America's Sweetheart (album)

For other uses of this term, see America's sweetheart (disambiguation).
America's Sweetheart
Studio album by
Courtney Love
ReleasedFebruary 10, 2004
Recorded2001–2003
Studio
Genre
Length46:39
LabelVirgin
Producer
Singles from America's Sweetheart
  1. "Mono"
    Released: February 16, 2004
  2. "Hold On to Me"
    Released: March 29, 2004

America's Sweetheart is the debut studio album by American alternative rock musician Courtney Love, released worldwide on February 10, 2004 by Virgin Records.[2] 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, 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."[3] 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,[4] 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"[5] and "ruined because [Love] was coked out,"[6] respectively. The album featured drumming from former Hole drummer Patty Schemel, as well as guest instrumentation and vocals from Emilie Autumn.

  1. ^ "America's Sweetheart (2004) | Courtney-Love.org". courtney-love.org. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  2. ^ "Courtney Love: America's Sweetheart". Virgin Records. 2004. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  3. ^ Love, Courtney. "I just wanted to be in a château for six months and do drugs, so, I just wanted to do that." Extract from a transcription of an interview featured in Behind the Music: Courtney Love, broadcast on VH1 on June 24, 2010.
  4. ^ Friedman, Roger (2015-03-25). "Courtney Love: Did Virgin Records Use Her?". Fox News. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  5. ^ Forbes, Jim. "Courtney herself called the album 'le disaster.' It seemed her life was headed down the same path." Extract from a transcription of narration featured in Behind the Music: Courtney Love, broadcast on VH1 on June 24, 2010.
  6. ^ Perry, Linda. "A lot of heart went in to it and it got ruined because her and her friend were coked out. And that is the truth, that is a fact." Extract from a transcription of an interview featured in The Return of Courtney Love, broadcast on More4 in September 2006.