Guest Edwin MacPhisto Report post Posted July 20, 2003 Liz Phair's debut, Exile In Guyville, is one of my favorite albums. It's stark and pretty and full of great songs, and might be my favorite of the many great singer-songwriter albums of the 90's. It never leaves me wanting for interesting material. Yesterday I had the occasion to hear her new self-titled album, her attempt to pop herself up, including a handful of songs written and produced by the people who write for Avril Lavigne. She's been changing her sound ever since her debut, but this is the most radical step. It's already fairly infamous, garnering a 0.0 review from Pitchfork, and mixed praise at best from the rest of the world. I kinda feel the same way after hearing it. The songs have a bit of charm, but it's mostly broad, generic charm that gets by on "Hey, that's Liz Phair!"more than anything else. As far as dumb singin'-girl power-pop goes, it's actually pretty good. There are at least 3 or 4 songs that'll make nice radio singles, one about how great jizz is, and some heartfelt songs about being a single mom. It doesn't really work, though. It's okay, but obviously disappointing. So, anyone else hear it? I'm interested in the impressions of both Guyville fans and those who hadn't heard a lick of Liz Phair until they heard "Why Can't I" on the radio or VH1. (A couple links: the Pitchfork review, and a short interview with Phair at Rolling Stone.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted July 20, 2003 i was actually thinking about doing a big commentary about this overall trend of singer-songwriter queens of the 90s descending into pop hell (those being liz phair, tori amos, and jewel to a much lesser degree), comparing their debut albums with their most recent ones. jewel was always more pop than rock or folk anyway, so she's forgiven quickly, and "intuition" is catchy. 'guyville' is one of my favorite albums of the 90s: it's clunky, rough, almost amateurish, a tad off-key, and barely held together by some catchy hooks. it's pissed off, dirty and beautiful. i think it's brilliant, and consider it part of the holy 1993 trilogy (with 'in utero' and 'siamese dream'). i've heard 3 songs from the new album: "rock me," "why can't i" and "little digger." they all sound like SHIT. she doesn't even sing like herself anymore, it sounds like she's trying very hard to sound like avril lavigne, and it's horrible. there's NOTHING there but catchy hooks. the worst part about it is the hooks aren't even catchy. "supernova," "cinco de mayo" and "johnny sunshine" are all catchier than this boring, overproduced tripe. it's possible that every other song on this album is catchier than what i got, but i doubt it. this shit is worse than 'scarlet's walk' (which is quite a feat, cause what i've heard of 'scarlet's walk' is so bad it makes me want to cry). tori is lost now, but at least she's still sincere. i feel all jaded and shit. i was jaded when i was twelve, but now i wish i could be jaded at twelve again, and not jaded with my heroes musically neutering and spaying themselves. at least i still have bjork. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Edwin MacPhisto Report post Posted July 20, 2003 Oh god, don't get me started on poor Tori. High school for me was Boys For Pele and everything around it, and Scarlet's Walk just bores the tears out of me. Still, at least her imagery is still odd, and she seems to care. At least it's not "I want to play X-Box on your floor." jewel was always more pop than rock or folk anyway, so she's forgiven quickly, and "intuition" is catchy. Funny how my least favorite of the singer-songwriter ladies is the one whose newest work I can enjoy most. Where the hell has Sarah McLachlan gone, by the way? We were listening to Surfacing in my office on Friday, and I realized that "Building A Mystery" was a hit six years ago. I wonder when she'll come back dressed in cutoff shorts and singing about the captain of the football team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted July 20, 2003 jewel always wrote good pop & was never particularly insightful, and she's doing the same thing now. she benefits from low expectations. people are just all up in arms because she put down her acoustic guitar and started showing cleavage. tori's transformation was a long time coming, this was just the completion (unless she could possibly get worse than this). i remember thinking she was starting to lose her edge as far back as 'choirgirl'. still a very good record, but it's got a trace of blandness, and nothing on it is as powerful as "blood roses" or "yes, anastasia." there was definitely something from 'earthquakes', 'under the pink' and 'pele' that was missing from it. it got a lot worse with 'venus', which is nice background music but doesn't have anything with any emotional or creative impact on it. but i still own it for the live disc, which is awesome. 'strange little girls' had fire, and she was obviously trying to do something different, but it just didn't work. i sold it after 2 weeks, and i don't miss it. so by the time i heard tori was coming out with a new album, i wasn't excited at all and i pretty much knew what i would get. when i heard the single, i thought "yeah, that sounds about right." i downloaded some stuff, and i was...disappointed, but not surprised. it's crap, but i didn't expect anything better. liz phair is pissing me off a lot more, probably because i haven't been paying attention to her all that much since 'whip-smart'. so maybe she'd been going through something similar, i don't know. 'fumbling' has a special place in my heart, but sarah mclachlan does not. after i fell in love with 'fumbling' i checked out her earlier stuff and wasn't that impressed with it, so i always thought of it as most people think of triple h's run in 2000: right place & right time for nobody who had any business being that good. and after waiting three years for a subpar album, i just didn't care anymore. after lilith fair, she's apparently in some kind of music exile or something. i hope she stays there & doesn't release anything else. so, who's left? we all know what happened to kim deal and veruca salt...what the hell happened to mazzy star? cowboy junkies made a damn good album a couple years ago...i wonder if pj harvey's still good, i keep hearing good things about her but never check it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smell the ratings!!! Report post Posted July 20, 2003 PJ Harvey's last album came out ehhhhhhhhh, two or three years ago. It's not all guitar-y and pissed off, but still good. "Stories of the city" or something like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest shlidgn90 Report post Posted July 21, 2003 i'm a huge sarah mclachlan fan, has anyone ever listened to her b-sides and rarities album? i think that album was much better than fumbling towards ectasy. tori amos, lost her edge due to her age and becoming a mother. most musicians styles change during time. btw, following up two classic albums is always though. stories from the city, stories from the sea is ok, but nowhere near the level of her previously released work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Flyboy Report post Posted July 21, 2003 Y'know with all the trend of the good female artists going 'blah' on us, it really has me worried about Fiona Apple's third released that is due out late this year/early next year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted July 21, 2003 fiona rests somewhere between the commercialism of jewel and the upper echelon of liz, bjork, et al. plus her last album gave no hint of being pussified, so i think she's safe from the trend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Incandenza Report post Posted July 22, 2003 Why do people act like Liz Phair hasn't been trying to make a pop album since Whip-smart? whitechocolatespaceegg was just Starbucks music for the Beth Orton and Pete Yorn set. That Pitchfork review--needless 0.0. rating aside--was dead on in addressing of everything that's wrong with Phair now, as well as the last ten years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Edwin MacPhisto Report post Posted July 22, 2003 I'm listening to "Never Said" right now. Ah, the memories. And I think it's just because this is the absolute-drastic dive into pop trash. You could make a case for either of the other albums being, say, half-and-half quality, half crap. You could with Whip Smart, at least. And that "Supernova" was so durn catchy! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Incandenza Report post Posted July 22, 2003 I never really cared that much for Phair, but her current Avril-esque sound seems a natural progression from her previous work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
