ALBUM REVIEW

HOLE

“Live Through This”

Geffen

* * * *

With Hole’s second album and major-label debut, the quartet proves itself powerful enough to break away from the infamy of its leader Courtney Love, and emerge as a separate but equally charismatic entity. The band’s more accessible follow-up to its acidic 1992 debut “Pretty on the Inside” packs intellect, humor, volatile emotion and recklessness inside churning and contagious melodies--a combination that makes it the year’s most complete album yet.

Love sings in deep, raspy, bittersweet tones, then unleashes full-throttled screams full of intense anger and defiance. The vocal shifts are both caressing and abrasive, with incredibly sad lyrics that reflect the turmoil in Love’s life (“Every time I sell myself to you, I feel a little cheaper than I have to”). The music goes from contemplative to manic, but always keeps its composure inside a slightly gruff but perfect pop structure. “Live Through This” is an album aimed at all levels of the human psyche, and rarely if ever misses its target.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).