Celebrity Skin
DGC
6 out of 11
The answer to the question you're all asking - does Celebrity Skin
suffer from Kurt Cobain's absence? - is no, it does not. But another
question does present itself: Is the relative strength of this
followup to Live Through This a validation of Courtney Love's
songwriting talents or has Cobain merely been usurped by Billy Corgan?
The lead Pumpkin is credited as co-writer on five of Celebrity Skin's
12 tracks but his influence on the project has been a matter of debate
for months, with Corgan himself admitting to/bragging about being the
record's Svengali. Ah, well, let's get on with the music. Celebrity
Skin sees Hole (mostly) abandon the grunge template typified by Love's
husband in favour of self-conscious lyrics and big pop hoos tempered
with punk attitude. The tracks that work best are the ones where Love
isn't trying so hard to be taken seriously: 'Celebrity Skin,' the
first single, is all cool guitars and cooler lyrics ('Oh make me
over/I'm all I want to be/A walking study/In demonology'); 'Awful' is
pure pop, Blondie in 1998; 'Playing Your Song' is minor-key
dissonance, the wrathful Courtney of old. Where the record stumbles is
when Love et al. get serious: 'Northern Star' is a big ballad that
comes off as overwrought; 'Malibu' recasts Love as Stevie Nicks, an
AOR-goddess (albeit with a wink). Except four or five singles from
this record; don't expect Courtney to own up to Corgan's influence.
- Sean Plummer, Access Magazine