America's Sweetheart (album)

America's Sweetheart (album)

America's Sweetheart is the debut studio album by American alternative rock musician Courtney Love, released worldwide on February 10, 2004 by Virgin Records. 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." 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 excessive input on the album's mastering, art work and design, and track listing. 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 publicised drug issues. Although received well amongst critics, America's Sweetheart was a commercial failure, selling little over 200,000 copies in the United States, 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" and "ruined because was coked out," respectively.