A mascara streaked “beauty queen” on the front, an innocent picture of 12-year old [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Courtney Love[/lastfm] on the back. As ever, the dichotomy of Courtney is the  message of [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Hole[/lastfm]‘s Live Through This.

Live through what, one has to ask? Being a teenager? Being a beauty queen, a distinction that’s as fleeting as beauty and youth itself? The back photo is full of promise, the cover photo (taken by fashion photographer Ellen Von Unwerth) is full of tragedy.

Beauty and sadness, promise and pain: the story of Courtney Love fairly well summed-up on the cover of Live Through This, the record that made them a mainstream success.

[metrolyrics artist="Hole " song="Violet"]

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