THERAPY? ***

Therapy? are an alternative metal band from Northern Ireland. The band was formed in 1989 by guitarist–vocalist Andy Cairns from Ballyclare and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing from Larne, Northern Ireland. The band initially recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar. To complete the lineup, the band recruited Larne bassist Michael McKeegan.

With keen pop sensibilities, a skewed sense of humour and a willingness to draw inspiration from diverse sources (notably punk rock), Therapy? came to attention in the early 1990s rise of alternative rock, but have endured for two decades since; critic Johnny Loftus writes:

"after a ten-plus year career that has seen them outlast competitors and outwit industry attempts at categorization... Therapy are still headbangers with their thinking caps screwed on tight."

Although now vanished from the charts and wide media attention, Therapy? continue to release material, gaining enough attention to enable them to tour and entertain a small loyal following. Following the addition of Neil Cooper on drums, the band has enjoyed a stable lineup since 2004. Therapy? are currently signed to Demolition Records, with worldwide distribution via Global Music. The band has sold over two million albums worldwide.

History

The early years (1989–1992)

While attending a charity gig at the Jordanstown Polytechnic in early 1989, Andy Cairns noticed Fyfe Ewing playing drums in a punk covers band. The two spoke afterwards and agreed to meet for rehearsal in Fyfe's house in Larne with Andy playing a small practice amp and Fyfe playing his kit with brushes. In the summer they recorded a four track demo tape (Thirty Seconds of Silence) with Andy playing a bass guitar borrowed from Fyfe's classmate Michael McKeegan. Deciding to play live, they recruited McKeegan and played their debut gig at the Belfast Art College supporting Decadence Within. They followed this up with another four track demo tape (Meat Abstract). Their sound was becoming highly influenced by artists of the indie rock movement such as The Jesus Lizard and Big Black, as well as new beat disco acts such as Belgian outfit Errotic Dissidents.

Therapy? released its first single, called Meat Abstract in July 1990. The single was limited to 1000 copies, and released on the bands' own Multifuckingnational Records. During the summer of that year, the band made its first tour through the United Kingdom with The Beyond, catching the attention of influential DJ John Peel along the way. The band's early years followed the familiar pattern of hard graft on the local alternative music scene, with Cairns often putting in a full day at the Michelin tyre factory (where he worked as a quality controller), then speeding across Northern Ireland in order to make it to gigs. The band also took whatever support slot they could, opening for the likes of Loop, Ride, Teenage Fanclub, Inspiral Carpets, Tad, Fugazi and Neds Atomic Dustbin. Therapy? quickly came to the attention of local music fans with their distinctively uncompromising style. Their use of guitar feedback as a "fourth instrument" and unconventional song structures, combined with a darkly original approach to lyrics and imaginative use of samples pulled from cult movies and obscure documentaries, led them to being spotted in 1990 by the hip London-based independent label Wiiija Records. The move was helped by Lesley Rankine of Silverfish, who passed the band's first single on to Gary Walker of Wiiija.

The band's first album, July 1991's Babyteeth, and its January 1992 follow up, Pleasure Death, were successful enough to earn the band a major label deal with A&M Records. Both albums were underground successes, hitting number 1 in the UK Indie Charts. The attention led to support slots with both Babes In Toyland and Hole on their respective UK tours. A compilation of the two albums entitled Caucasian Psychosis was prepared for the North American market, and the band embarked on their first U.S. tour in October 1992.

Their debut A&M record, Nurse, made its way in to UK's Top 40 Album Chart in November 1992, while lead single "Teethgrinder" became the bands first Top 40 single in both the UK and Ireland. The grunge revolution was in full swing, with US outfit Nirvana leading the way. Predictably, the media began to draw comparisons between the two bands. The heavy guitars and inventive drumming that was swiftly becoming Therapy?'s trademark led them more towards the grunge camp than away from it.

The success (1993–1995)

If there was one true "breakthrough" year in the band's history, it would almost certainly be 1993. The release of the Shortsharpshock EP catapulted Therapy? into the Top 40, peaking at nine, featuring the lead track Screamager. The single led to the first of several appearances on the venerable UK music show Top of the Pops. Two more UK Top 40 EPs Face the Strange and Opal Mantra followed, as the band toured heavily on the European festival circuit, made two separate jaunts to the United States in support of Kings X initially, and then both Helmet and The Jesus Lizard, and played their debut shows in Japan. Compilations of the three EP's were released in the U.S. and Japan (Hats Off to the Insane), and in Europe (Born in a Crash).

1994 saw the release of the commercially successful Troublegum album in February which earned the band appearances at a string of rock and indie festivals, including Reading (third consecutive appearance), Donington and Phoenix in the UK alone, as well as a clutch of Top 40 singles. It achieved a string of nominations in end-of-year polls, including a Mercury Music Prize nomination, and success at the Kerrang! Awards.

With impatience mounting for a new album, Infernal Love was released in June 1995. This time, the press reaction was lukewarm. The band had attempted to create a "cinematic" record with Belfast DJ David Holmes employed to link each tracks with "insanity", but in the eyes of many, had produced a disjointed piece over-subscribed with ballads. Despite a second consecutive Donington appearance at Metallica's request, and singles Stories and Loose charting in the UK earlier in the year, it was clear that Therapy? had changed direction. Although the string laden single Diane was a Top 10 hit in 15 European countries later in the year, much of the early momentum had gone.

Ewing quits / Four piece (1996–1998)

Fyfe Ewing left the band in January 1996, citing the pressures of a constant touring schedule. It was widely assumed that with such a key component now missing, Therapy? would inevitably break up. The band quickly recruited Graham Hopkins to replace Ewing as well as the permanent addition of guest cellist Martin McCarrick, and steadily toured throughout the US and Canada in 1996. The addition of McCarrick also provided Cairns with a co-songwriter.

After the tour wound up in mid 1996, Therapy? finally took a long break. They reconvened after six months and spent most of 1997 writing, rehearsing and recording the follow-up to Infernal Love.

While the Church of Noise single in March 1998 failed commercially, it marked the return of the band following three years out of the spotlight. The Semi-Detached album transcended the trajectory of Troublegum and Infernal Love with their dark, broody atmosphere. However, promotion for the album was scant at best, due to problems at the A&M label, which culminated in the loss of their record deal with the company. Without label support, Cairns and McKeegan needed to finance the band's European tour in late 1998 themselves.

The turn of the millennium (1999–2003)

The band's sentiment towards newer alternative metal bands was expressed in the song Ten Year Plan from the band's uncompromising 1999 Ark21 album Suicide Pact - You First, which was packed full of vitriol, discontent and barely-repressed musical aggression. This album revealed a fuller-sound, yet was noticeably lacking in songs suitable of mainstream-radio airplay.

The following year saw the release of the So Much For The Ten Year Plan-A Retrospective 1990-2000 album which (in title at least) was a self-deprecating poke at the bands' difficulties with corporate rock in recent years. It also allowed the band to fulfill some outstanding obligations to Universal Records.

Therapy? recorded follow-up record Shameless in early 2001 in Seattle. The album, produced by the legendary Jack Endino, was delayed release by record company Ark21 until September. Graham Hopkins, who was unhappy with his musical limitation within the band, quit in December 2001. Following Hopkins' departure, the band yet again found themselves without a drummer and a record deal.

The band toured Europe in 2002 with ex-3 Colours Red drummer Keith Baxter. Hopkins was permanently replaced in Therapy? by ex-The Beyond/Cable/Gorilla drummer Neil Cooper, while the band signed a new record deal with Spitfire Records.

This line-up lasted one album, the commercially inclined High Anxiety. The bands’ first home video release, a DVD entitled Scopophobia was released shortly afterwards, consisting of a full concert recorded live at Belfast's Mandella Hall in June 2003, promo videos and other extras. The band completed a UK tour at the end of 2003 as a three piece, due to McCarrick leaving the tour midway through owing to a perforated eardrum.

Back to a three piece (2004–2007)

McCarrick left the band permanently in March 2004, and the band were now slimmed down to a permanent three piece again for the first time since 1995. Never Apologise Never Explain was released in September 2004 to an audience re-acquainted with the three-piece Therapy? and was reminiscent of the claustrophobic sound of their earlier material.

The following album One Cure Fits All was released in April 2006. The album, produced by Pedro Ferreira, was a return to the melodic tendencies of High Anxiety and again divided opinion among the band's fans.

On September 19, 2006, Therapy? performed an exclusive studio show of songs chosen by fans who had voted for their three favourite tracks from a lengthy list on the band's website. These votes were counted and the twelve tracks with the most votes were then performed and recorded (both as audio and video). In early 2007, these tracks became available to buy from the band's official website. The Webgig is no longer available to purchase. In addition to this release, the band received some attention from their old record company Universal Records (who own the rights to the bands material recorded on A&M Records) who released both a DVD of old promo clips (Gold) and a double-CD compilation of BBC sessions (Music Through A Cheap Transistor) in 2007. On the touring front, Therapy? focused on markets they hadn't usually played, including a slot at the NXNE festival in Canada, festival dates in Europe (one of which was as a late replacement for Helmet at the Nova Rock Festival) and a tour through countries such as Romania, Croatia and Serbia, even playing two gigs on Reunion Island, off the East African coast. The band ended 2007 by supporting New Model Army at their Christmas gig in Köln.

Crooked Timber (2008–2009)

Therapy? were a last minute replacement for Biffy Clyro on the Jägermeister Rock Liga tour of Germany which lasted five dates in February 2008. These dates were the only gigs played in 2008 as the band focused their energies exclusively on recording the new record. In what turned out to be an April Fools Joke, the band posted a news item on April 1, 2008, that they would self-produce the album and it was nearing completion at that time,. In reality, Therapy? only began recording the new album in late July at Blast Studios in Newcastle and finished recording by late August. It was actually produced by Andy Gill, not by the band themselves. Video of rehearsals surfaced on Therapy?'s website offering previews of the new work, showcasing a more rythmetic jazz-influenced direction (Rehearsal), alongside a rough track typical of newer Therapy? output (Clowns Galore). The album, entitled Crooked Timber, was released on March 23, 2009 via Demolition Records/Global Music. The band performed the new album in its entirety on selected live dates in May, played various European festivals throughout the summer (including a debut appearance at Oxegen in Ireland and a second outing at England's Download) and toured Europe extensively from October to December.

Twentieth anniversary (2010-Present)

To mark the 20th anniversary of their debut commercial recording release, Therapy? performed for three consecutive nights at London's Monto Water Rats in March which were recorded for the bands' first official live album entitled We're Here To The End, released in November. A deluxe gold edition of 2009's Crooked Timber album was released on July 19. Therapy? also appeared at European festivals in the summer, including at Knebworth Sonisphere on July 31 when the band performed the Troublegum album in its entirety. Later in 2010, the band performed several "Troublegum & more" sets throughout Europe as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations.

In December 2010, the band began recording their new studio album, tentatively titled A Brief Crack Of Light, in Newcastle's Blast Studio. The album recording was completed in February 2011 and mixing began in March. In late May 2011, the group announced a change of plan for the new album; another recording session was planned for June in order to record new songs that have emerged. These songs will be mixed and considered for inclusion, along with songs from the first session, for the new album. Also rumoured for 2011, but as yet unconfirmed, are remastered reissues of their debut mini-albums Babyteeth and Pleasure Death.

Question mark suffix

Much has been made over the years of the unusual question mark suffix to the band's name. In early interviews the band said that the name was "really deep" and intended to raise the question "do you need therapy?", but in a 1992 interview guitarist Andy Cairns admitted that it was a chance design when he was working on band's first record sleeve. Working with Letraset transfers, Cairns misaligned the band's name, and used the "?" icon to fill the space to the right. "And then we thought, well maybe we can bluff our way through when people start reading into it."

HOLE ****

Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. Hole achieved considerable commercial and critical success throughout the 1990s.

The band made a splash in the underground rock scene in 1991 with their debut album, Pretty on the Inside, which was musically and lyrically abrasive, noted for its predominant punk and noise rock influence. Their second studio album, Live Through This (1994), which featured a more streamlined and grunge-oriented sound, received vast critical accolades upon release and has been regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, as well as the group's most notable work.

As the band progressed into the later 1990s, they incorporated elements of pop rock into their sound; the band's third album, Celebrity Skin (1998), fused hard rock with various pop elements, contrasting to their rougher punk rock-oriented past. Celebrity Skin went on to be the band's most commercially successful album, garnering them immense critical attention as well as several Grammy nominations.

In 2009, seven years after disbanding in 2002, Love announced she was reforming Hole with former Larrikin Love guitarist Micko Larkin. Erlandson, however, stated that no reunion could take place contractually without mutual involvement between Love and Erlandson. On January 1, 2010, a website promoting Hole's latest release, Nobody's Daughter, was launched, with links to various social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace. Despite the dispute between Erlandson and Love, the new Hole album was released on April 27, 2010.

Overview

Hole released three official albums before their split, Pretty on the Inside (1991), Live Through This (1994) and Celebrity Skin (1998), each of which reflect a distinctive and progressive sound and approach. The band's first release, Pretty on the Inside was a no wave, noise rockpunk-influenced record, experimenting with alternate tunings. The band's second release, the critically acclaimed, Live Through This showcased a more power pop, and grunge-influenced approach, still infused with a punk rock sound. The band's third release, Celebrity Skin was prominently powerpop and pop-influenced. Hole also released a number of EPs during their career. and

Hole also experienced a number of line-up changes for each album. Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson were the only constant members throughout the group's career. Pretty on the InsideCaroline Rue and bassist Jill Emery, both of which left the band in 1992, to be replaced by Patty Schemel and Kristen Pfaff, respectively. This new line-up recorded Live Through This. Seattle musician Leslie Hardy was also a touring member for a short time, however did not contribute to any studio work, despite some reports. After Pfaff's death in 1994, Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited, at Billy Corgan's suggestion, as bassist. Prior to the recording of Celebrity Skin, Schemel left the group for reasons which remain disputed, and was replaced by Samantha Maloney, who left the group after the band's tour in 1999. Auf der Maur also left in late 1999, leaving Love and Erlandson the only two remaining members. After attempts at a fourth album, Love and Erlandson announced the split of Hole less than three years later. was recorded with original drummer

In June 2009, Love – via a blog by music magazine NME – announced Hole was reforming with former Larrikin Love guitarist, Micko Larkin and Melissa Auf der Maur. Auf der Maur later said she had "no clue" of plans for a reunion, and co-founder Eric Erlandson stated via SpinMercury Records (Island Def Jam) and released Nobody's Daughter on April 26 and 27, 2010 worldwide. The first single was "Skinny Little Bitch". magazine that no reunion could take place without his involvement, legally. Despite this, Hole was signed to

History

Background

Hole formed in Los Angeles in August 1989 by its two central members, Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson.

Courtney Love had grown up in Oregon and had a fairly troubled childhood, bouncing between foster homes and juvenile systems due to her anti-authoritarian and often reckless behavior. Her parents were both fledgling hippies; her mother came from a wealthy adoptive family, and her father had been a roadie for The Grateful Dead in San Francisco in the late 1960s. Love became legally emancipated when she was 16 and traveled to England, Ireland, and Japan on a trust fund before returning to Oregon and falling in with Portland's punk scene in the 1980s. Throughout her teenage and early adult years, Love worked as a stripper in order to support herself and briefly attended several colleges intermittently. Fascinated by music, she had several unsuccessful attempts at starting bands, mostly with friend Kat Bjelland. She started two bands in her early adulthood, both of which were fruitless; firstly, Sugar Babydoll in Portland, and later, The Pagan Babies in San Francisco; she also briefly sang in Faith No More. Love made a slight break into the entertainment industry when she landed roles in two Alex Cox films, Sid & Nancy (1986) and Straight to Hell (1987), but was dissatisfied with the experience and eventually moved to Los Angeles, intent on forming a band. When asked if there were any traumatic or negative experiences that motived her to be a musician, Love replied, "Start with day one and keep going. The exact moment of my birth and onward. I always wanted to be in a band. The concept of life just hit me one day."

Erlandson was a California native and had grown up in San Pedro. He began playing music after several traumatic experiences in his teenage years, one of which was finding a dead body: "I was walking along the tide pools [in San Pedro], and I found a dead body. I thought they were filming a movie, it was this body that was pure white, it had been thrashed around a few days in the water, hitting the rocks. I walked up close to it and 'oh my God!'... then I saw Kiss and Aerosmith and it was all over. I don't know. I had to be a rock star." Erlandson attended Loyola Marymount University where he studied economics and marketing, and then traveled to Europe in 1988, trying to figure out "what to do with his life". He was working as a royalties manager at Capitol Records when he met Love, managing the royalties of Paul McCartney and Tina Turner.

Formation and early years (1989–1990)

Hole formed after Eric Erlandson replied to an advertisement, placed by Courtney Love, in punk rock fanzine Flipside. The advertisement simply read: "I want to start a band. My influences are Big Black, Sonic Youth, and Fleetwood Mac." Love had several responses to the ad, but chose Erlandson. In retrospect, she said: "He had a Thurston [Moore] quality about him. He was tall, skinny, blonde. He dressed pretty cool, and he knew who Sonic Youth were... he's an intensely weird, good guitarist, and he's the glue that kept me together."

Love has joked that she took the name for the band from "my husband's favorite drinking spot",Later... with Jools Holland, claimed the name was inspired by a quote from Euripides' "Medea" which read "there's a hole that pierces my soul." Additionally, Love has cited a conversation with her mother as being a primary influence for the band's name. In an interview with Flipside magazine in fall 1990, Love said of the band's name: but this claim is dubious since she met Kurt Cobain, her second husband, the year after Hole was formed. Love, during in an interview on

“

...the name came from my mom. She's like, a therapist, and I said "I had a really fucked childhood", and she said "Well Courtney, you can't walk around with a big hole inside of yourself about it". Then I realized that a lot of different kinds of anger came from my hole, this hole that needs to be fed— that angst inside a person is like their hole... Like when you feel human emptiness and you have to feed it. We're not trying to be obscene, we're not trying to be gross, we're not trying to be anything, we're just a vapor of fucking hell that passes through your hole and out the other side, and if it leaves a fucking impression, then it's fucking great.

”

The band's first rehearsal took place in Fortress Studios in Hollywood, where Love, Erlandson and original bassist Lisa Roberts "played something noisy" while "they [Courtney and Lisa] started screaming their poetry at the top of their lungs for two or three hours." Initially, the band had no percussion, until Love met drummer Caroline Rue at a Gwar show after noticing that she had been closely watching the drummers onstage. They also recruited a third guitarist, Mike Geisbrecht, and began to book local concerts. Hole's first show took place at Nightmoves— a small club in Huntington Beach— in mid 1989. The band played two more shows in October and November of 1989, at The Shamrock, and once again at Nightmoves.

The band's early shows were notable for featuring lots of experimental playing, distortion, and guitar feedback— a style that would be heavily present in their eventual studio material— and Courtney Love interacting a lot with the audience. At the beginning of their third show at Nightmoves, the theme from Phantasm (1979) was played, and Love introduced the band, saying: "We're Hole. Some of you will like us, and some of you will hate us." Several notable songs were performed at these shows, including the band's eventual debut single, "Retard Girl", as well as "Phonebill Song", "Berry", and "Turpentine", all of which would eventually make it onto studio recordings.

Love very early on noted that the band was "heavily into lyrics": "[Lyrics] are the most important thing to me. I used to write lyrics for a band when I was 16 and they wouldn't even look at them. That was bogus. Lyrics are important. I think you should have something to say." The band's attitude in its early years also had a very pro-feminist stance, particularly from Love. In an interview on the topic, she referred to Poison as "drag queens" and said, "they dress up like women therefore they get to confront emotional issues. The whole feminization of men in heavy metal speaks for itself. Well, scratch that, because I want to transcend this whole 'chick thing'. Fuck this chick thing. The whole thing with music is that it's cathartic, and if it wasn't cathartic then I wouldn't want to play it."

Before Hole began to develop a fanbase, guitarist Mike Geisbrecht left and was replaced briefly by Errol Stewart, who left a few weeks later. Roberts also left the group at some point in early 1990. After Geisbrecht and Roberts' departure, Hole recruited Jill Emery on bass and began recording studio material, as well as playing (and often headlining) local rock shows in Los Angeles. After several months of live performances, the band released their debut single: "Retard Girl", and followed it with "Dicknail", released on Sympathy for the Record Industry and Sub Pop, respectively. The band became known at the time for Love's wild onstage behavior, and her ability to really "rile up" the crowd. As the group began to make decent money as an underground band, A&R reps and music labels started to appear at their shows. After one show, the band was approached by a major music label representative, who told Love they needed a more "full sound", to which she replied "fuck off".

Pretty on the Inside and tour (1991-1992) 

Hole released their first full-length album Pretty on the Inside (1991) on Caroline Records. In searching for a label to release the album, the group was approached by Sub Pop and Sympathy for the Record Industry, who had previously released singles for them, but Love declined their offers. Instead, the band signed onto Caroline Records, and Love sought Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth to produce the album for her. Sending a letter, a Hello KittySST record" (either referring to Sonic Youth's album SisterEVOL). Gordon agreed, and Gumball's Don Fleming assisted in production.

Pretty on the Inside received vast praise from underground critics, especially in the United Kingdom, where the band did an extensive tour with Daisy Chainsaw, Mudhoney, and Therapy?. Love was touted as a "darling" of the UK alternative rock scene. Hole also toured North America and the rest of Europe in support of the record. Upon the album's release, it was branded by underground music critics as "loud, ugly and deliberately shocking." A 1991 review in Spin said that the album "revolves around a fascination of the repulsive aspects of L.A.— superficiality, sexism, violence, and drugs. Love is the embodiment of what drives the band: the dichotomy of pretty/ugly... The pretty/ugly dynamic also comes across in Hole's music... a song like "Teenage Whore" at first comes across like a ranting noisy rage, but underneath is a surprisingly lush melody." Spin also ranked the album in their "20 Best Albums of the Year" list, and it was voted album of the year by New York's Village Voice.

The album spawned one single, "Teenage Whore", which entered the UK Indie Chart at number one, as well as the band's debut music video for the song "Garbadge Man". Musically and lyrically, the album was very abrasive, characterized by overt noise and feedback, chaotic guitar riffs, graphic lyrics, and a variation of Love's vocals ranging from whispers to guttural screaming.Neil Young and Bauhaus In later years, Courtney Love referred to the album as "unlistenable". The album also featured guitar riffs admittedly lifted verbatim from songs.

A fair amount of drama occurred during the band's tour to promote Pretty on the Inside; on December 19, 1991, roadie Joe Cole attended a Hole show at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles with roommate/friend Henry Rollins of Black Flag, and was murdered in a robbery after arriving home from the concert. Love was an acquaintance of Cole's, and the band's second album would be dedicated to him. At the end of the tour, while playing in London with Mudhoney at their final show, Love had her clothes torn off of her while stage diving; an incident that would later become the inspiration for the song "Asking for It"— a similar retread of themes heavily present in the band's 1991 single, "Dicknail".

According to Love, after jumping off the stage, her dress and underwear were torn off of her by audience members, people "shoved their fingers inside of her", and she was "completely naked" when she got back onstage: "I felt like Karen Finley. But the worst thing of all was that I saw a photograph of it later— someone took a picture of me right when this was happening, and I had this big smile on my face like I was pretending it wasn't happening. I can't compare it to rape because it's not the same. But in a way it was. I was raped by an audience— figuratively, literally, and yet, was I asking for it?" Nonetheless, the band ended their tour, and, in 1992, Love met Kurt Cobain of Nirvana (the two had initially crossed paths in 1989 in Portland, Oregon), and became pregnant.

Mainstream success and Live Through This (1993-1995)

Following the success of Pretty on the Inside, Hole began working toward a second album in 1992. In the midst of this, Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain were married, and gave birth to their daughter, Frances, in the summer of that year. Amidst the events in Love's personal life, she had purportedly wanted to transition from Hole's dirty punk rock style to a more melodic, pop-influenced rock format on their next album, which bassist Jill Emery did not want to partake in. "Courtney wanted to be pop, she wanted to change. I don't mind changing, I love it, but I didn't want to go from A to Z— it just felt fake", said Emery. Emery left the band shortly after Love married Kurt Cobain, and drummer Caroline Rue followed. In an advertisement to find a new bass player, Love wrote: "[I want] someone who can play ok, and stand in front of 30,000 people, take off her shirt and have fuck you written on her tits. If you're not afraid of me and you're not afraid to fucking say it, send a letter. No more pussies, no more fake girls, I want a whore from hell."

As a result of Pretty on the Inside's success and the furious press coverage around Courtney Love and husband Kurt Cobain, Hole was signed to Geffen Records with an eight-album contract in late 1992, around the time they recruited Janitor Joe bassist, Kristen Pfaff and drummer Patty Schemel. After another well-praised tour of Europe and the United States in 1993 – the first leg of which was for promotion of their single, "Beautiful Son" – Hole began work on their major label debut at Triclops Studios in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of 1993. In the spring of 1994, Love and husband Kurt Cobain individually checked themselves into rehab clinics for purported heroin addiction, just weeks before the release of Hole's upcoming second album. The album, titled Live Through This, was released on April 12, 1994, and in tragic timing— four days prior, Love's husband Cobain committed suicide in their Seattle home.

Amidst the emotional impact and hysteria surrounding Cobain's death, Live Through This was a massive critical success, and spawned a slew of successful singles: "Doll Parts", "Violet", "Miss World" and "Softer, Softest". The album went multi-platinum and was hailed "Album of the Year" by Spin magazine and received unanimously rave reviews from major music periodicals. Despite the critical praise, furious rumors circulated insinuating that Cobain had written the album, though the band vehemently denies this. They did, however, state that Cobain provided backing vocals on "Asking for It" and "Softer, Softest" while visiting the studio. Incidentally, Love has revealed that the alternate mix of "Asking for It" featuring Cobain, was planned to be released as a single, however after Cobain's death the idea was scrapped.

Almost immediately prior to the album's release, the final song, "Rock Star", was removed and replaced by the outtake "Olympia". It was widely believed at the time that this was because its lyrics, which read: "How'd you like to be Nirvana?/ So much fun to be Nirvana / A barrel of laughs to be Nirvana / Say you'd rather die", appeared inappropriate in the wake of Cobain's suicide. By the time the decision to remove "Rock Star" was made, the album artwork and various other inserts had already been printed, and since "Olympia" was put in its place, "Olympia" is labelled as "Rock Star" and serves as its official title.

With Love mourning Cobain's death, the band pushed forward to prepare for a tour to promote the massively successful album, but it came to a halt when bassist Kristen Pfaff died that June of an apparent heroin overdose. Hole pulled out of the upcoming Lollapalooza festival, which was also going to include Cobain's band, Nirvana. The band disappeared from the media spotlight in the summer of 1994, and on September 1, played their first headlining show since the album's release at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto, dedicating it to Kristen. The band, now with Melissa Auf der Maur on bass, recruited by Love at Billy Corgan's suggestion, toured extensively throughout late 1994 and 1995, and the tour became notorious for its press coverage surrounding Love's fragile emotional state. Appearances included the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, Saturday Night Live, the Big Day Out festival, MTV Unplugged, the Reading Festival, Lollapalooza 1995 and the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, at which Hole performed "Violet" and were nominated for awards.

During this time period, Love's stage antics had grown wild, garnering much attention from the press. At Lollapalooza on July 4, 1995, in George, Washington, Love punched Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna in the face and pelted her with candy and a burning cigarette, after Hanna had allegedly made a drug joke about Love's two-year-old daughter. Love went to court over the case and was sentenced to anger management classes. More controversy was stirred at a Pittsburgh Lollapalooza concert in the fall of 1995, when Love stormed offstage with the band in tears after an audience member threw shotgun shells at her, referencing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that she may have been involved in husband Kurt Cobain's death. A similar event had happened several months prior— at an April 1995 show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Love cursed at an audience member for throwing things at her, and eventually stormed off the stage with the band after playing only four songs.

The band released their first EP, Ask for It in September 1995; it featured 1991 Peel session recordings of "Doll Parts" and "Violet", as well as covers of The Wipers' "Over the Edge" and "Pale Blue Eyes" by The Velvet Underground. After the band's tours in 1995, a final music video for the album was filmed for "Violet", and Hole entered the studio to begin work on a new album. There were multiple attempts to record Hole's third album, and one such attempt was in New Orleans in winter 1995. Interviews with Erlandson have confirmed the authenticity of this session, and the style is thought to have been a transition between the alternative style of "Live Through This" and the band's later pop-influenced sound, however no material from the sessions has surfaced.

Hiatus and retrospective releases (1996–1997)

Hole was thought to be on hiatus in 1996, due to Love's rising movie career which skyrocketed when she landed a lead role in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996). Despite the reported hiatus and Love's acting career, the band recorded and released a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman" for The Crow: City of Angels (1996), the band's first studio song to feature Melissa Auf der Maur on bass.

During the supposed hiatus, Hole released two retrospective albums: firstly, their second EP, titled The First Session (1997), which was composed of a complete version of the band's first recording session at Rudy's Rising Star in Los Angeles in March 1990, some of which had been bootlegged widely years prior. It featured the group's first ever recorded track, "Turpentine", which had previously been unreleased to the public, as well as their first single, "Retard Girl", and its two b-sides.

The same year, the band released their first compilation album, My Body, The Hand GrenadeLive Through This recording sessions which was included on this release was the controversial song, "Old Age". The history and writer of this song was the subject of controversy among Courtney Love detractors who believed Kurt Cobain had written Hole's second album, an allegation for which no evidence has ever surfaced. It was eventually learned "Old Age" had been written by Kurt Cobain for the Nevermind sessions in 1991, then given to Hole, whereupon its lyrics were rewritten by Love, who "tried to make it goth". Another song featured on the album was "20 Years in the Dakota", which discussed Yoko Ono's struggles as John Lennon's wife, a position which Love herself has been frequently compared to, due to the perception that Ono drew Lennon away from The Beatles and that Love drew Cobain away from Nirvana. The album also featured a demo version of "Miss World", as well as recordings from a 1995 MTV Unplugged performance. (1997), which was produced chiefly by Eric Erlandson; Love designed the packaging and artwork on the album. The album was composed as a retrospective on the band's career, featuring early singles, mid-period b-sides and recent live tracks, illustrating their path from a "tiny L.A. basement studio into alternative rock superstardom". One outtake from the

Although Hole as a band did not perform during 1996 and 1997, members of Hole performed separately, including Love's guest appearance at a Smashing Pumpkins' show in February 1996, at which she performed "Silverfuck" and "Farewell and Goodnight", with Smashing Pumpkins' frontman, and former boyfriend, Billy Corgan. Auf der Maur and Schemel also performed a show in Toronto in July 1996. Erlandson also collaborated with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and director Dave Markey in the short-lived project, Rodney & the Tube Tops, with whom he released one single.

Celebrity Skin and disbandment (1997–2002)

Hole's third studio album, Celebrity Skin (1998) adopted a complete new sound for the band, which had become known for its grunge and punk rock roots. Featuring a more pop-oriented sound, Celebrity Skin was a critical success with strong sales and successful singles, including the title track, "Celebrity Skin", "Malibu", and "Awful". Eric Erlandson told Rolling Stone, "I still think a lot of Celebrity Skin is my Johnny Thunders influence coming up – which Courtney just fucking hates."

The album was recorded in Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles throughout 1997, after many "fruitless attempts" in Miami, London and New York. Although Patty Schemel is listed as drummer in the liner notes of the record, she did not actually appear on the record as she had left the band prior to the main recording sessions and was in turn replaced by a session drummer (the band would eventually recruit drummer Samantha Maloney for the tour). The studio work on Celebrity Skin took almost a year and a half— according to Erlandson, Courtney was more focused on song-writing and singing and "did not care about her instrument". Eric also noted that Billy Corgan, who co-wrote a large portion of the album, played bass on "Hit So Hard".

In reaction to public speculation that Kurt Cobain had written the band's second album, Celebrity Skin's liner notes listed explicitly every musician's contribution to the record, specifying authorship for every song. Love wrote a comprehensive amount of the lyrics, while Erlandson, assistant-producing alongside Michael Beinhorn, had a hand in every song. Co-songwriters on the album also included Melissa Auf der Maur, Patty Schemel, Jordon Zadorozny of Blinker the Star, and Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's, each contributing pieces to a number of songs, however the most notable contributor was Billy Corgan, who co-wrote five of the twelve songs on the album.

Nonetheless, as with the rumors surrounding the writing credits on Live Through This, unwarranted controversy stirred over the writing credits. Upon its release, Corgan made references that he should have "been given credit" for writing the entire album. One journalist took note of the controversy when reviewing the album, stating: "Back in 1994, the acclaim for Live Through This was undercut by whispers that Love's late husband wrote the album. Combine those conspiracy theories with the unfounded but persistent rumor that Cobain was actually murdered, and it is no surprise that, in the song "Celebrity Skin", Love calls herself a walking study in demonology."

The album received unanimously positive reviews, with praise from music periodicals such as Rolling Stone, NME, and Blender, as well as a four-star review from the Los Angeles Times,calling it a "wild emotional ride" sure to be "one of the most dissected and debated collections of the year." The album charted incredibly well, peaking at number 9 on the Billboard 200, and garnering the band its first and only number 1 single, "Celebrity Skin", which topped the Modern Rock Tracks. "Malibu" was the album's second successful single, making it to number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks. Commercially speaking, Celebrity Skin went on to be the band's greatest success.

In the winter of 1998, Hole went on tour to promote Celebrity Skin, and made further appearances at festivals throughout 1999 after an extensive American and European tour. Hole and Marilyn Manson toured together, with Manson promoting his then-recent album, Mechanical Animals. Hole dropped out of the tour nine dates into it, due to both the majority of the fans being Manson's, who were not very interested in the Hole performances, and the financial arrangement for the bands (50/50 cost and revenue splitting) as a reason for discontinuing the tour (Hole had relatively little production costs and ending up paying a large amount for Manson's high cost production)". Nonetheless, Melissa Auf der Maur considered the tour "the best [we] ever were as a live band", and documented the Celebrity Skin concerts by taking photographs, several of which were featured in National Geographic music editorials. As noted by Auf der Maur, it was a "daily event" for Love to invite audience members onstage to sing with her for the last song at nearly every concert performed during the tour.

On June 18, 1999 during Hole's set at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden, a 19-year old girl died after being crushed by the mosh pit behind the mixing board. The band did not comment on her death. Hole played its final show at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver on July 14, 1999. A few months later, Auf der Maur quit Hole and went on to become a touring bassist for The Smashing Pumpkins. Despite being the only two remaining members of the group, Love and Erlandson still continued with Hole. The band's final release was a single for the movie Any Given SundayCelebrity Skin sessions, and was another song co-written and included bass-work by Corgan. (1999). "Be a Man", released in March 2000, was an outtake from the

Love and Erlandson officially disbanded Hole via a message posted on the band's website in 2002. Their more than decade-long run as a band produced three studio albums that generated sales of 8 million in total. After the split, the four musicians each took on projects of their own. Erlandson continued to work as a producer and session musician, eventually forming the experimental group RRIICCEE with controversial artist, Vincent Gallo and Love began a solo career, releasing her debut, America's Sweetheart in 2004. Melissa Auf der Maur also embarked on a solo career, and released her self-titled debut album in 2004, which also included Erlandson on lead guitar on the track, "Would If I Could." Her second album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010.

Hole's original body of work includes thirteen singles, six Grammy nominations, three LPs, three EPs, one compilation album and 10 music videos.

Reformation and Nobody's Daughter (2009–present)

On June 17, 2009, NME posted two in-depth blogs, and links to two interviews, of Courtney Love announcing the reunion of Hole. The article was primarily focused on Love's upcoming solo release, Nobody's Daughter, yet it claimed with the "rock Courtney back in action, this music could only come out under one name, HOLE". According to the blog post, Melissa Auf der Maur would once again be bassist, with Micko Larkin replacing Eric Erlandson, and a drummer was not mentioned. There was also mention of "tours next year". However, days later, Melissa Auf der Maur, interviewed in Toronto where she was appearing at the North by Northeast music festival, said she had "no clue" about the band's reported reunion and denied the NME claim she had, or was asked to, contribute vocals to the album or had been asked to tour with the purportedly reunited band saying, "I actually don't know [about the reunion]...I arrived at [the music festival in Toronto] and I heard that Hole were getting back together from people sending me links," she said.

Eric Erlandson has also stated in Spin magazine that contractually no reunion can take place without his involvement, therefore Nobody's Daughter would remain Love's solo record, as opposed to a "Hole" record. Love then responded to Erlandson's comments in a Twitter post, claiming that "he's out of his MIND, Hole is MY band, MY name, and MY Trademark". Shortly after this quarrel Love began posting new Hole logos, stage ideas, and guitar pick ideas on her Facebook page, implying, though not confirming, that Hole had reformed.

In December 2009, three upcoming shows were announced in New York, Milan and Amsterdam, at The Standard Hotel's Boom Boom Room, the Magazzini Generali and Paradiso respectively, though flyers from the New York show credit the performer solely as Courtney Love. The official Paradiso website issued a press release the same month stating Melissa Auf der Maur would partake in the show, but when asked by a fan on her official Facebook fan page, Auf der Maur claimed that "[this] mysterious press release is news to me [...] putting my detective hat on now [...] more on this soon." The Paradiso's website claimed in January 2010 that "many quarrels are settled."

Auf der Maur stated in an interview with New York Magazine in April, 2010: "Even in rock and roll, I believe there's a right and wrong. I'm still close friends with Eric [Erlandson, co-founder and former guitarist of Hole], and he's the only one who can do anything on his end about it. He's a peaceful man who has made great efforts in his own life to find peace. I feel protective of the legacy of Hole and my memories in it. It wasn't even so much about doing a reunion. I told Courtney, 'I support the retrospective of everything done in that time. If and when you're ready to look at that, I'll support it.' What's so funny is that she can come out and say that I asked her to do a reunion. That's not exactly what was said. What I said was that I think a retrospective would be incredibly valuable right now and that's obviously not where she's at. ... I've always wished the best for her. I want her to be happy. I want her to be musical. I care about her well-being. When she gets an idea in her mind, that's what she stays with regardless of what other people think or feel. I put my foot down when she shockingly declared Hole was playing its first shows. All I was really trying to say was that I hope it doesn't blow the opportunity for a real reunion and retrospective. You can’t just do Hole Two again later." 

Hole launched a new website, and an official Facebook page on January 1, 2010. The band played its first performance since the reunion on February 12, 2010 on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross playing "Samantha". On February 17, 2010 they played a full set at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, with support from Little Fish. Further shows were performed at 02 Academy Brixton and SPIN's annual SXSW music festival, with further dates being added for the United States and United Kingdom in April and May 2010. Television appearances, in efforts to promote the upcoming album, include performing on Late Show with David LettermanJimmy Kimmel Live! on April 29 and on Later with Jools Holland on the 4th of May. on April 27,

On March 16, the first Hole single in ten years, and first from Nobody's Daughter was released. "Skinny Little Bitch" was the most added song on alternative radio and the second most added song on active rock in early March in the United States, debuting at #32 on Billboard's Alternative Singles Chart. "Pacific Coast Highway" is expected to be the second single from the album. On April 14, Eric Erlandson confirmed the contract he had mentioned in SPIN in 2009, stating that "in the agreement, she agreed that she would not use the name Hole commercially without [Eric]'s approval. She was intent on using her name at that point, figuring it had more value than the name Hole." He also claimed "[Courtney]'s management convinced me that it was all hot air and that she would never be able to finish her album. Now I’m left in an uncomfortable position" and disputed claims that he and Love reached a financial settlement over the name Hole, stating that "[they] haven’t settled the issue. There’s been no financial settlement. [Eric is] sure what she meant to say is that she hoped for a settlement in the future. But nothing’s happened yet. Courtney and her management continue to roll along with their plans to, in my opinion, ruin the Hole legacy, just for some cheap thrills."

Nobody's Daughter was released on April 26 and 27 worldwide via Mercury Records (Island Def Jam). Hole is now being managed by Crush Management which manages other groups such as Fall Out Boy, Train and Panic! at the Disco.

On March 28, 2011, Love, Erlandson, Patty Schemel and Auf der Maur appeared at the New York screening of Schemel's documentary Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Patty Schemel at the Museum of Modern Art. The appearance was first time in thirteen years that all four members appeared together in public. Schemel has expressed a desire to record with Love, Erlandson and Auf der Maur stating "nothing has been discussed, but I have a feeling." After the screening, the four took part in a Q&A session where Courtney Love stated "so for me, as much as I love playing with Patty — and I would play with her in five seconds again, and everyone onstage — if it's not moving forward, I don't wanna do it. That's just my thing. There's rumblings; there's always bloody rumblings. But if it's not miserable and it's going forward and I'm happy with it… that's all I have to say about that question."

CRACKER **

Cracker is an American alternative rock band featuring singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. They are best known for their platinum-selling 1993 album, Kerosene Hat, featuring the hit songs "Low", "Euro-Trash Girl", and "Get Off This".

Founders Lowery and Hickman formed the band in 1991, soon releasing the album CrackerVirgin Records. The band has been touring continually ever since, releasing 10 studio albums (plus several compilations, collaborations and live albums). Their most recent album is Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey, released May 5, 2009 on 429/Savoy Records. Cracker mixes influences and sounds ranging from rock, punk, alt-country, psychedelia, blues, and folk.

History

1990s

Shortly after Lowery's former group Camper Van Beethoven called it quits in 1990, he began demoing material along with guitarist Johnny Hickman (formerly in The Unforgiven) and bassist Davey Faragher, eventually going by the name Cracker. A brief tour with Virginia drummer Greg Weatherford followed. The band recorded a demo tape, later nicknamed Dirty Yellow Demos by the group's fan base, which included early versions of songs that would appear on later albums.

By 1991, the newly formed band had signed a recording contract with Virgin Records and enlisted the help of several drummers/percussionists (Jim Keltner, Michael Urbano and Phil Jones), issuing their self-titled debut in 1992. The album featured the radio hit "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)", which peaked at #1 on Modern Rock Tracks, and a second single entitled "Happy Birthday to Me".

A year later, Cracker issued their best-selling album, Kerosene Hat, which featured the hits "Low" and "Get Off This", as well as a cover of the Grateful Dead's "Loser". The album sold close to half a million copies. Urbano performed on Kerosene Hat and toured with Cracker before leaving the band, along with Faragher. After a short stint with Bruce Hughes, the group added Bob Rupe as bassist. In 1993, Cracker contributed the song "Good Times Bad Times" to the Encomium tribute album to Led Zeppelin (which was recorded after their rendition of "When the Levee Breaks" was deemed "too weird").

Three years later, The Golden Age was released, with "I Hate My Generation" as the lead single. However, the music scene was shifting away from guitar-driven alternative rock, and the single and album did poorly. Following the long-term additions of drummer Frank Funaro and keyboardist Kenny Margolis, the band tried again in 1998 with Gentleman's Blues, featuring "The Good Life" as the lead single, to a lukewarm critical response and further poor sales.

Camper Van Beethoven unexpectedly re-formed in 1999. Since that time, Lowery has performed in both bands.

2000s

A compilation called Garage D'Or was released in 2000, with one disc composed of greatest hits and three new songs, and another of outtakes, soundtrack contributions, demos and other obscurities. Rupe departed in January 2000 and was replaced by bassist Brandy Wood. In 2002, the band released its next studio album, Forever which, once again, was met with limited commercial and critical success.

The group left Virgin in 2003 with the independent release Countrysides, composed of eight country and western covers and one new, original song. A collaboration with bluegrass band Leftover Salmon, Oh Cracker, Where Art Thou? (2003), contained bluegrass versions of old Cracker songs. In 2005, Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven started an annual three night "Campout" at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace in Pioneertown, CA, close to where David and Johnny met, in which they and several other bands perform, including sets by Cracker and Camper band members performing their own music. Previous years' guests have included Roger Clyne, John Doe, Neko Case, Ike Reilly, Ryan Bingham, Vermillion Lies, Jason Molina & Magnolia Electric Co, Built To Spill, Brant Bjork and the Bros, Clem Snide, Gram Rabbit, and The Bellrays.

With Camper Van Beethoven bassist Victor Krummenacher replacing Wood, the band released the studio album Greenland on June 6, 2006 and continued to tour extensively. After the departures of Margolis and Krummenacher, the band's lineup stabilized in 2007 around Hickman, Lowery, Funaro and new bassist Sal Maida, who had played with Roxy Music.

Cracker released a new studio album entitled Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey to positive reviews on May 5, 2009. It was the band's first chart on the Billboard 200 in over a decade, after having sold over 3,000 copies in a week. This was in part due to the Triple A chart success of the album's lead single, "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out With Me."

2010s

In January 2011, David Lowery released his first solo album, The Palace Guards, on 429 Records. In March, Cracker announced Campout East, the east coast counterpart to their Campout festival, to be held in Crozet, Virginia. The first Campout East will be held at Misty Mountain Camp Resort and will be co-hosted by Sons of Bill.