VIA PRESS RELEASE | Interscope-Capitol Records’ Definitive Sound Series (DSS) announces Hole’s Live Through This as the next release in its acclaimed premium audiophile vinyl series. Available September 24, and now available for pre-order, the limited-edition All-Analog 180g One Step LP marks the first vinyl edition ever mastered from the album’s original analog master tapes, which were recently rediscovered by Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson.
Long believed lost, the original analog masters surfaced after Erlandson revisited a pair of oversized tape reels he had stored for decades. “I remembered two oversized reels from Bob Ludwig’s Gateway Mastering Studios that I had seen in my storage locker,” offers Erlandson. “I thought they were digital tapes created as backups. When I found them, I realized they were the actual analog mixes Bob had compiled to master the album. Bingo!”
Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, the Definitive Sound Series edition of Live Through This was sourced from these rediscovered original analog master tapes and pressed on Neotech VR900 D2 180g high-definition vinyl at Record Technology, Inc. Utilizing the audiophile preferred One Step process, which eliminates multiple plating stages, the release presents the album with extraordinary clarity and dynamic range while preserving the intensity of the original recordings.
Limited to 3,000 numbered copies, each Definitive Sound Series edition is housed in a custom-designed slipcase featuring the original album artwork, a premium heavyweight tip-on jacket featuring Erlandson’s reflections on the remarkable discovery of the master tapes, and a newly created eight-page booklet. A certificate of authenticity details the mastering, plating, and press chain.
Originally released in 1994, Live Through This stands among the defining albums of the alternative rock era. Hole’s second studio album captured the band at the height of its creative powers, producing enduring classics including “Miss World,” “Doll Parts,” “Violet,” and “Jennifer’s Body.” The album spent more than a year on the Billboard 200, earned Platinum certification in the US, and has since become one of the most influential rock records of the 1990s.
Upon its release, critics hailed Live Through This as a watershed moment in alternative music. Rolling Stone praised its “ferocious intelligence and unforgettable hooks,” while Spin called it “a triumph of rage, melody, and vulnerability.” Pitchfork has since described the album as “a landmark of ‘90s rock,” citing its enduring influence on generations of alternative artists.
