Advantages: Well, it's listenable
Disadvantages: It's not actually any good though, better off with Hole

...Despite constantly being in the headlines – mostly for drug charges recently – you have to wonder just how far Courtney Love’s singing and acting career would have got if she hadn’t been Mrs Kurt Cobain. Her former band Hole certainly made the most of the grunge association to release three albums. Courtney’s solo debut doesn’t deviate too far from Hole’s legacy, but seems to combine elements of all three of their albums. The vocal style is definitely more in the singing style of Celebrity Skin. Otherwise, however, it’s not quite as polished as that album, and somewhere between Pretty On The Inside and Live Through This. I’d say the song-writing is closer to the former (i.e. fairly poor), but at least the production’s better than Hole’s debut. The opening track ‘Mono’ is probably the best the album has to offer – and the only... Read review

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Advantages: good first track
Disadvantages: the rest of the album leaves something to be disired

...Courtney Love is famous for being in Hole and most famous for being married to Kurt Cobain. She may have been noticed in the headlines for drug taking and criminal charges but she has finally released her first solo album. Americas Sweetheart is a mediocre album nowhere near as good as Holes albums. The first track on the album 'Mono' and the first single is definitely the best song on the album by far, its loud and aggressive and gives of a good vibe and makes you think great things are coming on the rest of the album, but that's not the way it is. The rest of the album is much quieter and blends into each other. Track 7 'I'll Do Anything' guitar riffs sound just like a speeded up version of 'smells like teen spirit'. My favourite tracks are definitely Mono and All The Drugs the rest of the album I could either take it or leave it... Read review

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Advantages: useful interviews,information
Disadvantages: finding out Courtney Love has rights over most of Nirvana's music

...Any fan of Kurt Cobain( Lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana) and knowing some background on Kurt's death (supposidly suicide) ;watching this Nick Broomfield documentary, sheds light on the time around Kurt's death :- Wether he was suicidal or not. Nick Broomfield (documentarist of Kurt and Courtney, Biggie and Tupac...) shows us many interviews that leads us to put Courtney Love( Kurt's wife) into the limelight of having something to do with Kurt's Death and that Kurt may not have been suicidal in the first place. As a documentary, it really is spectacular. I studied this as one of the modern documentaries for my media studies course. Nick Broomfield always takes that one step further to get information and this I find respectful, Nick really is enthusiastic about his work. Unlike most other documentaries the director, in this case... Read review

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Advantages: Sheds more light about Kurt and Courtney
Disadvantages: People still thinking Courtney killed Kurt

...a while Courtney hadn't heard from Kurt, but she didn't stop there, Courtney spotted Kurt backstage at a Butthoel Surfers gig and walked up to him and punched him in the stomach and Kurt repaid the favour back to her, at the time Nirvana were recording Nevermind so Kurt didn't hang around too long...that morning Courtney got a phone call and it was Kurt asking her if he could come round (to shoot up some drugs) and from there on the two never left each other's mind and both fell madly in love. Courtney has only once before been truly in love before, and believe it or not it was with a woman who she used to be lovers with back in the old days but she lost touch with her and ever since she's been trying to search for her...and now, she had Kurt and all the feelings came back as she had before. Courtney talked about how for the first time her... Read review

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Advantages: I knew her
Disadvantages: then she left

...’s not true - I was just being a mother. Following the diagnosis, Courtneys consultant referred us to the Make a Wish foundation. This is a charity which exists to grant the wishes of children with terminal or life-threatening illnesses. We ended up going on a long weekend at Disneyland Paris due to Courtneys’ love of The Lion King. As luck would have it, the weekend we were due to go the Channel Tunnel was closed due to a fire - instead of a two hour journey on the train we ended up travelling for twelve hours each way by car, train, bus and ferry. Ever felt like the fates are against you? It was even worse for me as I was two weeks away from giving birth! It was worth it though - I ended up with two great photo albums. Following this, things didn’t go too badly for a while. With physiotherapy, speech and occupational therapy plus... Read review

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Advantages: It's made by the great Nick Broomfield
Disadvantages: none

...Nirvana. Heaven. Nick Broomfield scores a another massive hit. Not in junkie terms you understand, but with this long hard look at the life and death of Kurt Cobain. Tracking down the one person in Kurt's childhood who seemed to love and understand him more than most, we are introduced to his aunt. She clearly loved and encouraged Kurt throughout his early years, playing old music tapes of him from as young as 2 years of age, as he established his love of singing and music. It's at this point that the spectre of Courtney Love first flits across the story. Despite Kurt's aunt being in possession of taped early recordings of the teenage Cobain, permission to reproduce the music on the documentary is denied. Songs produced by his teenage friends are played instead. A typical off-the-cuff meeting is then arranged with a teacher... Read review

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Advantages: Fantasic Documentary
Disadvantages: Bit boring at times

...This documentary is an investigation into the complicated death of global rock superstar, Kurt Cobain. Seattle born, he was the lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana, a band that revolutionised rock in the early nineties, and for many were the driving force behind the grunge phenomena. On April 8th 1994, his body was found in a room adjacent to his garage and a suicide note had emerged. This shock the world and speculation grew to the actual cause of death, including conspiracy theories suggesting it was his wife Courtney Love who had paid to have him killed. Director Nick Broomfield's documentary includes near the start, a video of Kurt shortly before he died. His head seems straight enough, which begs the question: how did Cobain slide from this to suicide at the age of 27? Broomfield travels around the US trying to get to the bottom... Read review

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Advantages: Great doc, great DVD
Disadvantages: Maybe not so great for non-Nirvana fans?

...One of the more controversial documentaries in recent memory, Kurt and Courtney deserves a revisit. Filmmaker Nick Broomfield initially intended to make a film about Nirvana lead singer/ cultural icon's influences and how he has come to change the face of rock music, in other words his first music doc. However when he was denied rights to Nirvana material being played in the documentary by Cobain's infamous widow Courtney Love, Broomfield went to investigate why, and how, this had come about. The result is a fascinating documentary about freedom of speech and the extent to which people will try and protect both their privacy and their own images. Throughout the course of the movie Courtney Love's presence can be felt; if it's from half-heard conversations through doors and walls, conversations with her father or testimonials from... Read review

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Advantages: Like The Wind In Your Hair On A Sunny Day.
Disadvantages: At Times A Little Reliant On Their Influences.

...the obvious. Perhaps this and a more studied approach to songwriting makes this album such a wonderful way to spend 3 quarters of an hour. Right from the off the echoing chords of 'Godless' sound heavenly and the scene is bolstered further by some sweet sounding trumpets. The vocals have a mystic feel, a sort of dazed yet ultimately coherent descent into the unknown. The trip shimmers along on its delicate way on 'Mohammed', an instrumental with periodic vocal interludes. To a large extent the heavy strings on 'Nietzshe' could be a Jesus & Mary composition. It's not until the cleverly synchronised vocals arrive that Courtney Taylor sounds all the world for Mark Gardner from Ride (we'll try and forget the Animalhouse). Such dynamics can't help but sound like the past being lovingly resurrected but the new coat of paint has all the colours... Read review

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Advantages: Arty yet commercial rock, probably my favourite album of 2004
Disadvantages: Some dodgy lyrics, one dud track

...describe as the best cowboy impression since Bon Jovi, it develops into a menacing and memorable chorus that would be right at home on mainstream radio, without alienating rock fans in a softer mood. Ironically coming out around the same time as Courtney Love's American Sweetheart, this takes a less-is-more approach and completely outclasses it. It's not pop in the bubblegum sense (far from it), but in a mature, dark and sophisticated way - you can see Melissa was probably the influence behind Hole's Celebrity Skin. Finding anyone to compare the overall sound to is quite difficult. I've heard Queen Adreena and PJ Harvey mentioned, and I might add a touch of Garbage, but these comparisons owe largely to the female vocalist. Although the record doesn't sound too much like A Perfect Circle (again, because of the singing), I imagine it'd appeal... Read review

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