Hole - My Body, The Hand Grenade

Hole - My Body, The Hand Grenade (City Slang-1997)

The first three Hole albums are quite different in contents. The jump from the first to the third is quite a leap, more so to the radio audience that seem to be attracted to Hole, sometimes due to the Nirvana connection.

The first two albums have got a good bit to do with each other, very punky and all out rock. But album number three was being made and also made with a big help from Billy Corgan who has writing credits on all the hit singles. A change in direction was the plan. This album is there to explain how the change happens.

Rewind back to a time the band was just a garage style punk band making demos. That is what the first tracks here are. This is a compilation album made up of demo, live and B sides. The early material is what is appealing here as it is so raw. The bands first song "Turpentine" starts the album off and with low production and little direction it sounds fantastic. Love is a great performer and you can feel it all over this song. A riff and some fast drumming as all you need at times if it is right.

"Phonebill song" continues the raw sound but captures it all again. You tend to hear this style of demo all the time but some of the songs here are first attempts in a real studio. And I think that adds to the appeal here as they were just so raw at the start of the bands career. Celebrity Skin really does sound like another band.

"Retard Girl" is a song that would never make the radio, it is a narrative of a girl being abused and made fun of in a playground/school. It is very much a strong subject but bands writing this early have to have something to write. All the songs follow a similar pattern in the music but for most of the time it sounds really good with the lyrics. It would be odd to sing of rape and the likes with a nice we melodic into and riff.

Cobain fans will like the "Beautiful Son" as it makes fun of his cross dressing when he was younger. There is even a song credited to him here "Old Age" was recorded for Nevermind but rejected later. Love then added her ideas to the song. From what I know is the intro is on track seven of Live Through This but in a much rockier sound. Also this version has totally new lyrics. Again hearing a band evolve is so interesting and seeing how one song can go between two bands and songwriters and a full year is great to hear. This version is an acoustic number and shows Love in a more melodic voice. This is a very basic sound again with another acoustic and possibly even a little acoustic bass to make it bigger.

Later tracks are covers and MTV Unplugged tracks. The album does seem to run very well as the live stuff mixes in well with the albums sound due to the demo quality. A great album and artistically the band had so much more to give. Love has so much to sing/rage about that it is a shame the band have only done four studio album. If you like any of the two albums by this band give this a go.

For me this is my favorite Hole album. But my taste in music is quite different and you don't come here for Oasis reviews.

This album was only released in the UK and Europe and is hard to find, second hand is the best bet with copies on E bay easy to get.

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