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SatisfiedMind614
SatisfiedMind614
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Posted over 3 years ago
What the F*CK happened to Liz Phair??I am sitting here listening to 'Exile In Guyville" and this is some of the most amazingly honest, raw songwriting that I have ever heard...then Whip Smart came out...and it was good, no Exile, but good...and then Whitechocolatespaceegg came out and I actually thought that was a great record!! I thought she was maturing so well as a songwriter...then something went terribly wrong...she went pop rock...and bad pop rock at that...so sad...so very sad
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Comments (31)

  1. tybees
    tybees says It was a sad turn of events, that "hit" song she wrote - "why can't I breathe around you" or some crap like that - turned a lot of fans off. Blech.
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  2. Takeshi Kovacs
    Takeshi Kovacs says Perhaps her CPA finally convinced her that sexy sells more than arty.
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  3. SatisfiedMind614
    SatisfiedMind614 says Ha! Thats what i was thinking Tak...she got 'hotter'....and way less cool
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  4. Violet Grey
    Violet Grey says She hit that point that a lot of great artists reach in the age of commercialism; she decided that starving for her art was passe. She sold out, and probably told herself she'd only have to do it once to gain a wider audience and then she could go back to what she was doing before. The truth is; you can never go back.
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  5. SatisfiedMind614
    SatisfiedMind614 says Nope....there is such a thing as 'beyond the point of no return'...and she most definitely found it
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  6. waggle
    waggle says Exile in Guyville was and still is an amazing album, a song by song response to the Stone's Exile on Main Street. I think her slide to shiny, over-produced pop coincided with her move to Capitol Records.
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  7. SatisfiedMind614
    SatisfiedMind614 says Exile is always the liz I will remember...lol...not that she is dead! But u feel me!
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  8. kateherself
    kateherself says I never liked any albums she did as much as "Exile". I'm glad she made that record. I like to think of her latest work as an experiment gone awry.
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  9. mermonkey
    mermonkey says WTF Liz? Seriously. I've avoided Somebody's Miracle, but from what i can tell, it is more of the same pop crap from the self-titled re-debut... I actually bought that sight-unseen in 2003. I was so excited for some fresh Liz. I put it in and my jaw just dropped. Surely there's been some mistake here! Who the fuck is this HWC song for anyway? It sounds like Britney-pop for pre-teens, but with a nc-17 flavor. It doesn't stop me from loving the old stuff, but it's sure gonna make her a hard-sell for the hall of fame ;).
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  10. SatisfiedMind614
    SatisfiedMind614 says No...its like that classic line in High Fidelity....should we condemn a once great artist for taking a major step in the wrong direction....tough call...but on Liz I play ostrich...i put my head in that sand and act like nothing after whitechocolatespaceegg was ever recorded!
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  11. KezOnTour
    KezOnTour says I think I lost interest after hearing Whitechocolatespaceegg. I loved Exil & even Whipsmart, but Whitechocolate... just didn't cut it for me. It was too... shiny. And it's been downhill since then. Shame :(
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  12. rhymeswithrawk
    rhymeswithrawk says When she's 20-something she writes: "He said he liked to do it backwards and I said that's just fine with me/That way we can fuck and watch TV" When she's pushing 40 she writes: "I want to play Xbox on your floor/Say hi to your roommate who's next door" I guess she's moved into milf rock. A 40-something who wants to play Xbox with me and my roommate? A move straight out of Mrs. Robinson's playbook, if you ask me. That last record was soooooo bad and sooooo ridiculous. It was like her midlife crisis record. It was the equivalent of a balding, overweight, middle-age white man going out and buying a cherry red Corvette convertible and parking it in front of the high school. Sad.
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  13. SatisfiedMind614
    SatisfiedMind614 says 'Milf-rock'...that is my new favorite sub-genre ever!!
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  14. kb
    kb says i actually love it all... to watch her evolve...and to see her third row, standing on the warfield floor? YUM.
    Permalink posted 11/24/2006
  15. david hyman
    david hyman says i lost all respect for her after this album. have never put it on again.
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  16. ROCKNROLLPIMP1
    ROCKNROLLPIMP1 says SHE IS RIGHT HERE WITH ME LAUGHING AT YOUR COMMENTS AND POINTING AT D there is the place in every artists careers that are peaks like in my "party" career where you connect then you die like myself she is dead find some other good shit i still listen to that nothing else she will do will compare she had a kid,became a mom that shit will ruin you every time THANK GAWD I AIN'T NO MOM hey d ain't it past yo bedtime?
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  17. waggle
    waggle says re: mermonkey HWC is "Flower" redux, just a decade and a few desperation wrinkles later. Shock value has never been so forced and pedestrian.
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  18. lemontwist
    lemontwist says I don't like her new music. Not saying that it's inexcusable for her to try a new genre, it just sucks that she picked a shitty genre to try out.
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  19. kb
    kb says i totally agree w/ pimp w/ the motherhood comment. (how could she NOT have changed?) dh, why did you lose respect?
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  20. SatisfiedMind614
    SatisfiedMind614 says Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth is a mom...she still rocks!!
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  21. kb
    kb says scott manzler, staff writer for _nude as the news_ wrote: "It's hard to imagine [exile in guyville] being produced by any other artist at any other time -- an accomplishment that cuts both ways. It's equally hard to imagine that the artist could ever recapture the same mood, moment or magic. To her credit, Phair appears unfazed by her early masterwork, she's moved on, forging something resembling an adult life in music." so, yes, exactly, lemontwist, i like your phrasing. satisfied mind, you bring up a true point! (sorry you are not satisfied.) liz rocking as a mom just does get different. (ask moms directly; they will tell you. liz said "I think, definitely, being a mother has connected me to a larger sense of connectedness with the world.") most of the opinions here say liz has gotten worse. yes, exile was instense. she paved the way for many more female writers to be honest and forthright, and dirty and kind, and sweet and hard, and a paradox and a window. Liz says: "[As I've gone from Exile to Whip-Smart and now to the new album,] I think that in Guyville I was much more conscious of putting on a persona. And kind of making myself appear a certain way. Whereas on this album I really kind of let myself be myself. I didn't censor it and I didn't rewrite it to make it a little tougher or a little cooler. So in both respects, I think Exile pushed forward a lot of myself that I wouldn't have brought into the light and this is more of an opening up and letting you look in." i guess i'm the only one here who thinks liz still rocks : ) thank the world for differences. "here is a great piece":http://www.salon.com/weekly/phair960617.html written by salon music editor cynthia joyce that i loved when i read it. ps. she also digs trey and dave and bloc party, and that is hot : )
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  22. dermahrk
    dermahrk says I have heard Exile In Guyville. I don't like it. I much prefer her latest stuff. SO SUE ME! Sorry I can't be a "hipster doofus" (to quote Seinfeld for a moment). Nyah Nyah Nyah!
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  23. kb
    kb says nice! quotin the cosmo!
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  24. rhymeswithrawk
    rhymeswithrawk says forging something resembling an adult life in music. That critic obviously doesn't know what that "HWC" song is about. Not exactly adult contemporary subject matter, but certainly adult in the gentlemen's club sorta way.
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  25. kb
    kb says this coming from the guy who "kicked the dan and the pretenders out" of the RRHOF... : )
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  26. david hyman
    david hyman says i only lost respect in that i think her music got worse after guyville. nothing on a personal level. guyville was an awesome record.
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  27. SatisfiedMind614
    SatisfiedMind614 says I am glad you quoted Kramer and not Michael Richards...things could have gotten ugly
    Permalink posted 11/25/2006
  28. mybluewristband
    mybluewristband says Hmm, I've only ever heard bad music coming from Liz Phair, so I assumed she's always been bad. Maybe I should look at her earlier records? At least she was good at some point and left some stuff to listen to behind instead of always sucking.
    Permalink posted 11/27/2006
  29. mybluewristband
    mybluewristband says Oh wait, I suddenly remembered that I've seen her live... it was around 3 - 4 years ago. I remember wanting to walk out on her performance... I guess I just blocked it out of my memory instead.
    Permalink posted 11/27/2006
  30. SamTheButcher
    SamTheButcher says I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'd sell out in a minute if it meant more money so that I could spend more time with my kids. And she's said as much before too - the effect of "I like being made-up and making happy music". It seems like the angel/whore conundrum. She had her raw album, but we expect her not to "grow up" and hold it against her. You'll say "Well, she can do what she wants, but I don't like it." Then keep yer yap shut about it. Why write about how much she sucks if only to hear others say "Yeah, she sucks now, huh?" Me? I didn't care for whitechocolatespaceegg all that much, but her new stuff doesn't offend me. I'd rather my daughters liked her new singles (Why Can't I) now and then "discovered" the Exile/WhipSmart stuff when they're older. :)
    Permalink posted 11/28/2006
  31. chillibee
    chillibee says Thankyou SamTheButcher for a bit of perspective-a different one finally! I too am disappointed by the last two albums, but how could I lose respect for someone who has contributed so much to my world view, my development as an adult, and my fun uni years? And has offered such a distinctive musical persona unlike anyone else before or since!? So the new albums aren't really for me either, a bit dull of topic and cheesy, but let's be fair! If you're a fan of her CRAFT and unique persona, take another listen, it is STILL Liz Phair. Liz said in 1993 in Rolling Stone, "I write weird, dissonant chord structures sometimes, but I'm always trying to counterbalance that with disgustingly catchy pop hooks". You must admit she has always had powerful pop hooks, nobody was complaining though when the mood was nasty! The chord structures are still there, it is not Britney Spears (okay except a few songs like "Everything to me"-having just put Somebody's Miracle back on for admittedly only the second time ever!). And so are her offbeat vocals, more often than not... I wouldn't say it's a sell-out.She's admitted to being MORE honest now in her music so are we gonna rip her to shreds for being herself because we don't like her style anymore? I personally salute Liz Phair. Yes I've had to let go of her new stuff (keeping them on the shelf for the odd attempt) - but I'd rather know she was alive and well and still had her own gig going on, even if her fan base drops and shifts, than to never hear from her again for being dissed into submission by her former 'loyal' fans. Vive Liz Phair!
    Permalink posted 11/29/2006

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