This is the third single to be released from Hole's third album Celebrity Skin. This one particular EP was, not surprisingly, only released in Australia. They couldn't of timed it better, since Hole were, at the time, kicking off their tour in Australia. The single was a 6-track, qualifying it as an EP release. This single was released in a variety of ways: in the UK, it was released in 2 parts with live tracks and CD-Rom videos, or as vinyl singles, and wherever else it was found usually as a promo 1 track. In Australia, however, they got the "souvenir" CD. Like with the "Softer, Softest" EP from 1995, the Awful EP here had tracks recorded live in Australia in January of their tour year. This Aussie version of this single was released on April 26, 1999 in Australia only. According to some sources, this release was deleted the day it was released, making it difficult to find. I found mine on Ebay (where I find everything else).

I love the album art for this CD. The newer Hole logo was the same one that debuted in August '94 at the Reading Festival. At least the letter "O" was. If you saw that show you'll notice that that huge speakers had the heart with the X sprayed on it in white, as seen on the new logo. This single has the black cover with the little cherry sitting in a little puddle of cherry juice. It's not hard to imagine where the cover idea came from, since the song contains the lyrics "sweet low, sweet cherry." The CD booklet is thick with photographs taken by photographers in the audience at the Big Day Out festival in Australia from various days in January. Each band member has their own page and photos. Some photos were taken by Hole bassist and photographer Melissa Auf der Maur. Her pictures were most likely taken during backstage hours. The other pics are of the band members performing individually. The back cover pic is one of the overused promo pics taken before the album was released or a little after, since Patty isn't in the picture. The remaining three band members seem to be standing in front of vines.

The songs on here, the live songs at least, are rare and hard to find if you're not a bootleg trader or a good obtainer of them. Besides the first track, the album version of Awful, tracks 2 to 5 were recorded at the Big Day Out on January 26th, 1999 in Melbourne, Australia. This is also the first release I know of with live stuff featuring new drummer Samantha Malony. I have a bootleg with this whole show, but the quality of the songs on this EP is alot better since it was a somewhat offical release.

Awful - First song on here and second song on the album it came from. It was written by Melissa and Patty, who "wrote the skeleton bones" of the song, before Eric Erlandson, claims Courtney, "he put this insane Cheap Trick , power pop song hook on it." When I first heard this song, I was stunned. It was so NOT Hole, but with most songs, if you listen to them enough, they'll eventually grow on you. Now I love it to death, especially live.

Pretty on the Inside (live) - Live version from the BOD in Melbourne Australia. Courtney hasn't lost her screaming talent in the last 8 years as this song being played live proves. Alot of people cheer in the audience when the first chords are played; the people who enjoy knowing that the band hasn't abandoned their "punk'' roots.

Heaven Tonight (live) - Begins right after POTI, this is an even greater song when it's played live. Courtney doesn't play guitar on this song, but she always has her hand cymbals in hand. Melissa really makes me like this song, her harmonies are as great live as they are on record, but live you can hear them a whole lot better. The bass on this song is quite high, which is rare for some live recordings.

Northern Star (live) - Courtney introduces this song : "This is a song we wrote when we were really sad, it's a sad song." I've never heard acoustic guitars live from Hole, so this is kind of a new thing for fans if you've ever heard it. Courtney really gets into this song, at some points she sounds almost tearful.

Awful (live) - Like I said before, this song is so great when played live and loud. When played live , the tempo of the song is much faster than the album version. If you hear the live version alot, you'll find hearing the slower, album version strange.

Malibu (Ted Ottaviano Club Mix) - Club mixes of any type always piss me off, and this one was no exception. During the whole first minute of the song, it's just a bunch of synthesizers going nuts and Courtney's echoed voice saying "hey" and fading in and out, in and out over and over, until the real song actually breaks through all that hoopla. The rest of the song is the ''real'' one, just with a bunch of synthesizers backing the lyrics. The only sucky track on this disk, at least in my lowlife opinion.

I found this CD at Ebay;
actually I should say that I won it. There's TONS of these up on Ebay, and since there's so many, not alot of people bid on them, so go for it. Most are in Australia, but believe me it's worth the wait. Or also try CD Now
if you dare, but this CD is most likely on back order. Just do whatever you have time for.

Email:frankie_82@yahoo.com