Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by Hole, released in September 1998 on Geffen. It followed the noisy, grunge-soaked Pretty on the Inside and Live Through This, and the band set out to move well away from that sound. Michael Beinhorn produced, with sessions stretched over nine months across Los Angeles, New York and London. It turned out to be the group's last record before they split in 2002, and the only one with bassist Melissa Auf der Maur.
The songs were conceived as a "California album", with Courtney Love writing every lyric and returning often to images of water and drowning. Billy Corgan co-wrote the musical arrangements on five tracks, and Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Go's helped on another. The title track topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and the album remains Hole's biggest seller, reaching number nine in the US and number 11 in the UK. It's a polished, ambitious turn well worth hearing.
Celebrity Skin: tracklist, credits and charts
12 tracks · 50:28Tracklist
- 1Celebrity SkinCorgan, Erlandson, Love2:43
- 2AwfulMaur, Erlandson, Love, Schemel3:16
- 3Hit So HardCorgan, Erlandson, Love4:01
- 4MalibuCorgan, Erlandson, Love3:50
- 5Reasons to Be BeautifulMaur, Caffey, Erlandson, Love, Zadorozny5:19
- 6DyingCorgan, Erlandson, Love3:45
- 7Use Once & DestroyMaur, Erlandson, Love, Schemel5:05
- 8Northern StarEric Erlandson and Courtney Love4:58
- 9Boys on the RadioMaur, Erlandson, Love5:10
- 10Heaven TonightEric Erlandson and Courtney Love3:31
- 11Playing Your SongMaur, Erlandson, Love3:21
- 12PetalsCorgan, Erlandson, Love5:29
- Produced by
- Michael Beinhorn, Eric Erlandson
- Recorded at
- Conway Recording (Los Angeles), Record Plant West (Los Angeles), Quad (New York City), Olympic (London)
- Recorded
- April 1997 – February 1998
- Mixed by
- Tom Lord‐Alge, Jack Joseph‐Puig, Chris Lord‐Alge
- Labels
- Geffen, DGC
- Length
- 50:28
Line-up
- Craig Armstrong · strings · guest
- David Campbell · strings · guest
Singles
- “Celebrity Skin” · 31 August 1998
- “Malibu” · 29 December 1998
- “Awful” · 27 April 1999
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 1998 | 9 |
| UK Albums Chart · 1998 | 11 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1998 | 3 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1998 | 4 |
| Swedish Albums · 1998 | 10 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1998 | 14 |
| Austrian Albums · 1998 | 15 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1998 | 15 |
| European Albums (Music & Media) · 1998 | 16 |
| Scottish Albums · 1998 | 18 |
All 17 charts
| German Albums · 1998 | 21 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 1998 | 23 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1998 | 23 |
| French Albums · 1998 | 24 |
| Swiss Albums · 1998 | 26 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 1998 | 48 |
| Dutch Albums · 1998 | 62 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia · 1999 | 2× Platinum |
| Canada · 1998 | Platinum |
| New Zealand | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 2013 | Gold |
| United States · 1998 | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 8 September
Every year →
More from Hole
Full discography →
The best of 1998
All of 1998 →
More on Geffen
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1998-09-08 vs 1998-09-02 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 2 September 1998 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 8 September 1998 | |
| Wikidata | 1998 | |
| US release | 8 September 1998 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 7 September 1998 | earliest UK or European date |
15 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | AU | Geffen | 0720642518922 | other |
| 1998 | XE | Geffen | 720642516423 | other |
| 1998 | US | Geffen | 720642516423 | other |
| 2 September 1998 | JP | Universal Victor, Inc. | 4988067034588 | original |
| 7 September 1998 | XE | Geffen | 720642516423 | other |
| 8 September 1998 | US | DGC Records | 720642516423 | other |
| 8 September 1998 | CA | DGC Records | 720642516423 | other |
| 15 September 1998 | DE | Geffen | 720642516423 | other |
| 1999 | AU | Geffen | 0606949034825 | other |
| 1999 | IT | Geffen | 606949038526 | other |
| 2004 | RU | Geffen | 4605026001541 | other |
| 13 June 2012 | XW | DGC Records | 00720642516423 | other |
| 13 January 2014 | XE | Music on Vinyl | 0600753474242 | other |
| 3 October 2025 | XW | DGC Records | 602478806384 | other |
| 18 September 2026 | US | DGC Records | 199957752688 | remaster |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 2809x2806 to 2806x2806
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 2809×2806 | cropped: cropped from 2809x2806 to 2806x2806 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |