Review: Courtney Love
February 24, 2004, by Steven Mirkin
https://variety.com/2004/music/reviews/courtney-love-1200534863/
Courtney Love has been many things — rock widow, addict, actress, diva and, lately, a staple of “Celebrity Justice” — but she has never been boring. Until now.
“America’s Sweetheart” (Virgin), her solo debut and only her third album in 10 years, is Love’s attempt to regain credibility as a rock star. A clattering tabloid reported from the inside, it largely succeeds as it embraces Love’s contradictory impulses: It’s a fierce demand for attention that gives the finger to anyone who dares to look.
“Did you miss me?” she asks in the album’s lead track “Mono,” followed by the declaration, “They say rock is dead/and they’re probably right,” before finally demanding “one more song/so I can prove I’m better than him.”
“Mono” opened Love’s hastily planned Roxy appearance in fine fashion, its stream-of-consciousness compressed into a careening rush of emotions. But that seemed to be all she had in her. The wobbly Love pretty much phoned in the rest of the show. Even cathartic material such as “Miss World” sounded tepid and unconvincing.
The muddy sound and all-femme trio behind her didn’t help matters — pugnaciously noisy, the band lacked the muscle to give the music the necessary punch. Except for drummer Samantha Maloney, Love did not appear to be on a first-name basis with her musicians.
Neither bad enough to invite the schadenfreude of seeing a train wreck of a performance or great enough to elicit jaw-dropping amazement, show felt like watching a so-so actress doing her take on “Courtney Love.”
About a half-hour after the curtain opened, Love left the stage with no explanation. Returning 10 minutes later, she was a different, better performer. A swaying cover of Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry” had an unexpected warmth; after a false start, “Malibu,” followed by a yowled reprise of “Sunset Strip,” finally approached the riveting, ragged charisma, the unmediated emotional brinkmanship, that have characterized Love’s best perfs leading the band Hole.
Courtney Love
Roxy; 500 capacity; $10.67
Production: Presented by KROQ-FM. Reviewed Feb. 20, 2004.
Cast: Band: Courtney Love, Samantha Maloney, Lisa Leveridge, Dvina Kirakoian.