I'm sure that you guys don't know this, but Ms. Love and I are cosmically connected. It's true. It seems like only four years ago when Courtney tripped over me and damn near cracked her skull on the icy streets of Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival while we were filing out of the Eccles theater after watching Kevin Spacey's brilliant Big Kahuna. She gave me a coked out flirty look as if to say it's OK, it happens all the time. And sure enough it did one year later at the Greek Theater in L.A. while watching Radiohead on the Kid A tour. Adam Mast and myself were enjoying the festivities down in the orchestra pit when suddenly someone damn near bowled both of us over. Before I could muster out a "Hey watch it asshole!" there was Courtney giving me that damn little sly grin again. I couldn't help but smile back at her and think to myself God, what a ding dong.

The only reason that I even bring those stories up is that on America's Sweetheart, Love's first album since Hole's often brilliant Celebrity Skin, is that I can hear that grin smeared all over this fall-down, tripped-over good time of an album. You can tell just by looking at the cover art and the liner notes filled with animated pictures of her that Love is having a fun time playing the part of an overblown cartoon character. Can you think of any female celebrity more animated and full of mischief? I can't and I'm sure glad that she's more than willing to play the part. I mean, who else can pull off a line like "You'll never ever fuck like me, so baby why do you even try?"

With people like Matt Serletic of Matchbox Twenty fame producing, and Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes and even the legend himself Bernie Taupin helping out in the songwriting department, it's instantly recognizable that Love is trying to go for mainstream appeal here. And I have to say that for the most part, America's Sweetheart is catchy as hell, and I even like it more than another certain female artist that tried to do almost exactly the same thing last year (cough Liz Phair cough).

On the album opener "Mono," Love comes fast and furious pumping her fist and screaming "Hey!" and shouting lines like "Are you the one with the guts to bring punk rock back alive? I didn't think so." And on the best song on the album "But Julian I'm a Little Bit Older Than You," Love pokes fun at banging Julian Casablancas from The Strokes with lines like "I came, I went, I caved, oh no I faked it.....in the story of my life you'll barely get a mention." I'm not kidding when I say that the first half of America's Sweetheart is one hell of a great ride.

It really is too bad though that the second half of America's Sweetheart is about as close to a train wreck as you can get. "Life Despite God" is a terrible tune sung in a terrible fashion, and her ode to Led Zeppelin on "Zeplin Song" is downright embarrassing. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. If you're looking for a great Valentine's day gift... don't be a prick! Get your boyfriend or girlfriend something nice like flowers. But while your at it, think about picking this up for yourself. You know you like her, at least a little bit - she may not be America's Sweetheart - but she's definitely America's Guilty Pleasure.