Just a thought I had. I mean, in chart/sales terms albums live and die on the "swinging voters", not the die-hards, and there would have been more goodwill toward "Hole" than "Courtney Love" from randoms. Their previous album had gone Top 10. I always thought AS sort of came across, even in reviews, as being perceived a bit of a "Courtney freaks only" purchase. Hole's previous album was more "latest release from a fairly big act".

I know if she had kept the Hole name and operated the band like a franchise with studio gimps in the other roles it'd be "a bit Simply Red" - or worse, "a bit Guns'n'Roses" - but I wonder if people would have been better disposed towards the record? Was Hole a brand worth knocking on the head, even if it was without Eric?

Meh. Musings.

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Time is the distance that you can't return by miles.

I escaped somehow. Let's go

actualy [sic] I have quite a blessed life if I'm honest. I have many people to love, hate few and have few money problem's [sic].... What more does a person need? Oh yeah and I have some kind of humbleness unlike you of course ^_^ ~ CarefulCarpenter

I think if she had Eric & Company than the record would have turned out much different. Not the material so much (the stuff from Courtney at least) but the production and direction I think would have been much different. I always imagined Hole going in the direction that Courtney is going in now, a more subdued, Bob Dylan-esque record. I think they were on the route of self-production (or produced solely by Eric) with the sound of Drag and Baby Blue.

But to answer your question, yes it probably would have sold more I'm guessing.

It's a sucky thing to say but i admit i would have bought it if it had been filed under Hole instead of Courtney Love. I would have been dubious of Hole sans Eric but yeah, i still would have taken the bait. I love Clove but i don't know, i'm just not really interested in solo music from her. I still have only heard one track from AS and that was because i happened to catch the video on tv.

Interesting. I was imagining AS "Hole" as just Courtney and ring-ins, but naturally I would have preferred that they had all kissed and made up. Or at least Courtney and Eric.

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Time is the distance that you can't return by miles.

I escaped somehow. Let's go

actualy [sic] I have quite a blessed life if I'm honest. I have many people to love, hate few and have few money problem's [sic].... What more does a person need? Oh yeah and I have some kind of humbleness unlike you of course ^_^ ~ CarefulCarpenter

That is just my fantasy.

If Courtney would have kept the Hole franchise it would have probably only featured Patty. I doubt it would differ drastically from the original America's Sweetheart.

who cares? America's Sweetheart is not that good even. Nothing could've saved that record. It was totally drugged out, cocaine demonized, all real emotion drained by the crack.

Mono is a killer track though, and Hold on to me is pretty romantic.

i think it would have sold the same and all and with what happened afterwards it still wouldnt have been promoted from loves occurences/accidents and the drugs unless none of those occurences would have happened not only that but alot of people kinda refer to hole as 90's and in 04 i doubt it would have done good-the last garbage album didnt do good here and neither did the previous one and the last 2 pumpkins albums didnt do that good and zwan didnt do amazing and billys solo didnt do good.i think most people referred to hole as courtney love-its not like say spice girls one leaves you know just like people think billy corgan smashing pumpkins and courtneys solo wasnt a huge departure from hole,you could still tell it was her ,its not like a solo artist went solo without name recognition.i know people who hated hole cos of clove so if they didnt like hole for clo of course they wouldnt have given corkys as a chance.

lol.

you are a tard. like hole albums weren't drugged out either.

anyways, america's sweetheart is way better than confessions.

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It may be quite a basic idea, but I think AS would have sold more if it was actually a better record. The hype was big, over here NME were creaming themselves after hearing the demos, the live reviews were astounding, and then the record came out and it was....well, you've all heard it.

So, I think no, if it was the same record but with a Hole logo on it instead, it probably would have sold the same.

If it was the same exact record, just under a different name, I think it would not have made a difference. Courtney Love has been synonymous with Hole for years before AS. Everyone focused on Courtney and ignored the other members of the band. Magazine articles would say "Courtney Love and Hole" instead of just "hole". And I think everyone who ever liked Hole heard about AS, and either bought it or thought about buying it.

No, it wouldn't. Hole hadn't come out with a record in 6 years and they were done to begin with and also it is a bad record. The idea of AS being a Hole record is quite horrifying.

if Eric was in the studio, he would never EVER permit that shitty digital sound to hit the shelves. Eric is known for being absolutely natzi over Hole's sound. Truly, without Eric, there is no Hole.

For this new album however, i think Billy and Linda are acting the role that Eric always played. And in my opinion, Billy is a genius in the truest sense and Linda is another one in her own way. Also, Courtney has WAY too much to prove now. So Im 99.9% sure that this album will not dissapoint anyone in the way AS did...

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaah
ahhahahahahaha *breathes* hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaa

this is the funniest thing i've ever heard.

he's made one stellar album - simease dream and a few mediocre, the rest are complete shit and let's not even go to the solo album, the only saving grace was having robert smith but the song sucked too.

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Are you for real? I back up my comment 100% and stand by it. Just taking a glimpse to the 90's bands I dont think there was a more equipped band than The Smashing Pumpkins (musically/instruments I mean) just with James, Jimmy and Billy the band was a fucking powerhouse. The only thing I have against them is the extreme unncessary solos and show-off guitars on some of their songs. But that's the band. Billy on his own created Siamese Dream almost by himself and was able to bring an even more grandiose album afterwards with Mellon Collie in both scope and vision and even musically as well. The fact that after this album, the band never sold the same is in no way an indication of mediocrity. And I happen to really like his solo album and Machina I & II were great records with great riffs and songs and videos to boot. It really is a shame that we dont have more musicians and artists of that caliber at the moment.

Not only that, but he lent a hand at two of the best rock records of 98, Celebrity Skin and Mechanical Animals. I mean, it is rather pointless to discuss someone's genius since it all is held to estimation, opinion and regard but do you really consider Billy to be mediocre or even standard?

simease dream is a fuckin' fantastic album - credit is well deserved and one of the best albums of the 90's

mellon colie should have been 1 record, instead of 2 full of lots of filler.

machina and adore were not great albums at all, he lost his touch and put out second rate albums.

pisces iscariot is a wonderful b-sides collection but look at where they came from...simease dream.

gish is a strong debut

the future embrace was terrible, i tried to listen to it a few times but could not sit through it.

i wouldn't consider billy a genius but i do consider him a very important part of 90's alt rock.

i'm very skeptical of this reunion, i hope he pulls it off.

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yes but the Hole albums weren't possessed by the crack. The crack wrote and sang on America's Sweetheart!!! that wasn't even her.

To quote: "the human spirit mixed with white powder is not a person but a demonic presence".

I think Confessions on a Dancefloor can't be outdone by anything. It's a modern day masterpiece.

I dont know, man... ...i really listen to that solo album. I mean, dont think everything a genius does is supposed to be groundbreaking or a Nevermind. Hell, if Kurt were still alive, the Foo Fighters would probably outsell him but I do think Billy is beyond and above most "musicians" he understands what he does and I think he creates tasteful art with finesse but with enough balls to make good songs.

But I also get your point and respect it, he hasnt been able to "top" his previous work. But also in my opinion, I have this weird theory that there was something in the air during the 90's orsome kind of hormone in the food because most bands were at the top of their game. Good competition that made everyone excel....

Confessions is great but I sort of burned it out. That's the thing with Madonna for me. She always manages to wow me at first but then she sort of dies on me. Guess thats the difference between pop and rock...

Like Courtney said: "You burn so hard but you wont burn long"

I love Madonna but Confessions is hardly a masterpiece. It's a good dance record for the most part and that's it. Hung Up, Get Together, Forbidden Love, and Future Lovers are some of Madonna's best songs in my opinion but alot of the other tracks are forgettable.

On the topic of Billy, I really enjoyed TheFutureEmbrace and Adore. Call me crazy...

Right!?!? They were good!

Anyway, on Confessions my favorite track is Issac, which I think is just perfect in its own way. Also this record is great to break a sweat.