Way Past Almost Golden: Courtney Love In The 2000s

Despite all of the drug abuse claims, Courtney has supposedly started work on a new solo record, tentatively called Nobody’s Daughter (obviously a swipe at her parents). In 2006 she did a documentary with the UK’s Channel Four which showed the “making of” this widely touted comeback record. There were a few clues given in the documentary about the realities of her existence.

She had a childhood that was extraordinarily deprived, and she was forced to grow up at a very young age, given that no parental role models were around. Her maturity as a woman occurred at the same time she got into punk rock. After various tenures as a stripper, a rock photographer, and a student, she decided to form her own bands. Hole came to the forefront of the indie music scene around 1990. Together, the members of Hole made extremely good music. I still stand by my claims that Pretty On The Inside and Live Through This were among the best albums of the decade.

However, after that point, all we began to see was just Courtney, and the identity of Hole as a band was utterly brushed aside. She then began to believe her own hype, always a dangerous thing, and as I have observed in my own life, ego is more powerful than any drug.

In the documentary, Courtney discusses everything from her racks of designer clothes (how punk rock), to her coffee-table book Dirty Blonde, to the legal drugs she takes, finally getting to the much-ballyhooed album. The music seems secondary to everything else. One thing that stood out to me was her choice of Abilify, a drug classically prescribed for bipolar disorder. I am a bit stupefied as to why, in light of the many celebrities who have bipolar disorder, she did not mention that she had it. Certainly, no stigma would exist if she were to just come clean about it.

And there’s more. While she fervently aspires to a musical Led Zeppelin archetype, her new music is pretty. . . damn vanilla if you ask me. Her vocal range—limited to begin with—–has been even more compromised by severe drug abuse. Perhaps the most telling moment of the documentary is where she passes out mid-sentence in the recording booth, still clutching a half-lit cigarette. Being slightly versed in psychiatric pharmacology, I can attest that bipolar medications don’t do that to people. Her walrus-like movements and slow-motion demeanor suggested that something was flowing through her veins, and it wasn’t Abilify.

So who knows, maybe 2009 will be Ms. Love’s amazing comeback year. . . or not. As a fan of hers, you either remember what she used to be and root for her, or you hate her (and yourself for caring). Instead of being the “Queen of Noise” (as one biographer christened her), she has become the Jessica Savitch of rock, complete with a disastrous personal life, and nearly shattered career prospects.

At this time Courtney Love is still without a record deal.

Pages: 1 2