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Rating: The most famous blonde rocker of the past 15 years is back. After several delays, the last being in October 2003, "America’s Sweetheart" was released, an album that, according to Love herself, she poured her entire self into, and you can immediately understand how much of Courtney was present in Hole; she was the undisputed leader in every aspect. The album was also very well received by Alan McGee, former leader of the historic Creation, now head of the new Poptones, who was enthusiastic about the first single Mono and proposed to Love to release the work under his new label. However, probably for economic reasons, she signed a contract with Virgin at the last minute. A wrong move according to producer and Courtney's ex, Jim Barber, who recently stated that the tracks were different, much rawer, and with a really better sound.
The version of "America’s Sweetheart" that we can all listen to today is cleaned up and adapted to a more listenable sound by Virgin’s demand, which forced Love, after signing her, to modify the work. The only original version we can hear is that of "Mono" present as a b-side on the single. Despite all the collaborations, Linda Perry former 4 Non Blondes, Kim Deal of the Pixies, Wayne Kramer (MC 5), Bernie Taupin (lyricist of Elton John) and produced by Jim Barber, Josh Abraham, and Matt Serletic, it flopped commercially. The album delivers emotions although unfortunately doesn’t fully convince precisely because you feel the absence of her former band and particularly the trusted guitarist Eric Erlandson, although to appreciate it, you need to know Hole and Courtney's history well. The first single, "Mono," cleverly uses a riff very similar to the unforgettable "Celebrity Skin" in a more aggressive way, adapted to the new rock'n'roll, premiered in 2002 at London's Death Disco, and was acclaimed by Alan McGee who called it fantastic. In fact, it reminds of Love at her best. Also prominent are: "All The Drugs," one of the best tracks with riffs reminiscent of 80s bands, it seems the most complex song that closes the trilogy started with "Reason To Be Beautiful" and "Use Once & Destroy" from "Celebrity Skin." "Sunset Strip," one of the ballads with a very 70s sound that, accompanied by Courtney’s always catchy voice, makes you soar, behind this track you feel the presence of a meticulous work, very glam lyrics. "Hold On To Me," the quintessential ballad of the album, with a very melancholic and disconcerting intro. "Life Despite God," deemed by many as dreadful, instead stands out for originality, it is the one that deviates most from Hole's sound, it is the track that no one would have expected. It seems a song straight out of "4 Track Demos" by PJ Harvey where Courtney enjoys interpreting Janis Joplin (note that alluring "baby baby baby" shouted at the beginning), an interesting experiment.
Certainly, Courtney has great talent, even in her least successful work, as Billy Corgan said in the '90s:
“Courtney has exerted a great influence on my way of composing. If only she would put her life in order, she could overshadow Patti Smith. She has immense talent, but it's raw, and in terms of intelligence, she’s almost a genius despite being crazy. But she’ll never be able to exploit her potential because, in a way, she’s a comic book character. She's completely immersed in the myth of rock'n'roll that demands being cool and hard drugs.”
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Mono (03:39)
Hey yeah we had everything
Vinyl in mono
And we looked the other way
Man we were so dumb
Is this the part in the book that you wrote
Where I gotta come and save the day
Did you miss me
Did you miss me
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Well they say that rock is dead
And they're probably right
99 girls in the pit
Did it have to come to this?
Oh God you owe me one more song
So I can prove to you that
I'm so much better than him
Oh god please listen fast
Here comes the crash
We're gonna rise above
We gotta smash it up
You won't abandon us again
Give us brilliant boys we wanna fuck, man
Full of ecstasy, hard drugs and bad luck
Yeah yeah yeah
Turn the lights back on
You burn so hard
But you won't burn long
Three chords in your pocket tonight
Are you, you the one
With the spark to bring my punk rock back
(I don't think so)
Oh God I wanna hear you say
I wanna hear you say, that you're sorry again
Oh God you owe me one more song
So I can prove to you
That I'm so much better than him
Oh God I'd give you anything
To hear you say that I was right
And you were wrong
Oh God before I leave this life
Enable us to love,
A hooker's never gonna come
Just give it back to me
Blow out all of the lights tonight
Oh yeah
Drive a million miles down the PCH
(And now he's gone)
I slashed his tires, I bled his brakes
(It had to be done)
Their hand-job lives were just too cruel
(But) mercy was done
We drowned them all in their swimming pools
Run away, run away, run away yeah
Oh God I wanna hear you say
I wanna hear you say that you were wrong again
Oh God I wanna hear you say
I wanna hear you say that
That I'm so much better than him
Oh God you owe us one more song
Get out of my life
See this world as it really is
Is it just a sad slide show
Can you make a hooker cum?
And enable us to love
I need one thing that's divine
Let me hear it tonight
Let me hear it tonight
I've gotta hear it tonight
You're gonna let me hear the lost chord tonight
yeah
03 Hold On to Me (03:45)
Hey this life is never fair
The angels that you need are never there
oh but, sometimes he comes to me
in the dead of winter dead of night
hes all that i can see
Hold on to me ahh ahh
Hold on to me ahh ahh
hold on to me, yeah eh yeAh
hold on to me
We all get our Glory
our little bit of fame
but theres no truth at the heart of any of it
just the brilliance and the passion and the bitterness remainds
He brings me down
Oh, down into the ground
I never will get ah-ya ah-ya ya-out
Hush your highness don't you breath
No, baby hold me in your arms i'm shivering
But whats all this for,
If i was the battle baby you have won the war
I'll protect you from the night, it will never fall
I'll protect you from the truth, won't hear it at all
I am the center of the universe, yeah i am the truth
and i'm the pain that you feel, yeah i felt it for you
I am the center of the universe
I am the center of the universe
When youre in the whirlpool, and they try to suck you in
remember you aren't gonna die until you are out of life
and when you think youre drowning baby i could always swim
Oh, how he brings me down
Oh, down into the ground
I never will get ahya ah-ya ya-out
I never will get ahya ah-ya ya-out
Hush your highness don't you leave
No baby hold me in your arms I'm shivering
But whats all that for
If i was the battle baby you
and If i was the battle baby you
if i was the battle baby you have won the war
05 All the Drugs (04:31)
The devil's driving my car tonigh and he's drunk
He's pissed he's mad
I don't care wich of you
He fucks up
I've played with fire
And the matches they are burning still in my hand
They can try to shut me up
They never will
They never will again
with all the drugs
with all the drugs
with all the drugs in the world
you can't shut up that girl
Theres no one in this bed
Obliterate the truth
Coz theres no lies
That I could be and you would need
with all the drugs
with all the drugs
but there's all the drugs in the world
but there's all the drugs in the world
you can't shut up that girl
with all all of my money
with all all of my love
with all all of my money
It doesn't feel as good
as the drugs
with all the drugs in the world
you can't shut up that girl
with all the drugs in the world
with all the drugs in the world
Gonna burn out every inch of you
Oh baby I'll burn you till the lights all die
You'll never ever ever fuck like me
So baby why why do you even try
Generation it has slipped away
Oh baby leave no trace of it behind
Steal the power of the powerful men
And baby leave here with me leave here tonight
07 I'll Do Anything (03:01)
Gimme your tired
Gimme your poor, yeah
Yearning to be free, yeah
Your hungry huddled masses
Screaming me me me
Gimme danger
Gimme sorrow
Gimme heat
Gimme grime [grind?]
Gimme, gimme everything
Come and gimme from behind
Woo hoo
Throw me up against the wall
Woo hoo
No baby, do that again
Woo hoo
No baby, I'll do you cause
You, you, you, you do anything
Gimme white boys skinny
Gimme big black men
Gimme ice cream on my birthday
Gimme that again
Gimme love, love, love
Oh, give them me, me, me
Cause I'll do you
Cause you'll do anything
Gimme dick
Gimme speed
Gimme white hot heat
One day my prince will come but
Man, it's just too late
Gimme one match
So I can set myself on fire
I'll let 'em eat cake
Until they are starved
Gimme white lies
That pulls out of me so hard
Twist it like the miracles
And blast your heart to shards
Woo hoo
Throw me up against the wall
Woo hoo
No baby, do that again
Woo hoo
No baby, I'll do you cause
You, you, you, you do anything
Gimme white boys skinny
Gimme big black men
Gimme ice cream on my birthday
Gimme that again
Gimme love, love, love
Oh, give them me, me, me
Cause I'll do you
Cause you'll do anything
Gimme some last solutions
Give it to your head
Give it to me
Come on baby
Give it and pray
You're a star
It's your show
I've got the power to heal
Oh, god or the Devil
Just gimme a deal
Gimme love, love, love
Oh, give them me, me, me
Cause I'll do you
Cause you'll do anything
I'm ready to die for you
No, I'm too young to be so old
Don't scratch the car when you go
(Woo hoo)
(Throw me up against the wall)
Don't slam the door when you go
(Woo hoo)
(No baby, do that again)
I'll burn the sheets when you go
(Woo hoo)
(No baby, I'll do you cause)
Just fuckin' go when you go when you go
(You, you, you, you do anything)
Just fuckin' go
08 Uncool (04:37)
Pretty faces grab the headlines
You leave me nothing but my name
And all the grief keeps multiplying
And I pretend to feel no pain
Never gonna lose, baby
If I tell the truth
Would I be uncool
If I could write a love song?
I just wanna believe
You tried to hold me
Spend our whole life
Now i feel so lost
I get tired of the pleasure
My company's so cheap
Baby, take me from this tempest
Take me someplace so I can sleep
(Sleep, sleep)
I don't wanna die and I don't wanna live
Baby, I just want a chance to be with you
I tried, oh, I love you
I swear to god I never felt so alive
Never gonna lose
If I tell the truth
Would it be uncool
If I could write a love song?
I just wanna believe
You tried to hold me
And every time you move
And everytime you breathe
Yeah, I gotta write a love song
Baby, you're a freakshow just like me
Baby, we're all born ugly
Gotta write a love song
Gonna make you cry, I'm gonna go so deep
Tear the world up
Somemewhere I can sleep
And I wonder why
And I wonder why
And I cry
Wanna be uncool
Wanna be uncool
Now I'm gonna make you cry
'Cause I'm gonna go so deep
I'm gonna tear this tempest, baby
And go somewhere I can sleep
Gonna make you love me
Gonna make you love me
Yeah
Never gonna lose
If I tell the truth
Would it be uncool
If I could write a love song?
I just wanna believe
You tried to hold me
And every time you move
And everytime you breathe
Yeah, I gotta write a love song
Baby, you're a freakshow just like me
Baby, we're all born ugly
Gotta write a love song
Gonna make you cry, I'm gonna go so deep
Tear the world up
Somewhere I can sleep
I wanna write a love song
Wanna be uncool
Wanna be uncool
I wanna write a love song
Wanna be uncool
Wanna be uncool
I wanna write a love song
Wanna be uncool
Wanna be uncool
I'm gonna be uncool
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Other reviews
By scott
Twelve tracks pass by in a sterile manner, all characterized by the same chords and the same drum rhythm.
An elementary and decidedly predictable album, from which nothing special should be expected.
By ashanti
The essence of the entire album is precisely Mono, which I would define as a sort of autobiography of Courtney.
Rock is dead.
