It's nye and I'm drunk so no time to read through this thread but the tragedy is because of you people who abandoned her. Liz is a songwriter, not a millennial (edit: I guess gen-x?) mouthpiece. She was left behind because her interests changed but her audience's interests did not. Her fans in the wcse era were waiting for her to find new ways of working the word f%$k into the rhyme scheme while she was dealing with deadbeat dads. They were still waiting for same when she was lamenting her single life in the s/t era. In the meantime, her compositions were just as strong as they were from day one, if not stronger. Please people--and not just for Liz's sake, but for yours, especially as supposed music lovers--listen with your ears and not your snark.
After Whipsmart, she got married, had kids and moved to ultra white/rich Manhattan Beach CA (which is where I grew up, so my opinion is educated) which won’t help one keep their finger on the zeitgeist
I don't think that moving to an area that is "white and rich" has much to do with whether she was able to produce music that was popular. History shows that where an artist lives has nothing to do with it...at least not in every case.
I agree. It seems like there has long been this kind of view out there though - some fans and critics seems to view this type of living arrangement as anathema. Similar kind of reasoning led many to trash McCartney's RAM partly on similar grounds (the logic seemed to go "living in rural Scotland with his wife and 2 young kids, so clearly he has no credibility anymore..."). A clear example of how it just doesn't hold up is that Lennon wrote "A Day In the Life," perhaps the greatest pop song ever and certainly one of the most creative and adventurous, while living in an ultra white, ultra rich part of suburban London with his family. Countless other examples out there.
Lotsa artists never surpass their debut. You could say that about luminaries like the Doors or the Velvet Underground.
Excellent point. There are many other examples and those include soul artists as well such as Marvin Gaye with the spark for his album "What's Going On". The post I responded to was somewhat racist IMO.
You spell well for someone who is drunk... and present your thoughts extremely coherently... I agree with you and wish you all the best for 2018!
Good thing you guys agree. However when your career is a young as Liz’ was and you move to an affluent area and have kids and are married, lifestyle and location can influence your outlook. Look at her subject matter on Guyville. She went well beyond that in her real life and was no longer that same person. How was her output not supposed to suffer? And she also did stop producing music that was popular, so maybe I’m onto something
So would everyone recommend I stop at the third album? Is there no reason to buy the self-titled LP and those that followed?
In my playlists: Exile: 3 songs Whip-Smart: 3 Songs White...: 1 song Liz Phair: 6 songs Miracle: 3 Songs Funstyle: 0 songs (Can't remember ever even listening to this. I must have, right?) YMMV Disclaimers: Been a while since I've been through her 90s stuff in detail and I might like more of it now than I did last time. Also, I don't get thrills off of hearing f word.
So... here are my thoughts. Her self titled album from 93 is excellent as presented to the record company. Capitol Records rejected the album and made her work with Avril Lavigne's craptastic hit writing "machine" called The Matrix. From Wiki: Liz Phair (album) - Wikipedia "The Matrix was known primarily for producing glossy hits for female singers such as Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, and Hilary Duff. Phair ultimately collaborated with The Matrix on four songs: "Why Can't I?", "Extraordinary", "Favorite", and "Rock Me" Avoid these four tracks and enjoy the rest. If you want to listen to the tracks that Capitol omitted check out the following tunes from the Comeandgetit ep: Comeandgetit - Wikipedia 1. "Jeremy Engle" 3:07 2. "Bouncer's Conversation" 3:20 3. "Fine Again" 2:43 4. "Hurricane Cindy" 2:20 5. "Shallow Opportunities" 2:36 In particular Jeremy Engle... which is a fantastic track...
I was familiar with 'Exile in Guyville", had heard "Whip Smart" and one day came across her eponymous album. For a minute I thought there was another lady called Liz Phair who had put out a first album. She was the last musician I would have imagined going down that route, to be shaped by producers and record execs to try and fit a format.
The record as intended was produced by Michael Penn... who is not really mainstream... but the record was rejected. Liz had a choice to work with Matrix or get dropped by the label. She chose The Matrix. The non matrix tracks are fine quality (if overly polished) pop songs. imo.
