She was absolutely one of my musical idols in the mid-90's. When Exile In Guyville came out, it literally never left my CD player for 6 months. I didn't listen to anything else. Her 2nd album got nearly as much play. She came along at a perfect time in my musical development and her sensibilities were something that I instantly tapped into. I loved her conversational singing, insanely clever lyrics, those contrived chords and amazing rhythm guitar, DIY ethic, brainy yet sexy persona. Plus, she was just so fucking dirty, but not in a cheap or overly sexualized way. It all just seemed so fun and effortless for her. She was a huge inspiration to me at the time cuz I was just starting to make my own demos and I was teaching myself how to play the guitar. Every nuance was so perfectly placed, yet still organic and interesting. What appealed to me about it was her relative lack of experience or even natural ability. SO WHAT HAPPENED?

Somewhere around '96 when she was recording her 3rd album, rumors were circulating that her record company rejected her initial submission. I think she started to 2nd guess herself and the results showed. But it was nothing compared to where she's gone recently. She got voice lessons. She got a makeover. She did Lilith Fair. She got married, had a kid and got divorced. Not that those are bad things, but they certainly mellowed her out. She's done commmercials for car stereos, computers and GAP jeans. She did background vocals for Sheryl Crow and even worse, has turned into a pale immitation of her. She got Avril Lavigne's producers to write her some hits. She's on Top 40 radio. She's on Now! That's What I Call Music comps. She's an "Inside Track" artist on VH1. She's completely and utterly sold out.

Now, if she had gone after mainstream success and gotten it on her own terms, I wouldn't have such a problem with it. But there is so little of what I know as her left in her music or attitude, it's hard to swallow. Her last record wasn't terrible. It had a lot of decent songs. But they weren't Liz Phair songs. And it seems that this new one is going to be more of the same, but even more boring. I saw her most recent video on VH1 and all I can say is, "She looks great."

This really bums me out. I pulled out Exile and Whip-Smart the other day and they still completely blow me away. Every song is a little story that I still relate to or remember fondly. Those albums are still full of interesting little twists and revelations and I think I'll always appreciate them. But her status as one of my favorite artists is shrinking year by year. She seems happy doing what she's doing and at least she's making money, if that's what she wants to do. But I'll never understand how one of the most uncompromising and original artists of my generation has turned into one of the most non-descript, MOR cliches in music today.

End of rant.

dont let dansa see you posting this...


its all about your "expectations"...

nothing to do with the artist....

sosgemini said:

why not?

TRON said:

http://www.prince.org/msg/7/162592

sosgemini said:

Ah. I see.

I think there's a difference in this case. She came on so strong and has just become a watered-down, washed-out version of herself. I'm all for change in a a career and trying new things, but not at the expense of quality and integrity.

TRON said:

id say its the same agruement..

I don't have one of her albums

people get hungry, i guess. when you need to get paid you do what gets you a check.

My absolute fave lyrics, from the Divorce Song...

But you've never been a waste of my time
It's never been a drag
So take a deep breath and count back from ten
And maybe you'll be alright
And the license said
You had to stick around until I was dead
But if you're tired of looking at my face I guess I already am

The new album is really, really boring.
Even her lyrics are dull on this one, which have always been her ace in the hole.

To this day I still don’t completely trust my opinion of Exile in Guyville. From the start, I've heard two great songs on that album; Fuck and Run and Explain It To Me. The rest of it sounds like better than average indie-rock. Nice, but the kind of thing Lou Barlow or Elliot Smith could do in his sleep. However, there are two reasons I’ve never been able to completely dismiss this record:

1) I really love those two songs I mentioned. Fuck and Run is a brilliant, primal stones rip, and I still find Explain It To Me absolutely stunning - from the sleepy vocals to the background synth washes, I think it’s a perfect song.
2) So many people whose opinions I trust, friends and critics, still hold this album as a classic. When this album won the Village Voice poll, I kinda sneered, and thought that those critics were going to look very foolish in five years – but the revision I thought was coming never came. People still look back at this record as an era-defining masterpiece.

So every once in a while, I pick up Exile and play it, thinking that one day the curtain between myself and this album will drop away and I’ll hear what everyone else is hearing. It hasn’t happened yet. Sometimes, in my cattier moments, I think that the fact that Liz’s subsequent career has been such a bust bolsters my case that she was a mediocrity from the start – but I can’t dismiss the esteem people have for this album.

Thing is, I don't see Liz Phair crossing over to any sort of pop audience either. Just seems to piss off her old fans, but not get her any new ones.

damosuzuki said:

Funny...I imagined you'd be completely in love with that album. It and her follow-up seem right up your alley. If the musical aspect is lacking for you and you're trying to appreciate it from another angle, dig into the lyrics. Above all else, that was her strong suit. The way she messes with gender roles, the constant word play, the sacrcasm, the intelligence - it was all so fresh.

And I'm glad you see "Explain it to Me" as undeniable. It's my favorite Liz song.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Pick up the first two this week, get drunk, listen and get back to me.

AnotherLoverToo said:

Hey you!

MendesCity said:

Even with all my bitching, I'll still pick up the new one first thing tomorrow.

Liz Phair? Isn't she the lady who is known for those outrageous lyrics?

singing about being some guys' "blow job queen"? Giving women some unique beauty tips? LOL

DavidEye said:

That's the one.

You listen to her ever?

GangstaFam said:

Nope.But I've read some reviews of her albums.The critics love to quote her lyrics,for some reason

CinisterCee said:

I never heard any appeal in her voice or music. Seemed all copycat to me in the beginning; never got into her.

DavidEye said:

She's a damn fine lyricist, that's why. She was anyway.

HamsterHuey said:

Copycat of who and what?

GangstaFam said:

Erm, there was this entire wave of young female singer/songwriters of which I only kind of liked Lisa Loeb and even she could not get me to commit to calling myself a fan...

GangstaFam said:

Are most of her songs of a sexual nature?

GangstaFam said:

Oh, and of course, copycat of Joni, Kate, Tori, Alanis. Up to a certain extent also PJ and Björk.

Some of these people reach my three-point rule. Voice/lyrics/music should appeal to me. If one is not there, or more, I hardly commit to liking that music.

HamsterHuey said:

I can see the Joni comparisons. But she's still not much like her. And most of those women you named (Tori, Alanis, PJ and Bjork), she was contemporaries of. Her first 2 albums came out in '93 and '94 - the same time as the others you mentioned, and a few years before Alanis got popular. Plus, there are her Girlysound tapes from a few years prior, in which she'd already developed her signature writing style. If she was copying anyone, it was perhaps Pavement or Juliana Hatfield, but still only in genre.

HamsterHuey said:

Of that genre, she came before any of the ones I'm assuming you're referring to - Lisa Loeb, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Meredith Brooks, Alanis, etc.

DavidEye said:

A good many, but I wouldn't say the vast majority. She messes with gender roles more often than she gets sleazy or cusses.

GangstaFam said:

Yup. I think she's had to put up with a lot of sexist bullshit, because the media tried to pigeonhole her "that brainy slut." She's definitely brainy, but she's also definitely more than that label implies. She's always kind of playing with how people perceive her.

But that said, the new album makes me sad, because it doesn't do much of anything interesting.

Oh, and I have to add: Anyone who's a fan of Liz should check out Amy Rigby's latest. She's kind of been doing something similar (and more consistent) for about the same amount of time, but she never gets much attention.