "Awful", was released on April 27, 1999.[60] It peaked at number 13 on US Alternative Songs chart and entered theARIA Top 100 Singles Chart and the UK Singles Chart.[50][54][47]
The front cover of the album features a black-and-white photograph of all four band members standing in front of a burningpalm tree.[14] The photograph was aPolaroid that had initially been intended as a test shot, but was ultimately chosen for the cover art.[14] Joe-Mama Nitzberg, the album's art director, recalled that the palm tree and fire were in fact real, and that at one point during the shoot, a wind gust led the tree to topple over.[14] Nitzberg stated that the unifying visual theme for the album's overall artwork and packaging was to highlight Los Angeles as an artificial "paradise."[14]
The lyrical themes of water and drowning were carried over to the album's packaging, with the back cover displaying a cropped version of the paintingOphelia Drowning (1895) byPaul Steck.[10] Photographs of theModesto Arch (which reads "Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health") and theLos Angeles Department of Water and Power figure in the liner notes,[10] keeping in theme with the album's preoccupation with California.[14] The liner notes dedicate the album to "the stolen water of Los Angeles and to anyone who ever drowned", the former referring to theCalifornia water wars.[38]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [61] |
| The Austin Chronicle | [62] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+[63] |
| The Guardian | [64] |
| The Independent | [65] |
| Los Angeles Times | [66] |
| NME | 8/10[67] |
| Q | [68] |
| Rolling Stone | [28] |
| Spin | 9/10[69] |
Celebrity Skin received positive reviews frommusic critics.The Village Voice criticRobert Christgau said Love is "better punk than actress, better actress than popster" and listed the title track and "Awful" as the album's most notable songs.[70] Robert Cherry of theAlternative Press describedCelebrity Skin's sound as "meticulously orchestrated guitars, multilayered vocal harmonies, quantized drums and sheeny studio magic" and said the songs "hit nerve centers like a thousandAM classics".[71]The Austin Chronicle's Marc Savlov referred to the album as "end of the summer crunch-pop from the most enigmatic woman around" but criticized Love's "painful, quasi-Freudian vein" and "Michael Beinhorn's slick,SoCal production".[62] TheLos Angeles Times reviewerRobert Hilburn called the album "one wild emotional ride" and "a far more complex work than the invigorating, mainstream coating would lead you to believe."[66] Steve Sutherland ofNME mentioned that "the first thing you think whenCelebrity Skin smacks you in the nose is that you may never need to hear arock 'n' roll record ever again," and compared the album's sound toFleetwood Mac.[67]
James Hunter fromRolling Stone described it as "sprung, flung and fun, high-impact, rock-fueled pop" and noted that "it teems with sonic knockouts that make you see all sorts of stars and is accessible, fiery and intimate – often at the same time,"[28] whileSpin reviewerJoshua Clover referred to the album as "a record filled with quotation and reference, backtalk and revision" and said "there are too many great songs, and this is a magnificent pop record."[69] A review published inMusician also praised the album, particularly Erlandson's guitar contributions, noting: "Erlandson's tireless, monomaniacal guitar wizardry givesCelebrity Skin its gorgeous textures and resonant power."[72]Entertainment Weekly reviewerDavid Browne said "the music is sleeker and more taut than anything Hole have done".[63]The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan awarded the album three out of five stars, writing that "Love and Hole have always been about feeling rather than technique... well, a bit of technique actually creeps in, too. Technique is the only word for whatever process made certain segments ofCelebrity Skin sound so confident, so smooth."[64]
Of retrospective assessments,AllMusic editorStephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the album was "a glaze of shiny guitars and hazy melodies, all intended to evoke the heyday of Californian pop in the late '70s," awarding the album three and a half stars out of five.[61] In a piece celebrating the album's 20th anniversary,Stereogum critic Gabriela Claymore characterized it as a "polished, decadent rock [record] with something rotten at its core... Hole's most sonically accomplished album but it is not their best."[9] Tom Edwards ofDrowned in Sound was more critical in a retrospective review, referring to "Awful" as "gorgeous, pure blues" and "Hit So Hard" as "the best song about love since 'Retard Girl'," but concluding that "it's a weak record full of empty music either way."[73]
Several publications includedCelebrity Skin in their year-end periodical lists, includingTime, who listed the album at number nine on its Best of 1998 Music list,[74]Spin, who listed the album at number 11 on its Top 20 Albums of the Year list,[35] andThe Village Voice, who listed the album at number 14 in the Pazz and Jop Critics' Poll.[75]Los Angeles Times's Robert Hillburn ranked it number five on the list of Top 10 Albums of the Year.[76] The 2013NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time rankedCelebrity Skin 265th on their list.[77] It is also included in the book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2010).[78]Celebrity Skin was nominated forBest Rock Album at the1999 Grammy Awards.[52]
Celebrity Skin was a commercial success, charting in various countries within a week of its release. In the United States, the album debuted at number nine on theBillboard 200 with sales of 86,000 copies in its first week.[79] The album was certified gold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on October 13, 1998, and later certified platinum on December 21 for shipments in excess of one million copies.[80] As of April 2010, it had sold 1.4 million copies in the United States.[75]
The album has also been certified Platinum by platinum byMusic Canada (MC), peaking at number three with sales of over 100,000 copies,[81] and two times Platinum by theAustralian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), peaking at number four,[82] with sales of over 140,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 11 with 124,221 copies sold,[83] and was certified Gold by theBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI).[84] Additionally, the album peaked at number 15 on theAustrian Albums Chart;[85] on Switzerland'sAlbums Chart at number six;[86] on Sweden'sAlbums Chart at number 10;[87] and on theNew Zealand Music Chart at number 15,[88] where it was also certified gold.[89]
All lyrics written byCourtney Love.[10]All tracks produced byMichael Beinhorn.[10]
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Celebrity Skin" | 2:42 | |
| 2. | "Awful" |
| 3:16 |
| 3. | "Hit So Hard" |
| 4:00 |
| 4. | "Malibu" |
| 3:50 |
| 5. | "Reasons to Be Beautiful" |
| 5:19 |
| 6. | "Dying" |
| 3:44 |
| 7. | "Use Once & Destroy" |
| 5:04 |
| 8. | "Northern Star" | Erlandson | 4:58 |
| 9. | "Boys on the Radio" |
| 5:09 |
| 10. | "Heaven Tonight" | Erlandson | 3:31 |
| 11. | "Playing Your Song" |
| 3:21 |
| 12. | "Petals" |
| 5:29 |
| Total length: | 50:23 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Best Sunday Dress" |
| 4:25 |
| Total length: | 54:48 | ||
Credits adapted from the liner notes ofCelebrity Skin andHit So Hard: A Memoir.[10][19]
Hole
Guest musicians
Production
| Technical
Design
|
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[82] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[81] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[89] | Gold | 7,500^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[84] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[80] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)We're gonna make a record in April, Billy Corgan's gonna be executive producer. We went through everyone, we went to Brian Eno and he said we don't have to be rock anymore.
...in the style of Hole's pop-rockCelebrity Skin era...
