Been listening to a lot of the leaked Courtney Love demos as of late, and I have to say, they are all quite stunning. A complete departure from the mess that is America's Sweetheart (not that it was bad, but it could have been a masterpiece had the coke fairy not taken over Ms.Love's life). I'm insanely impressed with the guitar work, the lyrics are spot on. I have no doubt in my mind that Courtney Love is the Bob Dylan of my generation.
Of the songs I've heard, I enjoy "Loser Dust" the most, it's a garage rock anthem, revealing the evils of coke, without making it lame. The crunching guitars, and vocal shriek remind me the woman who made Pretty On the Inside still exists, she's just matured into a woman. A woman whose made her mistakes, and is trying to learn from them.
"Happy Ending Story" is a beautiful acoustic driven song about love gone wrong. As with "For Once In Your Life", you can hear the pain in her voice. If anything, Courtney is reminds me more of Patsy Cline then Patti Smith.
"Letter To God", which was penned by Linda Perry as a sequel to her Aguilera hit "Beautiful",
is stunning, the only ballad of the demos. It's lyrics are emotionally driven, as if she is conversing with a higher power, looking for purpose, wondering if she even has a soul left to sell.
"Sunser Marquis", is heard as a piano demo. Is quite frankly, a reminder that Courtney is one of this generations best lyricist. A tale of love gone wrong, knowing that it will never work, and paying homage to the infamous hotel it transpired in. While "Pacific Coast Highway" sounds like she's finally mourning her loses in life, with brilliant delivery, and focused lyrics
"Nobody's Daughter","Samantha",and "Never Go Hungry Again" are just fun ditties. "Samantha", a full on rocker about a woman of the night. "Never Go Hungry Again", paying respect to Gone With The Wind, and "Nobody's Daughter", is an obvious diss on Courtney's mother, who in 2006 penned an unflattering biography about herself and Courtney. "Car Crash", meanwhile sounds kind of rushed, but delivers my favorite lyric on the album, "Will you be there when the devil, when the devil comes for me". Another highlight on this group of demos,
"Stand Up, Mother Fucker", which shows love at her most catty. A stunner
The final demo, two versions of "How Dirty Girls Get Clean" are quite intriguing. One is referred to as the "pop mix", which included a multitude of over dubs, while the other is a straight out acoustic, almost stream of conscious type of ditty. Both amazing in there own way.
Granted, these demo are just a taste of the record to come. According to Love's myspace blogs,
the real record is almost done, and will sound nothing like these demos. Michael Bienhorn is producing, yes, the man who produced Celebrity Skin, Hole's final record. I, for one, can't wait for La Love
Sunday, August 3, 2008
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