Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love
True Romance: The Home Studio Tapes
Babydoll
This record might provide the clearest insight into the home life of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love short of having been one of them. It is a collection of tracks recorded in the couple’s basement studio, and includes everything from a bare bones demo of Hole’s “Violet” to recordings of meaningless conversations during a take. But mostly there is a lot of music, much of which has never been heard before. Some of the tracks are skeletons of songs we all know. A fast version of “Heart Shaped Box,” with radically different lyrics on some of the verses, the aforementioned “Violet,” that displays a gentle sadness almost agony that is different and more touching than the screaming powerhouse the song became. There are several tracks, mostly Cobain’s, that were obviously songs designed either to take Nirvana to a new level and in a new direction, or were the beginnings of Cobain’s solo career, one that sadly never materialized. The best part of the record is three odd covers, including a twangy Kurt Cobain belting out Lynard Skynyrd’s “Gimme Three Steps.” The oddest point comes when Courtney sings a lullaby version of the Captain & Tenille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together.” It’s so ironic you can’t laugh at it.
