Review: Vinyl Reissued of 3 Hole Albums

I can't think of a band that arrived with more baggage than Hole. By the time they released their first album in 1991, Courtney Love was already partnered with the biggest star of the barely-there-yet alternative revolution. Her explosive personality was all over MTV, and her myriad controversies were about to turn Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair into The National Enquirer. 

All this Love made it hard to take Hole's music at face value. That may have actually been a boon for Pretty On the Inside, which is way too abrasive and tuneless to get much traction on its own merits outside of the hardest of hardcore grunge puppies. I also can't think of another debut album by a pretty popular band that is so hard to listen to, with only the somewhat garagey "Loaded" and somewhat psychedelic "Clouds" having enough distinctive personality to rise above their own lack of melodies. Pretty On the Inside makes Bleach sound like Meet the Beatles.