Customer Reviews

Nobody's Daughter

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Wow. Who expected this? We all know the back story of Courtney Love. Her personal life has long overshadowed any musical effort that she has put out. And in her own words, she has spent more time being a "celebrity" than an actual musician in the past 10 years. After years of tabloid scandals, celebrity feuds and gossip, even the most hardcore fan could be forgiven for thinking this was going to be an absolute disaster. But it's not. In fact, this is a great record...actually, scratch that. The fact that this was made at all makes this a phenomenal record.

If you are looking for the heaviness of Pretty on the Inside or the roaring grunge Queen of Live Through This, then look elsewhere. Compared to Holes discography, Nobody's Daughter is probably closest to Celebrity Skin, but even that is an unfair comparison. This album is more in the vein of latter-day Marianne Faithfull and Stevie Nicks than any of the above. Some critics would have you believe this is a disappointment. Most seem to want some sort of repeat performance of Live Through This, which is ridiculous. Grunge is dead and Courtney is now a 45 year old woman. Do they still want her to be singing about Pee-Girls and Garbadge Men at 45? As someone who favours songwriting and lyrics above all else, Nobody's Daughter is such a classy, lyrically strong and wonderful record that shows a remarkable amount of growth.

Nobody's Daughter started out life as a solo record, and a folk-rock record to it's core. The re-recorded product (Recorded with and co-produced by new Hole guitarist Micko Larkin) still retains some of the earthy folk of the ditched solo record, but adds some much needed meat to it's bones. Some of the highlights include The title track, which could one day be regarded as her masterpiece. Containing a brilliant riff and equally brilliant lyrics, it's epic. It's sweeping. It's her "Gold Dust Woman" it's her "The Wall" all combined into one. It is truly that good. "Honey" is a gorgeous, heartbreaking scream-along ballad that is quite obviously written about her late husband. It's a very touching song, sung with a passion that has been missing from Courtney's music since Live Through This. "Pacific Coast Highway" is the twin sister of "Malibu"; it's a fantastic track which sounds like it should have been given to Stevie Nicks. "Someone Else's Bed" is one of the true highlights of the album. A song about one night stands, it's like R.E.M's "Country Feedback" meets "Doll Parts". The real highlight for me on this record though has to be "For Once in Your Life". The track is a stunning English pop/Celtic waltz, complete with marching drums and cellos and a beautiful backup vocal from Martha Wainwright and Jenni Muldaur. It is just a phenomenal tune, which very much recalls early Marianne Faithfull. The album ends on a big high note with "Never Go Hungry" which is just Courtney alone with her acoustic guitar. This is a 60s Dylan style folk tune, about survival through the darkest of times.

Some people don't want to see an artist grow. As an album, Nobody's Daughter is possibly lyrically the strongest Courtney has ever been, and as a long time Courtney Love/Hole fan I couldn't happier with it. This isn't Zeitgeist and it isn't Chinese Demoracy. However you feel about Courtney using the band name Hole for this record, Nobodys' Daughter is for the most part an intelligent, mournful, elegant, sometimes angry, but gratifying album that attempts to face some of her past mistakes head-on. In a perfect world this album would be given the accolades it deserves. Unfortunately we will have to wait for the world to catch up with her before it sees the critical praise it is due. Highly recommended.

After a decade, Courtney Love has proven what fans have known all along, that she truly is a talented musician who understands her craft, understands herself,who knows that there is no room for ego where art is concerned--that good art, good music must speak for itself. Nobody's Daughter isn't a 90's sound. It's anger, love, pain and longing immortalized by great songs. I was impressed. I have been a Hole fan since the beginning, and not since Live Through This have I heard this emotional quality in their music. It's deep and raw. It's distinct, unique, and such a relief after all of the cookie cutter bands who have been played on the radio over the past five years. Good music is timeless, and Courtney Love and her band Hole have created something which will never be forgotten.

You know I read the reviews for this album before I purchased it and I noticed that the bad reviews really didn't criticize the songs. Instead, they were just filled with contempt for Courtney Love. What a shame! Well, I liked what Hole did in the 90s. I purchased this album anyway and basically, it's excellent. This is a real album. It's filled with well-thought out lyrics and really good music. It's what an album should be and they really don't make good albums anymore, so this is sort of a gem. Every song is good. The lyrics are touching, thought-provoking and some lyrics are ripe with great imagery. The music is terrific. I'm not sure who the new Hole is, but they sure can play. Love is a great lyricist and songs like Pacific Coast Highway and Someone Else's Bed take you into her despair. It's really, really good, and I've been devouring this thing for 3 days. Great purchase!

Hole's been through multiple regroupings, but somehow this "reformation" does come off as disingenuous. Courtney Love had planned on releasing this as a solo album for several years, so it's quite obvious this isn't a Hole album in the traditional sense. As a Courtney Love album, this is excellent. The first half of the album is classic Hole, especially my personal favorites Pacific Coast Highway and Honey. The end lags slightly, but honestly I doubt much could compete with the excellent opening half. Perhaps a better sequencing would have served the album better, but it still stands as a true testament to Courtney Love's undying yet bruised talent.

You either like her or you don't. One thing you can count on from Courtney Love, who IS the band Hole, is that she sticks to her roots and doesn't pretend to do anything else. This album's sound is basic punk/pop + jangly classic rock. The first 2 tracks, "Nobody's Daughter" and "Skinny Little B****", remind me of amped-up REM, as in "Monster", and they set the general tone for the album, musically. Courtney's persona is still dark, angry and desperate, pouring out the passion and confusion of her turbulent mad world. "Someone Else's Bed" opens with a desolate scene: "...lying in your underwear...in someone else's bed...a terrible sense of dread...so I have another cigarette." The music is appropriately serious, and later in the song, she admits, "In the filthy morning after, I have walked the walk of shame." However, in places I hear humility, an acceptance of the reality of the world and her place in it. And, Courtney's somewhat weakened voice reflects who she is and what she has been through. In the conversational ballad "Letter To God", she acknowledges her failings, earnestly pleading to understand and to be understood: "I always wanted to die but you kept me alive...I am coming unglued, please help me." Another thing I like is that she seems conscious of the pain of adulthood. In "Petals", from "Celebrity Skin", she mourned, "I miss the sweet boys in the summer of their youth"; and apparently she still does, because on this album she sings about "a BOY who came from the sea" in "Pacific Coast Highway", and in "For Once In Your Life", a milder track in waltz tempo with strings and piano, she declares, "I swear I'm too young to be this old." In other places she refers to "boys" and "girls" rather than "men" and "women", and she states "I miss the young" and "You're too young". Perhaps this is the reason for the drugs and rebellious behavior. Maybe, like me, she just isn't so keen on growing up. "Loser Dust" is harder, more obviously punk, with angry, vengeful lyrics. The CD closes with "Never Go Hungry", a song about survival which is more folk than it is rock. Courtney states bluntly, "It's a long way back from where I've fallen down" and in the end vows, like Scarlett O'Hara, that she will "...never go hungry again."

For someone who has the reputation of being a rampant loose cannon and a total train wreck, Courtney Love comes across as surprisingly introspective and self-aware on this album, and musically pretty together. And by the way, NOBODY could get more out of the word "DOWN" than she does!

Nobody's Daughter by Hole was an album I never thought would see the light of day. Years and years went by and I kept waiting for my childhood hero, Courtney Love to get her "act" together and start writing music again, slowly but surely she did - well worth the wait! Nobody's Daughter should really be considered Courtney's second solo album but somehow, she retained her old band's name even though not one original member plays on this album, very strange indeed! Nobody's Daughter is a very autobiographical piece of art. Courtney is in her mid-40s now and if you listen closely to the lyrics, you will hear a strong, but troubled woman coming to terms with the mess she has made of her life. You can hear her anguish on tracks like: Pacific Coast Highway, How Dirty Girls Get Clean, Someone Else's Bed, and the title-track. This album is very well-produced, has a gritty but lush vibe. On some of the songs, I feel like Courtney is channeling Stevie Nicks or Bob Dylan - and I love the raw, pure emotion in her voice. The album ends on a high note, Never Go Hungry could be the best song she has ever written. Love her or hate her, there is no denying that this brazen rock goddess is a true survivior. Welcome back, Courtney!

First of all, I'm not a sycophant. If an album is awful and deserves no merit, I will gladly say it. Believe me when I say, this album is a return to form and beyond. I bought it earlier this week and have listened (nor wanted to listen) to anything else. It is tremendous. I'm always amazed at Courtney Love's lyrical candor. Few have ever had the guts to flip their hard shell over and expose the soft underbelly of their being in their music like she does.

These are some of the best lyrics on any album that I can think of. Following are a few of my favorites and snippets of the genius:

"Pacific Coast Highway" - "I'm on the pacific coast highway/ With your gun in my hand/ Your whole world is in my hands..." This song is one of those rare dichotomies. Smooth rock/pop skin with lava boiling just beneath.

"Samantha" - "People like you f--k people like me to avoid agony." Need I say more. An sexual/psychic anthem if ever I've heard one.

"Someone Else's Bed" - "Sunday morning when the rain begins to fall/ I believe I've seen the end of it all...and my dirty little secret has a wretched little name."

"Never Go Hungry" - "And the phoenix she rises/ she is sure to descend...and we owe each other nothing/ there's no one left here to offend/ we will never go hungry again." This song is so d--n brilliant. It is worthy of being on Bob Dylan's "Desire" album--and that's my highest compliment, I SWEAR!

Melodic, raunchy, graceful, light-filled, sanguinary, bleak. It's all here, friends. Enjoy. Do yourself a favor and buy one of the best albums that I have heard in YEARS. In my thirties now, I don't run out for new music like a kid, but I did it for this one and I have NO regrets. Looking forward to seeing Hole at the Ryman in Nashville in late June. Buy your tickets!

First off: "Nobody's Daughter" is one of the best "rehab" albums ever recorded, along with Iggy's "Kill City" and Alice Cooper's "FRom the Inside". Forgetting that "America's Sweetheart" existed (which was not a bad CD) "Daughter", although recorded with a different line up, picks up where "Celebrity Skin" leaves off- in fact, both were produced by Mike Beinhorn.
And, much like "Skin", Beinhorn's production is strong and cleaver enough to make even the filler tracks work (ie "honey", "for once in your life"). Bearing that in mind, imagine how powerfull the highlight songs are: "skinny l'il bitch", "Pacific Coast highway", "Samantha", "looser dust" and the already bootlegged-to-death "how dirty girls get clean".
The climax "never go hungry" is an unplugged piece that even recalls early Dylan at his most intence!
My favorite album of 2010 so far.

And there IS a lyric sheet! You just gotta look hard for it. On the incert you'll see a strange illustration of six little girls with dog's legs in tu-tus. (Only Courtney knows what that all means!) Hold that picture up to a strong light and you will see the hand-written lyrics! (Trust me...)

I LOVE this cd!!!! It is raw and edgy. The first song,"Nobody's Daughter" is great! Also, love "Skinny Little Bitch", "Honey" "Pacific Coast Highway" "Samantha" "Someone Else's Bed" and "For Once in Your Life".

The Last three songs, "Letter to God" I find myself not listening to it too much as, it gets kind of wearing on my nerves and a little whinny.I understand what she was saying, but I think I need to be in the mood for it. I could have done without, "How Dirty Girls Get Clean", "Loser Dust" and "Never Go Hungry" they are okay, but they don't seem to fit it in with the rest of the album as they are completely different in sound and therefore the focus seems to be lacking.

However,on the whole,this is a great cd. I love Courtney's edgey sound and you can feel the angst in her heart pouring out to you.

So, being someone who is Nobody's Daugher, I solute you Courtney. Thanks for making a cd to all us daughters who are so damaged. No, they don't know just how damaged we really are. However, they (the parents) DID that damage. Thanks for speaking for us.

On another note, the inner lining of the cd's notes are great along with the artwork. The whole thing was so well thoughtout and put together. I really felt like she was speaking just to me.

I've been a huge Hole fan since I was thirteen, and I have to say I was shocked at how well this album turned out. To me, it was mixture of all of Hole and of Courtney's solo careers meshed into one CD. First off, the lyrics are so deep and beautiful, it isn't quite as angry as early Hole; but Courtney has grown into a very mature musician, you can really feel the emotions behind this album. Honestly there wasn't a track on this CD that I didn't love. "Honey" is a really beautiful song with raw heart-felt emotion. Where as "Samantha" is very poetic and more angsty with a catchy chorus. With "Loser Dust," I really got a taste of the old Courtney, it's very nostalgic and reminds me of the "Live Through This" album more then any other song from this album. "Never Go Hungry" is acoustic and very raw-felt song that showcases what I love so much about Courtney Love, her vulnerability and raw edge. This whole album shows off her raw voice and a way of connecting the lyrics with such heart and vigor that it's beautiful. Absolutely love this album, fully!