Right! If Liz Phair had taken an office job she'd then have free rein to pursue her artistic vision and could also raise her daughter in style.
Remember the Beatles wanted to go to the top. Have a number one. The toppermost of the poppermost. It wasn't originally about art. Yeah I know. Totally different.
The fourth album was fine. Listen to it and you can tell she was having an absolute blast-- She did it for fun at least as much as money. Lots of hooks, lots of self-aware humor. Plus, there are a couple of power-pop songs (Love/Hate especially) that are up there with anything on the early albums. Way better than the dull Michael Penn stuff that duidn't come out. The FIFTH album (Somebody's Miracle) was the terrible one. She thought she was doing the respectable grown-up thing by making a Sheryl Crow record.
Yes Revolver, Sgt Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour were carefully calculated to appeal to millions of 15 year old teeny boppers. Burt Bacharach was hired to write all those songs. Within You Without You and A Day In The Life were purposely crafted to be played on jukeboxes worldwide! And Ringo posed in underwear. Got to appeal to those teeny boppers! Who needs art when it is ALL about the money?
Her son should be graduating high school soon. She claims to be making a record right now without major label concerns that will sit alongside the first three albums. I've heard she makes money and keeps herself busy doing soundtrack work on tv and movies - though info is a bit scarce beyond a handful of credits. To me start checking out when she stopped having songs driven by her guitar playing. One of the more inventive players from that era male or female. I also don't think the move to LA helped. I think the non-album material from the 2003 album was a continuation of the 1998 greatness, it just didn't receive wide release. I'm still looking for that 2004 EP and little of it is on YouTube. I also think the 2003 promo cd has a bit less compression than the retail version that is a total ear bleeder. I think there could be a decent DVD/Blu with the right setlist/players and her doing most of the electric guitar.
Of course. And older fans ("hipster" or otherwise) have a right to lose interest if they don't care for the new direction. That balancing act between commercial and artistic aims in pop music is a delicate one: Some artists are able to pull off the crossover convincingly with panache, while others come off as calculated or forced. Maybe some of the blame lies with the label, but I would put Liz in the latter camp.
On the major label they spent a decade meddling with her albums and refusing to drop her. Funstyle is what she has done since, but that felt more like a novelty record. I played it recently, the rap still is really funny but all the proper songs are "blah".
I was referring to them in 62. They wanted hits and chicks but yes they wrote cool simple songs and covered lots of American rockers everything changed after 64.
There's nothing "tragic" about Liz Phair - just another artist who has 'indie' credentials at the beginning of their career, but then realizes that 'uncompromising' and 'success' are two words that seldom go well together. Joe Strummer said it best: "He who f@#%s nuns will later join the church."
When Revolver, Sgt Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour were released, 15 year old teenyboppers were not The Beatles fanbase. There is no particular reason to believe that these albums weren't created at least in part to appeal to The Beatles then current fanbase and make huge sums of money (which they did). It's also easier to follow your muse when you have enough money to afford a cold storage facility for all your fur coats. It's fine to stop listening to an artist when she changes her musical direction in a way that doesn't appeal to you, but the self-righteous moral condemnation is just childish
Its not like she was the Residents-- The first two albums were plenty successful, and very commercial by the standard of that time, and she was the main reason that Capitol picked up Matador. Dropping one audience for another is always a risky move.
Yep, that is a very good record. I prefer it to Whip-Smart. The fourth album is also good, the only thing wrong is the Matrix production on 4 tracks. She wrote most of it herself from what I can tell. A very "hooky" songwriter. "Someboy's Miracle" is a dud, though.
If this is not patently obvious to you, I don't see any point. It would be like trying to explain why sweaters from Goodwill aren't really inhabited by demons. http://www.ibtimes.com/pat-robertson-claims-second-hand-goodwill-sweaters-might-carry-demons-1106562
I guess I'm in the minority here, as I never cared for her early material at all. I greatly enjoyed the self titled one (it even convinced me to see her perform live and as a result, meet her.) and "Somebody's Miracle" even more. But what do I know, I've always liked "underdog" albums. "Back to the Egg", "Woke Up with a Monster", "Eye of the Zombie", and "American Life" just to name a few...
No point. Your views on this topic are strong and unchangable. Fair enough, that's your opinion, but others have expressed contrary opinions and you're free to read them. We're not going to change your mind.
I think she addressed this in ****loads Of Money... It's nice to be liked But it's better by far to get paid I know that most of the friends that I have Don't really see it that way But if you can give 'em each one wish How much do you wanna bet? They'd which success for themselves and their friends And that would include lots of money
I would reserve the word 'Tragedy' for truly tragic events. I would simply characterize her career after the first 2 albums as one long disappointment. One of her problems is the provocative personna she couldn't live up to. Another is a limited vocal range that actually worked well for 'exile' but not in the later commercial settings she tried to explore. She just sounds like one of the plasticine Disney kids. Another consideration is that Casey Rice was the unsung hero of "Exile', and she's never had anyone since who could segment the good ideas and polish them up just enough. ( The Girly Tapes in the original versions I've heard aren't all that wonderful). Anyways, one brilliant and one solid album is more than 99.99543567773...% of artists ever manage.
I always thought it was funny that Robert Cristgau, one of the crankiest critics out there gave her so called "sellout" album, Liz Phair an A.
