Hole - Live Through This

Live Through This was released in April 1994, four days after Kurt Cobain's death, which has shadowed it ever since. Set that aside and what remains is one of the defining rock albums of the decade: twelve songs of melody and fury about beauty, motherhood, rage, and survival.

"Violet" opens with a snarl and a hook in equal measure, "Doll Parts" is the aching center, and "Miss World" and "Asking for It" pair pop craft with real menace. Kristen Pfaff, who played bass on the album, died two months after its release, making the title read as grimly prophetic twice over.

It went platinum and topped critics' polls, and it still sounds louder and smarter than most of what surrounded it.

Pressed on black 180-gram vinyl.