Courtney Love is back with a vengeance.  Her new “Hole” album Nobody’s Daughtercomes out April 27th and she’s already played to full houses in England, played a new song on a big television show there, and had the most added to radio song of the week this week in the US.  That right there is pretty impressive.  Not to mention she’s already sold out an L.A. show at the Henry Fonda Theatre and tickets go onsale to the general public for the big release date show in NYC (when I wrote this they were about to go onsale, they since sold out and added another date):

Buying from there will help out this site so please do if you can.  All of this is impressive, but Courtney still eats a ton of shit from the media and the world at large.  But maybe you should think twice before you bad mouth her next time and this is why.

First with Hole she put out 3 of the most amazing albums ever, mostly written by her.  These are incredibly powerful albums that stand the test of time.  Pretty On The Inside is the more arty of the 3 and is noisy punk yet still manages to come across as something special, especially on it’s standout tracks “Teenage Whore”, “Garbage Man”,  “Pretty On The Inside”, and “Good Sister Bad Sister”.

I’ll be the biggest scar in your back
Run down and jagged and naked and black
I’ll be the biggest dick that you ever had

Live Through This is an album that transcends grunge or punk labels, and is wall to wall rock & roll passion.  I’m not a girl and this album has always spoken to me on a level that few others have.  This is an album about girl power that is really filled with leading by example, with 3 of the 4 band members being female.  It’s also an album dripping in history with bassist Kristen Pfaff overdosing and dying after the recording as well as Courtney’s husband the legendary Kurt Cobain committing suicide right before the album went to press, so soon in fact that the artwork had already been printed (thus why “Rock Star” is printed on the album, when the song that actually appears as the closer had previously been called “Olympia”, a much more fitting title for the song about Olympia, WA, the actual “Rock Star” contains lines about being in Nirvana and wanting to die).  Cobain actually appears on the album during the song “Asking For It” performing vocals that if you listen carefully can still be heard.  This album is so great that many people couldn’t believe Courtney actually wrote it and attributed the entire thing to Kurt.  This is entirely untrue, and actually Courtney helped to write the Nirvana song “Pennyroyal Tea” (and performed a better version of it).

Hole – Pennyroyal Tea (Live)

Live Through This touches on being a woman, a rock star, a wife, and a mother all at once and with a fury and understated pop elegance that to this day is unmatched by another band.  The music is incredible alone, but Courtney really is a lyricist and this is her finest work.  She should be revered for this album alone for the rest of her life.

Hold you close like we both died
My ever pressing suicide
My stupid fuck, my blushing bride
Oh, tear my heart out, tear my heart out

Girl germs lead to little virus
Revolutions come and die
Elitists who eat the virus
Sleep with me, wake up alive

But then she comes roaring back a few years later minus a husband, whom she’d been blamed for killing, living alone with a child and becoming a fully fledged actress with some great performances.  She channels her new Hollywood-ness into what would be the last we’d hear of the band “Hole” for a very long time with the long awaited followup to Live Through This – Celebrity Skin .  Obviously the album is about celebrity and L. A. and both are ongoing themes, as well as Kurt and what he left behind.

Celebrity Skin was like the older, slightly more refined version of the angsty Live Through This and was equally powerful.  Especially the stripped down acoustic song “Northern Star”.  It’s a song that isn’t pop-y and stands out with incredibly raw vocals where Love is practically screaming her agony over her loss.  There’s also the sadly beautiful “Dying”.  But it’s most remembered for it’s catchy pop-like songs that are more rock and roll than unfortunately a lot of female driven rock since.  Songs like “Malibu” (video above), “Celebrity Skin”, and “Awful” are infused with a catchyness that features a message, especially “Awful”, which seems to be speaking directly to the young girls that are listening:

Swing low, sweet cherry, yeah, it’s awful
You’re ripe for the picking, it’s so awful
You’ve got your youth
Don’t waste your money
Yeah it’s awful
I was punk
Now I’m just stupid
I’m so awful
Oh, just shut up you’re only 16

I do have to say my favorite of all the Celebrity Skin era songs is the oft-overlooked album closer “Petals”.  It’s a beautiful and simple song but it’s filled with everything great about Hole.

She’s the grace of this world
She’s too pure
For the likes of this world
This world is a whore

Shortly after a Celebrity Skin Tour Hole disbanded and Courtney set out to release a solo album, America’s Sweetheart .  Mostly regarded as a disaster, even by Courtney herself, I still claim the album has merit, if only for the song “Uncool”, about how writing a love song might be considered lame but when you’re in love it isn’t.

Uncool

But the title of this post is “Why Courtney Love is Relevant”, not “A History of Courtney Love’s Music”.  Why she’s relevant though is her music.  This musical legacy that she has created.  She has written so many songs of empowerment that move people who weren’t even alive in 1994.  Girls who are just becoming women can still discover these words and this music to describe their world better than any pop princess ever could.

And then there’s this little thing.  There are a lot of celebrities out there that come and go.  There are a lot of musicians and one hit wonders.  Yet Courtney Love keeps coming back and keeps writing great music.  And the thing you have to experience her in a live concert to understand is she is one of the few real rock stars left in the world.  I mean true rock star.  She takes that stage and owns it like few others.  She captivates while ripping you apart.  It’s a rare talent and you either have it or you don’t.  She does.  Many supposed “rock stars” don’t.  So go see the new Hole and see what I mean.  I’ll leave you with the latest from her:

Hole – Skinny Little Bitch