Despite constantly being in the headlines – mostly for drug charges recently – you have to wonder just how far Courtney Love’s singing and acting career would have got if she hadn’t been Mrs Kurt Cobain. Her former band Hole certainly made the most of the grunge association to release three ... Read review
Prior to the release ofAmerica's Sweetheart, the media backlash against Courtney Love was ... more
in full swing. To be fair, Ms Love is a difficult celebrity to like--she's the screechy, indie-rock Madonna: singing, acting, courting the media and annoying the ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Prior to the release ofAmerica's Sweetheart, the media backlash against Courtney Love was ... more
in full swing. To be fair, Ms Love is a difficult celebrity to like--she's the screechy, indie-rock Madonna: singing, acting, courting the media and annoying the ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Prior to the release of America's Sweetheart, the media backlash against Courtney Love was ... more
in full swing. To be fair, Ms Love is a difficult celebrity to like--she's the screechy, indie-rock Madonna: singing, acting, courting the media and annoying the...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Advantages: Well, it's listenable Disadvantages: It's not actually any good though, better off with Hole
Despite constantly being in the headlines – mostly for drug charges recently – you have to wonder just how far Courtney Love’s singing and acting career would have got if she hadn’t been Mrs Kurt Cobain. Her former band Hole certainly made the most of the grunge association to release three albums.
Courtney’s solo debut doesn’t deviate too far from Hole’s legacy, but seems to combine elements of all three of their albums. The vocal ... ...Skin. Otherwise, however, it’s not quite as polished as that album, and somewhere between Pretty On The Inside and Live Through This. I’d say the song-writing is closer to the former (i.e. fairly poor), but at least the production’s better than Hole’s debut.
The opening track ‘Mono’ is probably the best the album has to offer – and the only single (so far). It’s a punky track, in which Courtney seems to present herself as a returning ... more
Despite constantly being in the headlines – mostly for drug charges recently – you have to wonder just how far Courtney Love’s singing and acting career would have got if she hadn’t been Mrs Kurt Cobain. Her former band Hole certainly made the most of the grunge association to release three albums.
Courtney’s solo debut doesn’t deviate too far from Hole’s legacy, but seems to combine elements of all three of their albums. The vocal style is definitely more in the singing style of Celebrity Skin. Otherwise, however, it’s not quite as polished as that album, and somewhere between Pretty On The Inside and Live Through This. I’d say the song-writing is closer to the former (i.e. fairly poor), but at least the production’s better than Hole’s debut.
The opening track ‘Mono’ is probably the best the album has to offer – and the only single (so far). It’s a punky track, in which Courtney seems to present herself as a returning saviour of rock and roll. She’s certainly not that, however – or a good little sweetheart – instead it sounds more like a spoilt little girl’s tantrum, (metaphorically) shouting ‘look at me, look at me.’ It falls well below previous highlights such as ‘Violet’ or ‘Gutless’, to which it will inevitably be compared, but it’s not such a bad song.
Unfortunately perhaps, it isn’t representative of the rest of the album. If you bought this on the basis of that song, you’d be in for a shock on reaching track two. The rest of the album is much less aggressive, and more in keeping with Celebrity Skin-era filler (‘He Hit So Hard’, ‘Dying’, etc).
I have to say, an album full of tracks in the vein of ‘Mono’ would actually be worse. It’s certainly the standout track here in terms of sound – and maybe even quality – but more would just make a repetitive headache-inducing racket. Instead it’s a relief that the rest of the album is thankfully more tuneful.
Nevertheless, Courtney’s not a great, or even a good, singer, and these aren’t good songs. Not surprisingly tracks 2-12 pretty much blend into each other, and pass without making a lasting impression. There are a few ‘nice’ moments, but they’re soon forgotten. Perhaps the almost-contemplative ballad ‘Unreal’ is ‘best of the rest’, and several lyrical touches make a brief impression; but nothing has the urgency of former Hole material.
It’s certainly obvious that Courtney’s made the most of the celebrity lifestyle. Lyrics like “I have played with fire… With all the drugs… in the world” (on track 5 ‘All The Drugs’) probably come from personal experience, as there isn’t much inspired.
Despite all the failings, I must say it’s not a terrible album. I can put it on and listen to the whole thing through without feeling the slightest inclination to reach for the skip button. Unfortunately I just find little that makes any lasting impression (I thought much the same about White Stripes’ Elephant, but at least that had a few good singles).
Nothing really stands out in the 47 minutes of generic grunge-lite rock. If you do want to buy something of Courtney’s, I wouldn’t blame you, as her music career has certainly had its occasional highlights. If you don’t own Hole’s Live Through This and Celebrity Skin though, I’d buy both of those in preference to this. If you do have both, then you simply don’t need this because it has nothing to add. (If for some reason you simply must have some solo material, look for the ‘Mono’ single).
Ultimately, Courtney cuts a slightly sad figure, clutching at past glories. This album has nothing new to add, but she simply can’t stand to be out the headlines it seems.
(p.s. Melissa Auf Der Maur – ex-Hole bassist – has a solo album that p!sses on this from a GREAT height. Maybe that’s where the talent was!)
5/10
[Currently £6.99 on cd-wow if you still want it...]
Advantages: good first track Disadvantages: the rest of the album leaves something to be disired
Courtney Love is famous for being in Hole and most famous for being married to Kurt Cobain. She may have been noticed in the headlines for drug taking and criminal charges but she has finally released her first solo album.
Americas Sweetheart is a mediocre album nowhere near as good as Holes albums. The first track on the album 'Mono' and the first single is definitely the best song on the album by far, its loud and aggressive and gives of a good ... ...the rest of the album, but that's not the way it is. The rest of the album is much quieter and blends into each other. Track 7 'I'll Do Anything' guitar riffs sound just like a speeded up version of 'smells like teen spirit'. My favourite tracks are definitely Mono and All The Drugs the rest of the album I could either take it or leave it.
I wouldn't recommend this album to anyone thinking of buying it who is expecting an album that sounds like ...
gemma_lucy 30.05.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of America's Sweetheart - Courtney Love
Advantages: Great opening track Disadvantages: Goes downhill fast
Courtney Love used to be famous for being in a decent band, Hole, but more importantly being married to the Rock God who was Kurt Cobain. Now she seems to be famous for taking drugs and making a fool of herself. This album definitely fits into her new image, her albums with Hole were good if not life changing and I had high hopes for this one. The first song and single Mono is a beauty, Courtney sings about 'Hard Sex and Ecstacy' and you guess she ... ...letdown, infact I'm struggling to think of much to say about the rest of the album, it's just non-descript, unmemorable if you like. The album has sold only 20 thousand copies worldwide and you can see why, it seems there may be truth in the rumour that she is courted by the record labels because of her hold over Nirvana's back catalogue. Until she sorts her head out, avoid like the plague. ...
benjones70 07.08.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of America's Sweetheart - Courtney Love
Advantages: hell its courtney love! Disadvantages: shes tried to clean up her act and it's showing in her music
i LOVE courtney love. i worship the ground the woman walks on and this is an incredibly underrated album. yeah it's more poppy than gunge but theres still some real genius in those lyrics, her voice. you can pracitcally hear the life experiance in her voice. im the only person i know who has this cd - no one else was willing to give her a chance. but this is a great album with some real stand out tracks on it. theres some really catchy choruses as ... ...This but then what is?
LOVE courtney love. i worship the ground the woman walks on and this is an incredibly underrated album. yeah it's more poppy than gunge but theres still some real genius in those lyrics, her voice. you can pracitcally hear the life experiance in her voice. im the only person i know who has this cd - no one else was willing to give her a chance. but this is a great album with some real stand out tracks on it. theres some really ...
nirvanamm 22.08.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of America's Sweetheart - Courtney Love
Product Information for "America's Sweetheart - Courtney Love" »
Product details
Title
America's Sweetheart
Performer
Courtney Love
Genre
Rock & Pop
Sub Genre
Alternative
Release Date
09/02/2004
Recomended Retail Price
16.99 GBP
Label / Distributor
Virgin / EMI Operations/CEVA Logistics
Engineer
Jamie Candiloro;Greg Collins;Ryan W
Producer
Matt Serletic;Josh Abraham;James Ba
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Format
Performer
EAN
724359879024
Catalogue Number
CDVUS 249
Additional notes
Album Notes
Former Hole frontwoman presents her long-awaited solo debut, originally slated for release on Alan McGee's Poptones label but now on Virgin. Falling somewhere between the raw grunge of Hole's breakthrough disc 'Live Through This' and the polished soft rock of their swansong 'Celebrity Skin', the album was co-written by former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry and features the Distillers' Brody Dalle playing guitar on two tracks.
Titles on disc 1
1.
Mono
2.
But Julian I'm A Little Bit Older Than You
3.
Hold On To Me
4.
Sunset Strip
5.
All The Drugs
6.
Almost Golden
7.
I'll Do Anything
8.
Uncool
9.
Life Despite God
10.
Hello
11.
Zeppelin Song
12.
Never Gonna Be The Same
Ciao
Listed on Ciao since
07/08/2004
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