America’s Sweetheart is the debut studio album by Courtney Love, released worldwide on February 10, 2004 by Virgin Records. Her first official release after her former band Hole‘s break-up, the album’s sound diverged significantly in musical and lyrical content to Hole‘s three previous studio albums: Pretty on the Inside (1991), Live Through This (1994) and Celebrity Skin (1998). The recording process of the album began in summer 2001 in Los Angeles, California, however, was affected drastically by a number of personal and legal issues by Love; including her drug problems, the disbandment of Hole, the controversy surrounding Nirvana‘s upcoming box set With the Lights Out and legal problems with various record labels. In spring 2003, Love traveled to southern France to re-record the album, however, according to Love, she:
“Just wanted to be in a château for six months and do drugs.”
The album had three main producers, one of whom, James Barber, was Love‘s partner at the time.
Following recording, America’s Sweetheart was further delayed due to Virgin‘s insistence on multiple changes to the songs and artwork. Upon its release, it received little promotion, with the main source of media exposure being a music video for the album’s first single, “Mono” and Love‘s highly publicized drug issues. America’s Sweetheart received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure, selling 86,000 copies in its first three months, and with Love further citing the album as “a mistake.” In more recent years, both Love and producer Linda Perry have referred to the album as “le disaster” and “ruined because (Love) was coked out,” respectively. The album featured drumming from former Hole drummer Patty Schemel, as well as guest instrumentation and vocals from Emilie Autumn.
Tracklist:
- Mono (Love, Perry, P. Schemel, L. Schemel)
- But Julian, I’m a Little Bit Older Than You (Love, P. Schemel, L. Schemel)
- Hold On to Me (Love)
- Sunset Strip (Love, Perry, P. Schemel, Jerry Best)
- All the Drugs (Love, P. Schemel, Best, Chris Whitemyer)
- Almost Golden (Love, Barber)
- I’ll Do Anything (Love, Perry, P. Schemel, Best)
- Uncool (Love, Perry, Bernie Taupin)
- Life Despite God (Love, Perry)
- Hello (Love, Perry, P. Schemel, Best)
- Zeplin Song (Love, Perry)
- Never Gonna Be the Same (Love, Perry)
Credits
Courtney Love: vocals, guitars, drawings, additional production
Scott McCloud: guitars
Lisa Leveridge: additional guitars
Brody Dalle: additional guitars (uncredited)
Jerry Best: bass guitar
Patty Schemel: drums
Samantha Maloney: additional drums
Emilie Autumn: violin
Chris Whitemyer: additional instruments
Joe Gore: additional instruments
Josh Abraham: producer
James Barber: producer
Matt Serletic: producer
Jamie Candiloro: engineer
Greg Collins: engineer
Ryan Williams: engineer
Joe Zook: engineer, mixing
Chris Lord-Alge: mixing
David Thoener: mixing
Andy Wallace: mixing
Olivia De Berardinis: artwork
David LaChapelle: photography
