Courtney Love wants to bring grunge back to the masses. Sure, its heyday was in early ‘90s Seattle, Wa. But with the announcement that Love’s band, Hole, are reuniting, it’s hard to not want to bring grunge back. Everyone’s wearing plaid anyways, so it’s time to listen to the music that went hand-in-hand with that fashion statement.
Alt-rock has always been grouped together to include any type of rock music that has been deemed “different” and away from any pop influence. But in the early ‘90s, bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana were breaking out and releasing albums that had a distinctly different sound. Their songs were a raspy amalgam of heavy metal, punk and angsty garage rock. Their lyrics were bitter, anti-establishment and sometimes sad.
But with that sound came a whole change in the way teens listened to music. Hair was grown long, clothes became tattered and flannel was the uniform. With the groundbreaking success of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” came a slew of grunge bands closing in on the trend. Pearl Jam’s “Ten” was an instant classic. When it was re-released last March, 60,000 copies were sold in its first week — a huge number for a re-released album.
After that, Seattle became a grunge mecca, with artists like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains coming out of the city after megarockers Nirvana and Pearl Jam. But it wasn’t the only city out there. L.A. had been a stomping ground for grunge and punk for a while, and out of it came rock band Hole, made up of Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Kristen Pfaff and Patty Schemel. After their critically acclaimed album “Live Through This” was released, Hole became major players in the rock industry. It didn’t hurt that Courtney Love was married to grunge rock icon, Kurt Cobain. It also didn’t hurt that Cobain had written a couple of songs for Hole to use.
But now, with Cobain long gone, Hole are back. The band are notorious for containing a different lineup year to year, with members dying and dropping out. This time around, Courtney Love is the only original member, recruiting new bandmates Micko Larkin, Shawn Dailey and Stu Fisher to join her.
Though in recent years, Love has been more famous for her drug debacles and her riotous personality, she’s serious about the music. Love just can’t help but be the quintessential rocker, with her cliché drug habits, screaming vocals and no-holds-barred attitude towards life. In an interview with Spin magazine, Love relays her dedication to the music, rather than the fame.
“...If I’m going to wonder about whether my importance or whatever fades, then I probably shouldn’t be doing this,” Love said in reference to her rock star status.
But in the same breath, Love knows her talent and possesses an aggressive amount of confidence in terms of her onstage persona — which at times is not too different from the way she seems the rest of the time.
“From my generation, there’s probably not a better frontman than me on the planet,” Love told Spin magazine.
And even though numerous producers have dropped from the upcoming Hole album “Nobody’s Daughter” — namely, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Linda Perry and Eric Beinhorn — fans are still titillated that the album is finally being released after years of waiting. The album is slated to hit shelves April 23, 2010.
It seems like April is a significant month for Love. It is the month that “Live Through This” was released, the month that Kurt Cobain died, and now it is the month that Hole are reborn. And if there’s anyone who should pioneer the rebirth of grunge rock, it’s Courtney Love.
You can reach this staff writer at ydesta@theeagleonline.com.
