This post is dedicated to my high-school buddies; in particular Ben, Michelle and Nicole.

I’m not sure I’ve ever written about Courtney Love before. Perhaps if blogs had been around back in the 90’s when I was in high school I would have. During those formative teenage years – although still a slave to pop and dance music – through my grungey/alternative doc-martin wearing friends, I’d learnt of this marvellous creature named Courtney.

She was, in my young, confused eyes, the Rock ‘n Roll answer to Madonna; Loud, abrasive, unapologetic, intelligent, outspoken and misunderstood.  The only difference was that what you got from Courtney WAS Courtney. Where Madonna would sometimes put on a show, or the ‘persona’ of that Creamy Smooth Pop Icon Goddess, Courtney was just… Courtney. She swore, she burned bridges; she didn’t care. There was no show (or at least one that wasn’t put on), more often than not, that special blend of crazy she would deliver (and still does) was the 100% real thing. With all her flaws (perfect in my eyes), she was the kind of female Icon and – God forbid if my Mother ever knew of this – role model that my teenage-self perhaps needed within my immediate line-of-vision; that obvious kick up the arse to come into my own. Hole were the ultimate band in my eyes; they were everything and then some.

From Pretty On The Inside, to Live Through This (their overall best album), to Celebrity Skin (their other overall best album), even the often-forgotten My Body The Hand Grenade… just like a Madonna album in my collection, they are timeless.

When Courtney went solo, I was thrilled. “Mono” had given me exactly the kind of song I had expected from her, and although her first album as a solo artist, 2004’s America’s Sweetheart copped a lot of flack critically (and commercially), most of that album is actually outstanding.

But 2010 looks to be the year that classic rock ‘n’ roll musical force she was in the 90’s returns. Tweeting like crazy, you’ve no doubt heard the stories that Courtney’s follow up to America’s Sweetheart will now actually be the follow up to Celebrity Skin. Courtney’s reformed Hole, and whilst Eric Erlandson’s certainly not happy about it, I bloody well am.

Some of the tracks that have surfaced over the last two years from these ‘Hole’ sessions are – already in demo form – some of the best pieces of work she’s done yet. “Letter To God” is monstrously epic, “Never Go Hungry Again” validates the Marianne Faithful claims… these are EXCEPTIONAL additions to Hole’s already stellar back catalogue.

My love for Courtney once again prevents me from seeing things objectionably. I understand that Hole may not exactly be Hole without Eric Erlandson, but I never really looked at him, did I? Sure, he wrote and played a strong part in Hole whilst they were Hole, but in a world where we can oust the last-remaining original Sugababe for a Eurovision contestant, why is any of this a surprise? At least we have one remaining original member in Hole; it also just so happens to be the most important one as well. Hole might not be Hole with Eric, but it is more Courtney than it ever was Eric’s. Maybe not to him, but certainly to a lot of the bands fans.

Hole’s “Nobody’s Daughter” is released at some point this year, and it’s already the album I am most looking forward to in 2010.

(Picture taken from Courtney Love’s MySpace.)