In June, Courtney Love made the announcement that she was reactivating her old band Hole (although she wasn't going to be including any of her old band members) to release her long-in-the-works project Nobody's Daughter. Rolling Stone caught up with Love to see how the album was progressing, and it appears that Nobody's Daughter will finally be hitting stores in January.
"It's more important than any record I've ever made, by far," Love told reporter Jenny Eliscu about Nobody's Daughter. While one assumes she meant that in terms of what she has to say creatively on the record, the album will also be an important litmus test of her commercial standing. Love's last record with Hole, 1998's Celebrity Skin, was also her last album to go gold or better in the States. Since then, she's released her poorly-received 2004 solo record, America's Sweetheart, and mostly become more of a tabloid sensation than a viable musical force. Considering those facts, it's hard not to be cynical about Love's decision to release Nobody's Daughter, which she's been working on for four years, under the Hole moniker: Was it done simply to connect the album to her most successful rock guise?
For her part, Love sees the decision differently. "Wherever I lay my head is Hole," she says, "It's four letters. It is one of the best band names in [expletive] history, if I do say so myself. For a while I was a little embarrassed it was maybe vulgar, but at least it's not phallic. It's H-O-L-E, it's a great band name, and it's mine."
But in the end, the name on the album isn't as important as what the songs sound like. Eliscu reports that Nobody's Daughter will touch on "greed, vengeance and feminism," which are certainly familiar topics from her band's breakthrough album, Live Through This. Musically, though, the album is supposed to be reminiscent of '70s concept albums like The Wall and David Bowie's Diamond Dogs -- which is not to suggest that Nobody's Daughter is a concept album itself -- and it will also feature a goth element as well. Because Hole's '90s albums largely drew from grunge, punk and alternative rock, these new musical influences might suggest a fresh creative direction for Love. She may be returning to an old band name, but maybe she's got some new tricks up her sleeve.
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Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images.
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