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{{Short description|1997 EP by Hole}}
{{for|the 2003 Warren Zevon compilation|The First Sessions}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = The First Session
| type = EP
| artist = [[Hole (band)|Hole]]
| cover = Holefirstsession.gif
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|1997|08|26}}
| recorded = March 17, 1990
| venue =
| studio = Rudy's Rising Star (Los Angeles)
| genre = [[Alternative rock]], [[noise rock]]
| length = {{Duration|m=12|s=55}}
| label = [[Sympathy for the Record Industry]]
| producer = James Moreland, [[Eric Erlandson]]
| prev_title = [[Ask for It]]
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = [[My Body, the Hand Grenade]]
| next_year = 1997
}}

'''''The First Session''''' is an [[Extended play|EP]] by American [[alternative rock]] band [[Hole (band)|Hole]], released on August 26, 1997, on [[Sympathy for the Record Industry]]. The EP features the entire recording of the band's first studio session on March 17, 1990, and also a twenty-page booklet focusing on the band's early career prior to the release of their debut studio album, ''[[Pretty on the Inside]]'' (1991). The EP marked Hole's final release on Sympathy for the Record Industry.

==Background==
Hole formed in mid-1989 after lead guitarist [[Eric Erlandson]] replied to an advertisement, placed by frontwoman [[Courtney Love]], in the [[Los Angeles]]-based punk rock fanzine ''The Recycler''. The band's first rehearsal took place in Fortress Studios in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], where Love, Erlandson and original bassist Lisa Roberts "played something noisy" while "they [Courtney and Lisa] started screaming their poetry at the top of their lungs for two or three hours."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Erlandson |first1=Eric|year=1999|title=''Skin Tight''|journal=[[Guitar World]]|page=54|issue=January 1999}}</ref> Drummer [[Caroline Rue]] and a third guitarist, [[Mike Geisbrecht]] were then recruited and the band began performing shows in October 1989. Songs that would be later featured on ''The First Session'' were played at these series of live shows. Before Hole began to develop a fanbase, Geisbrecht left and his position was not replaced. Roberts also left the group at some point in early 1990 and was replaced by [[Jill Emery]] on bass.

==Recording==
In March 1990, Hole were given a budget of $500 by [[Sympathy for the Record Industry]]'s president Long Gone John for a studio recording session, which was initially meant to include only "Retard Girl."<ref>Mermis, John. "[He] gave the band 500 bucks for a recording session. She told me she wanted to do this song called 'Retard Girl' and that intrigued me." Extract from an interview from ''Courtney Love: [[The E! True Hollywood Story]]'', broadcast on October 5, 2003.</ref> The allocated studio was known as Rudy's Rising Star, which Hole later described as "a tiny LA basement studio,"<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=My Body, the Hand Grenade|title-link=My Body, the Hand Grenade|others=Hole|year=1997|chapter=...of a band that rocketed from a tiny LA basement studio into alternative rock superstardom.|pages=9–20|type=CD|publisher=[[City Slang Records]]|id=EFA 04995-2|location=Los Angeles, California}}</ref> and the recording session took place on March 17, 1990.<ref>{{cite book|title=Nirvana - The True Story|last=True|first=Everett|author-link=Everett True|year=2006|publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London, United Kingdom|isbn=978-1-84449-640-2|page=316}}</ref>

"[[Turpentine (Hole song)|Turpentine]]" was recorded first, followed by "Phonebill Song" and "[[Retard Girl]]."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hole Studio Chronology | A Hole recording database|url=http://holestudiochronology.eu.pn/march-17-1990.htm|publisher=The Hole Studio Chronology|accessdate=June 6, 2011}}</ref> The final song, "Johnnie's in the Bathroom," was an [[avant garde]]-inspired noise jam and included segments of recorded phonecalls. Love's then-husband, "Falling" James Moreland, recorded and produced the session<ref name="ln" /> and Erlandson also took part in the production process. The final recordings were mastered by John Vestman. Moreland, despite mixed reports, would not produce Hole's next session at Radio Tokyo in November 1990, which featured "[[Dicknail]]" and "Burn Black."

The following month, in April 1990, Sympathy for the Record Industry took three songs from the session and officially released them as Hole's debut single, "[[Retard Girl]]." This release omitted "Turpentine."

==Packaging==
The album's [[cover artwork]] features a [[black and white]] photograph of the band in 1990, taken by photographer Vicki Berndt, and an early Hole logo in pink text. Another Berndt photograph is featured on the first page of the EP's twenty-page booklet and was used by Sympathy for the Record Industry as an official promotional photograph a year later around the time of the release of Hole's debut studio album, ''[[Pretty on the Inside]]'' (1991). The booklet focuses strictly on Hole's early career and includes a full transcript of one of the band's first interviews for ''[[Flipside (fanzine)|Flipside]]'' (issue 68) in September–October 1990, accompanying photographs by Al Flipside,<ref name="ln2">{{cite AV media notes|title=The First Session|title-link=The First Session|others=[[Hole (band)|Hole]]|year=1997|chapter=Colour photos by Al Flipside. Special thanks to Miss K. Sugarheart Belljar and Mia Ferraro and also Lois at Evergreen.|pages=20–21|type=CD |publisher=[[Sympathy for the Record Industry]]|id=SFTRI 53CD|location=Los Angeles, California}}</ref> the cover of the "Retard Girl" single, flyers and posters for some of Hole's early shows and various text written by Courtney Love, including a quote of Proverbs 9:13 from [[The Bible]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Proverbs|9:13}}</ref> On the final credits page of the booklet, Hole gives special thanks to "Miss K. Sugarheart Belljar" ([[Kat Bjelland]] of [[Babes in Toyland (band)|Babes in Toyland]], who features on the cover of the "Retard Girl" single) labelmate Mia Ferraro of the band Spoons and a member of staff at [[Olympia, Washington|Olympia]]'s [[Evergreen State College]].<ref name="ln2" />

According to [[Broadcast Music Incorporated]]'s official web site, the songwriting credits on ''The First Session'' are mistaken. Although all the songs are listed as being written collectively written by Hole, Love wrote and composed "Retard Girl" solely by herself and the rest of the songs were written by both her and Erlandson.<ref>{{cite web|title=BMI | Repertoire Search|url=http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&page=1&keyid=1245797&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID|publisher=[[Broadcast Music Incorporated|BMI]]|accessdate=April 8, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721142850/http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&page=1&keyid=1245797&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID|archive-date=July 21, 2012}}</ref>

==Release==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[Allmusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}} <ref name="amg">{{cite web|title=The First Session - Hole | AllMusic|url={{AllMusic|clas=album|id=first-session-r311092|pure_url=yes}}|publisher=[[Allmusic]]|author=Jason Akeny|accessdate=April 8, 2010}}</ref>
}}

''The First Session'' was released as Hole's second EP, following ''[[Ask for It]]'' (1995), on August 26, 1997, and was only issued in the United States. The release almost identically coincided with the release of the band's first compilation album, ''[[My Body, the Hand Grenade]]'', released a month later on [[City Slang Records|City Slang]].<ref>{{cite web|title=My Body, the Hand Grenade - Hole | AllMusic|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=my-body-the-hand-grenade-r328681|pure_url=yes}}|publisher=[[Allmusic]]|author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|accessdate=June 6, 2011}}</ref> Three songs from ''The First Session'' later appeared on ''My Body, the Hand Grenade'' and "Johnnie's in the Bathroom" was omitted. Both albums were released during Hole's reported hiatus, due in part to Love's acting career, and during the transitional period between ''[[Live Through This]]'' (1994) and ''[[Celebrity Skin]]'' (1998).

Upon its release, the EP failed to attract much critical or commercial reception. Jason Akeny of [[Allmusic]] rated the album two and a half out of five stars, calling it "the same abrasive, barbed-wire [[juvenilia]] it's always been" and but praises "Eric Erlandson's lumpy, lurching guitar", "Courtney Love's ear-splitting screech" that "does achieve some kind of catharsis" and refers to "Johnnie's in the Bathroom" as "The [[Patti Smith]] homage."<ref name="amg" />

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| total_length = 12:55
| all_writing =
| title1 = [[Retard Girl]]
| note1 =
| writer1 = Courtney Love
| length1 = 4:47
| title2 = Phonebill Song
| note2 =
| writer2 = Love, Erlandson
| length2 = 1:48
| title3 = [[Turpentine (Hole song)|Turpentine]]
| note3 = previously unreleased
| writer3 = Love, Erlandson
| length3 = 4:07
| title4 = Johnnie's in the Bathroom
| note4 =
| writer4 = Love, Erlandson
| length4 = 2:17
}}

==Personnel==
Adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref name="ln">{{cite AV media notes|title=The First Session|title-link=The First Session|others=[[Hole (band)|Hole]]|year=1997|type=CD|publisher=[[Sympathy for the Record Industry]]|id=SFTRI 53CD}}</ref>

'''Hole'''
*[[Courtney Love]] – [[Singing|vocals]], [[guitar]]
*[[Eric Erlandson]] – guitar
*[[Jill Emery]] – [[Bass guitar|bass]]
*Caroline Rue – [[Drum kit|drums]]

'''Technical'''
*James Moreland – [[Record producer|producer]], [[Audio engineering|engineer]]
*Eric Erlandson – assistant producer
*John Vestman – [[Audio mastering|mastering]]

'''Design'''
*Vicki Berndt – [[photography]]
*Al Flipside – photography

==See also==
*"[[Retard Girl]]"
*''[[My Body, the Hand Grenade]]''

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Hole}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Session}}
[[Category:Hole (band) albums]]
[[Category:1997 EPs]]
[[Category:Sympathy for the Record Industry EPs]]

The First Session - Revision history

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