Though the original recordings for "America's Sweetheart" were made at a château in the south of France in 2003, the concept of Love's first solo album was conceived as early as 2001, when rough versions of songs later to appear on "America's Sweetheart" were being recorded. Critics who had heard the recordings referred to the tracks as "her best recordings yet." Also around this time, Love began doing live performances, notably at both Ventura's Majestic Theater and the Hollywood Bowl in October 2001, at which early versions of songs (such as "But Julian, I'm A Little Bit Older Than You" and "All the Drugs") were performed.