Customer Reviews

My Body the Hand Grenade

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This album spans their entire career. It's excellent.

1. Turpentine- 5/5... Perfect way to start the album. Courtney's screaming is placed right where it should be. Very strong guitar riffs. Excellent drumming.
2. Phonebill Song- 4/5... It's a good song to get you even more hyped than Turpentine did. It has great energy and it sounds almost live.
3. Retard Girl- 5/5... One of my favorite Hole songs. Great bass introduction to the song followed by a great guitar riff and strong drumming. Courtney's screeches are perfect in this song.
4. Burn Black- 5/5... Such an energy in this song. You can almost taste the anger Hole is feeding you. The lyrics are hateful, and mocking. Great chorus and bridge. This song makes it worth buying the whole album.
5. Dicknail- 4/5... Such a strong song here. The lyrics tell a story and Courtney's voice makes it even more enjoyable.
6. Beautiful Son- 5/5... A song about Kurt and how he wore Courtney's dresses. Very sweet. The song is almost as beautiful as Kurt himself. ;)
7. 20 Years In The Dakota... 5/5 Courtney managed to put in her signiture wail and make it even enjoyable to Avril fans. This is a great ode to Yoko Ono. Very mocking beat. Just... excellent. You can really feel the energy. It makes you want to sing along.
8. Miss World- 4/5 This is an orginal version of the song and it's just pure joy. Far better than the version on Live Through this too.
9. Old Age- 5/5 Has to be one of the best songs on the album. Just so beautiful, and sad. You feel like Courtney is telling your story. The lyrics tell a sad story, and although Courtney doesn't scream, this is a classic Hole song.
10. Softer, Softest- 4/5 This is a live version of the song availible off of Live Through This.
11. he Hit Me (it felt like a kiss)- 5/5... EXCELLENT cover song. Sad, twisted lyrics. Just... so enjoyable.
12. Season Of The Witch- 5/5 Great bass in this song. Another perfect cover song. Hole makes you forget that it's a cover song when they play them.
13. Drown Soda- 4/5 This is a really long song. (Not as long as Death Sex though) Really good slow song that eventually gets angry.
14. Asking For It- 5/5 A great live version of Asking For It. Courtney changes the lyrics a little and just makes it... so fun.

Hole are by far the greatest band in the world. Someday when I, a dazzeling female musician, am recognized to be the most amazing rocker grrrl on the planet... I will say "Hole is the band that gave me the voice and vision to work my a** off to get here!" For fans who don't wish to take Hole's pop-punk 101, by tracking down/listening to all the rarities, singles, and Pretty On the Inside, you can take the easy slacker way out, and just buy My Body the Hand Grenade, first. It's kinda like the X-Files movie... for people who've watched the show all five season up to the flick, it's a celebration, but for newer, less adventurous mainstream fans, it's simply a crash course done quickly, which you may or may not like/appreciate. I love Hand Grenade, which has the best version of Burn Black around! This compliation was masterminded by Eric and Courtney (mostly Eric, I'm sure)... and it contains brilliant photos showcasing all the many versions of the band, from Caroline and Jill all the way up to magnificent goddess Melissa and pretty-pouter Patty. I recommend this album to all and everyone, and if you like/love it, do yourself a favor and pick up Ask For It, while you're at it! Grrrls kick a** and Hole are the best of the best!

This is a strange album. A compilation of b-sides and rarities that your parents would call "ear-splitting electronic garbage."
This album is sheer genius. Sure, it is earsplitting and those not used to the noise might get a headache, but this is Courtney Love at her finest. This is a completely solid album, a wonderful anthology. There are no weak spots, there are no mistakes, there are no fillers. Let me explain.

1. Turpentine: Very, very early Hole and arguably the best. This song drips of malice and filth and sleaze. The guitars are very interesting, also.

2. Phonebill song: The loudest song on the record. Another early one, and very punk. There is nothing paticularly special about this song, but it's interesting to compare it to some of Hole's late stuff and see how they've grown.

3. Retard Girl: Hands down the best song on the album. It just SPEWS venom and cruelty. "God I hate that retard girl. . . HIT HER!" There are no facades with the song. Nor are there any apologies.

4. Burn Black: A very interesting song. The guitars will pierce your eardrums, but the song is a very important one. It has a strange neo-feminism that really isn't heard anywhere else.

5. Dicknail: This is one sick song. The lyrics are twisted and so are the guitars, but this album wouldn't be complete without it.

6. Beautiful Son: A slightly disturbing song. The music is bland and the lyrics are rather frightening. Not a personal favorite.

7. 20 Years In The Dakota: This song will blow your mind. It's sweet and demented at the same time. The tune is soothing, but the lyrics won't let you drift off.

8. Miss World: A demo version. It's quite different from the studio version. There's no, "I made my bed, I'll die in it" type-stuff and it's mellower.

9. Old Age: A gem. This one is achingly wistful and full of lament. This song is relaxing and I think Courtney was letting us have a glimpse into her life.

10. Softer, Softest: From MTV's unplugged. The lyrics are different, and in my opinion, a lot better.

11. He Hit Me, It Felt Like A Kiss: Also from MTV's unplugged. Very nice, good vocal work.

12. Season of the Witch: Also from MTV's unplugged. Catchy bass line. Creepy lyrics.

13. Drown Soda: Blistering. You'll be amazed by Courtney's scream when she gets to, "Watch me while I drown." It completely blew me away.

14. Asking For It: Another MTV performance. Nothing really special, but the band changes the song around. An interesting listen.

In conclusion, anyone who listens to music that doesn't suck, should have this in their collection. Forget Avril Lavigne. Let Courtney show you the way.

This is an amazing album, it has semi-rare tracks and non-album versions of really good songs like the demo of "miss world" and the mtv unplugged verion of "softer softest", and the awesome "hard" song from back in the day "burn black". For anyone who likes hardcore (i guess) to more mellow soft grungy songs, i recommend this. Plus, hole just simply RULE, new and old stuff. And it's the step ya need between "Pretty On the Inside" and "Live Through This" i guess you can call it the last thing released before they went poppy (excluding their cover of "Gold dust woman"). GO GET IT NOW :-)

The weirdest thing about this EP is that neither Caroline (the indie label that relased Hole's freshperson album, PRETTY ON THE INSIDE, as well as ASKING FOR IT) or Geffen (which relased LIVE THROUGH THIS or CELEBRITY SKIN) issued this quirky rarities collection. By far the best tracks on it are "Old Age" (recorded for LTT, but never released), a haunting accoustic number reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen's NEBRASKA or GHOST OF TOM JOAD albums (or CS's "Northern Star"), three songs from Hole's MTV Unplugged performance: ("Softer, Softest," Courtney's ironic remake of a Phil Spector hit "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)---rendered even more bitterly ironic in light of how Phil treated Ronnie Spector---and, of all songs, Donavan's "Season Of The Witch"), as well as searing concert versions of "Drown Soda," an angry song that Andrea Dworkin, were she a rock fan, would adopt as an anthem, and a fascinating train-wreck version of "Asking For It."

Length:: 1:17 Mins

I couldn't find this album anywhere, except here on the internet. When I played it, I was sort of surprised. This album sort of links all of Hole's albums together. For example, "Beautiful Son" and "20 Years In The Dakota" were recorded between the time of Pretty On The Inside and Live Through This. You can almost see Hole evolving into different styles. It's very interesting. This album has tracks from all over Hole's career (before Celebrity Skin, that is). You can see how Hole was going to write their final album, through the evolving sounds. If you like their music, I highly recommend this!

This is a great collection if you don't own any of the singles that contained many of these B Sides...or if you're like me and you sold all your old Hole singles when you had to run off to New Orleans... buy this, not the first sessions or ask for it. Or buy all three, but definetly buy this one first.
And- for the person above who said 20 Years in the Dakota was atribute to Yoko Ono?? erm, no. It was to Frances Farmer. The Dakota was the institute she was sent to.

"My Body The Hand Grenade" is a phenomenal disc, covering their best years, 1990-1995. Though the disc may be uneven, it goes in an almost chronilogical order with their earliest work in the beginning of the album, and their latest towards the end. The thing that is great about this album is that the tracks are not just "leftovers".

They are great tracks, some of them the best of Hole's career ("Old Age")!!!. They are very special, meaningful tracks like the ones from Mtv's unplugged, as well as the demos and outtakes. The best songs on the album are definitely "Old Age" which might be Hole's best song ever, and "20 years in the Dakota" an ode to Yoko Ono. This disc is essential for any Hole fan because it is so genuine and heartfelt, whether Courtney is screaming at you or serenading you softly (which is rare in her case :) )

I suggest you go and buy this disc, although it is only available online, but you might be able to snag a copy at a used record store.

Great album!!!!

The first half of this album is dedicated to early Hole studio tracks, all of which are amazing and gut-wrenching. I can't pick a favourite, because they're all so good. The second half of the album contains demos and live tracks, and one that didn't make it onto "Live Through This", Old Age. This is a beautiful song with poignant lyrics. The closer is a glorified live version of "Asking For It", my favourite Hole song, which offers a novel interpretation of the song and leaves your head spinning. Not an album for the faint hearted, but for everyone else, it's highly recommended.