#460

Release Date: 1994
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes

Impressions: We shall see if I can live though this… Snappy opening song “Violet” indicates the music and production is state-of-the-art for 1994, well into the grunge hayday. It goes without saying that Courtney Love is a mess vocally and personallly, but it kind of seems like by design? She also mimics her husband’s Kurt Cobain’s wounded hollering (or was it the other way around?) but adds a feminist edge. Harrowing songs like “Asking For It” and “I Think That I Would Die” make you wonder if everyone was this fractured and broken in the ’90s? Maybe only those who got on the radio. She hits you over the head with songs like the catchy, overwrought “Miss World,” but it still seems to still get the point across. Lost in all the off-stage baggage is that her band is actually pretty skilled. They do an aces imitation of Nirvana’s loud/quiet dynamic (“Gutless”) that is far superior to most of the bands that were copying this style at the time. “Doll Parts” seems like self-parody, but it’s hard to tell with her. I still cannot hear that song without imagining her singing “Someday you will bake like I bake.” Being Mrs. Cobain, it’s possible that Love never got a fair shake with fans and critics when this came out, but I still don’t really respond to her tortured delivery. To this album’s credit, I will say that in age of American Idol that it’s amazing something this raw lyrically was considered popular music at one point.

Starred Songs: “Miss World,” “Doll Parts”
Sneaky Track: “Jennifer’s Body,” “Gutless”
Should this album be on the list? Ehh. It’s well made, but I don’t see it lasting. If I have a hankering for this style, I’d probably rather listen to Throwing Muses, Belly, Pixies, Nirvana, et al.
Replace with: Hmm, good question. Not sure it should be on the list, but I like Throwing Muses The Real Ramona a lot better than this album.
Will you listen to this again? No
Verdict: Well-crafted Nirvana clone with Love’s painful lyrics adds up to a solid mid-90s grunge album, but top 500 of all time?

Rating:  ★★1/2