Celebrity Skin, the new album from Hole, is an
intensely personal, hook-laden rock record filled with
swirling guitars and sumptuous harmonies. Its pop
chops indicate a seasoned commitment to craft.
Explains guitarist Eric Erlandson, who co-founded
Hole with singer-guitarist Courtney Love in Los
Angeles in 1989: "Our last album [1994's critically
acclaimed Live Through This] was recorded in five
weeks. We were able to take a lot more time with this
one."
"We set out to alter the skyline," declares Love, "to
build a monument to our past and to the present. And
- almost as a joke at first - to redefine the California
sound." Having lived under the constant scrutiny of
the media since the release of Live Through This,
Love is accustomed to her persona overshadowing
her work. Fortunately, Celebrity Skin (DGC Records)
speaks eloquently on its own behalf.
Much like Love herself, the album has risen from the
ashes to celebrate pop music in all its fickle glory. It is
jaded, ironic and occasionally, unabashedly innocent.
It is both a paean to Love's earliest and most
cherished musical influences and a triumphant
homecoming. It is The Golden State as muse.
"It was ambitious and almost silly," Love reiterates,
"but we wanted to redefine everything about the
California sound, from the California boy and girl to
the beach and sun."
California's mystique as a utopian place where
dreams really do come true dates back to the Gold
Rush, when masses of settlers descended on the
territory to seek their fortunes. "In 1849, prosperous
farmers looked at their perfectly fine lives and knew
they could have even more," Love points out. "They
could have a palace, and even gold out there in
California."
She says the key to understanding Southern
California culture is to realize that even the drinking
water there came from somewhere else. "People
come here by the millions, and yet all the water we
use is pumped in from thousands of miles away," she
continues. "Underneath the palm trees and lush
lawns is chaparral and desert. It's all false."
Still, the foremost inspiration for Celebrity Skin,
beyond the state's history and politics and the
obvious, seductive glamour of Hollywood, is
California's storied musical past. The Beach Boys,
The Ventures, The Byrds, The Eagles, The Doors,
Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Jane's Addiction, X and
Guns N' Roses have all seized on California - and
Los Angeles in particular - as grist for the creative
mill.
Not coincidentally, the members of Hole were at a
rehearsal for Fleetwood Mac's reunion tour when the
epiphany to lionize all things California occurred.
"Eric and I didn't have any prior Fleetwood Mac
influence," says bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur. "But
seeing them play in that incredibly intimate setting
re-awakened the melodic training from my classical
music background. That experience forced me to
reach further than I ever had before."
Erlandson confesses a slightly different relationship
with the band: "When I was first learning guitar, my
teacher tried to get me to play 'Don't Stop,' but I was
more interested in Kiss and Aerosmith."
In fact, Celebrity Skin is far from Rumors redux. It
stands proudly and audaciously on its own merits.
"We wanted to challenge the tradition in a totally
organic way," Love asserts. "We took our time writing
every note and every word. We made it lean in some
places and plump in others. And we got help from
some great people." Hole spent much of the past four
years honing and perfecting songs for the album, so
they were initially resistant to outside input. But Love
ultimately decided to invite old friend Billy Corgan (of
The Smashing Pumpkins) to assist in polishing the
material and vocals.
"I ached over my guitar for months and months on
some of these songs," Love confides. "I'd hit a wall,
so Billy came in for 12 days last year. Eric, Billy and I
wrote 'Hit So Hard,' 'Celebrity Skin' and 'Malibu'
together. Two of the songs, 'Northern Star' and
'Heaven Tonight,' were solo compositions of Eric's.
'Awful' and 'Use Once & Destroy' were an all-band
thing. When Michael Beinhorn [who produced
Soundgarden's Superunknown, Soul Asylum's Grave
Dancer's Union and The Red Hot Chili Peppers'
Mother's Milk] came onboard, he really fleshed out
the aesthetic."
Asked how the band chose Beinhorn, Love says:
"We picked Michael because he was ready for us,
and we were ready for him. He's made good records,
but he hasn't made his great record. So I knew he'd
be hungry and passionate, and we were hungry and
passionate, too - he was in a position to meet us toe
to toe. What we didn't want was someone who'd
already been there and had become a hack. We
needed someone who had experience, but who also
understood how to achieve the quality and elegance
we were looking for."
Beinhorn's industrious nature in particular impressed
Auf Der Mar. "Michael's a hard worker, and his
attitude was inspiring," she reveals. "He really
pushed me on the process of making a record. He
would say, 'Learn your instrument, learn your voice,
just learn. Go rip up old Led Zeppelin records and
figure out what the rhythm section is supposed to
do.'"
As far as what the producer's supposed to do,
Erlandson observes: "There are a lot of engineers
and producers who just aren't interested in the big
picture - Michael's not like that. He always had his
ears on where we were going. But he also came in
and analyzed the songs, put a lot of thought into
them, and really got down to the details. That's how
all those old classic records were made."
The jangly, effervescent guitar sound that
distinguishes much of Celebrity Skin is testimony to
Erlandson's own long view of the album. Its
consistent emphasis on song structure allowed his
improvisational bent to emerge, with a combination of
acoustic and electric instruments leading him down
new sonic pathways. He also found himself
experimenting more with his playing. "This album
made me take risks I'd never taken before," he
attests. "I even started singing lessons."
For Auf Der Maur, who joined Hole four years ago,
Celebrity Skin was her first opportunity to record an
album with the band. "This taught me so much about
the ugly beauty of California," she says. "It's been a
good, defining few years of my life."
"I'm grateful for the help," Love comments on the
efforts of all who participated, "but I'm very glad it's
over." Spoken more like a prospector who'd lost her
shirt than one who'd struck gold.
The California Gold Rush changed the state forever:
The sleepy hamlet of San Francisco was transformed
into one of the world's great cities; claim-seekers
from across the globe mingled in the crucible of
today's ethnic melting pot; and the "idea" of California
- a mindset that spawned Hollywood, the aerospace
industry, and Silicon Valley - became a core belief of
American national mythology.
Celebrity Skin, too, is a landmark, one that hindsight
may suggest changed Hole forever. By embracing
their hard-won technical and artistic growth, the band
steps into an era of limitless creative possibility. By
coming to terms with their tumultuous career thus far
and moving forward, they offer the promise of a rich,
rewarding catalogue. Despite the extensive praise
that has already been visited on Hole, Celebrity Skin
may one day be viewed by critics and fans alike as
the work that delivered the mother lode.
