Pretty On The Inside - Recording and Production

Recording and Production

Hole had previously released two singles, "Retard Girl" on Sympathy for the Record Industry and "Dicknail" on Sub Pop. According to Love, she had initially wanted to release the album on Sympathy for the Record Industry, but was "talked into" signing on with Caroline Records. After signing, Love sought Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon to produce the album. In January 1991, Love sent her letter, a Hello Kitty barrette, and copies of the band's early singles, mentioning that the band greatly admired Gordon's work and appreciated "the production of the SST record" (referring to Sonic Youth's EVOL or Sister). Gordon agreed on the condition that her friend, Gumball frontman Don Fleming, assist.

The band entered Music Box Studios with Gordon, Fleming and Holly Price in March 1991 and worked on the album for one week; the songs were recorded over a period of four days, and were mixed over the course of a further three days. During the recording sessions for the album, Love gargled whiskey and smoked cigarettes excessively to "give a raw edge to her vocals".

The sessions were said to be stressful, with an anonymous band member saying that Love was "on a total power trip" the entire time, making sure she had the final say of "everything in terms of album cover design, order of musicians' credits in the liner notes, and even the spot where the price code went on the back". Fleming was impressed by Love's "focus and intensity", especially while recording vocals for one song when Love "literally ripped her clothes off while she sang". Fleming also later said:

Courtney was great at the time—it was before she even knew Kurt . She gave 180%. I've worked with some people that you've had to coax the performance out of them. With Courtney, there was no attitude. She was gonna give it all. And she did and it was really impressive to me I loved the whole band; they were a lot of fun. That early lineup of Hole—I felt they were the real deal. They were Hollywood misfits—all of them. I felt it really captured what they were."

Gordon said that Love "was either charming and nice or screaming at her band" but that she was "a really good singer and entertainer and front person".