Courtney Love America’s Sweetheart (Virgin/EMI) Rating: NNN
Rating: NNNN
Roaring back with a vengeance, Courtney Love gives notice on America’s Sweetheart that she has no plans to mellow out into adult contemporary blandness. The dissolution of Hole hasn’t left a visible mark on the ultimate survivor, who plows forward, shouting up a storm with hired guitars blazing away. Love is at her self-revealing best here – however unintentional that may be – as she flips back and forth between her charming and confrontational personas to suit the song. The autobiographical Smells Like Teen Spirit sound-alike I’ll Do Anything raises an intriguing question: even if Love now has the legal right to cop every Kurt Cobain lick as the executor of his estate, can she do it with impunity?