YMMV / Liz Phair

• Broken Base:
  • Those who only like her indie phase, those who only like her pop-rock phase, and those who like both.
  • Some critics, after her follow-up album Somebody's Miracle was released, went on to say that Liz Phair was undeserving of its enormous critical backlash.
  • "Bollywood" from Funstyle. Naturally, there are people who hate Liz's odd foray into hip-hop, others don't hate the idea of Liz trying out a new genre, but hate the execution, and others find it a clever and witty song about how she became a score composer.
• Crosses the Line Twice: "White Babies", which is about the protagonist getting someone to bring her white babies from the black market.
• Fandom VIP: Ken Lee, who runs a fan site that Liz is very fond of. He interviewed Liz twice, and sent her a list of what songs she should include on the upcoming Girlysound disc. She almost entirely used it.
• First Installment Wins: Her debut album Exile in Guyville is widely agreed to be her best album.
• Funny Moments:
  Ken (the interviewer): For the record, when I first heard "U Hate It", I immediately thought of Chicago critic Jim DeRogatis.
  Liz: Well I am absolutely positively 500% sure he does, in fact, hate it.
  • We can't find out though, because DeRogatis never reviewed the album...
  • Also this:
    I keep threatening to do "Bollywood" in between songs, if something goes wrong with the equipment or if the guys are busy behind me. Then I'd be, like, "I was trippin' lookin' at my port-foh-lee-ah..." Half because it would make people laugh and half because for people who can't handle that sound, they'll be like, "(gasp), She isn't!"
• Les Yay: The Girly Sound version of "Flower" contains the line "I'll fuck you and your girlfriend too."
• Mis-blamed: Matador Records dumped Liz onto Capitol Records, who wouldn't give her money to record an album unless she worked with mainstream producers and made a pop album. Despite this, "fans" still whine about how she willingly and completely "sold out."
• Questionable Casting: Liz, known for singing songs about fellatio and sexual promiscuity, appeared on The Body Rocks, an album about teaching bodily functions to kids. She was asked to perform by her friend and main driving force of the album Doc Dauer, though. She's not a stranger to singing about bodily functions either.
• Refrain from Assuming:
  • "Flower" is mistitled "Blowjob Queen", after its most famous line.
  • "Why Can't I?" is mistitled "Why Can't I Breathe".
  • "Favorite" is mistitled "My Favorite Underwear".
• Signature Song: "Never Said", "Flower", "Fuck and Run", possibly "Why Can't I?" & "Extraordinary".
• Sophomore Slump: Whip-Smart wasn't as critically acclaimed as Exile in Guyville, but was a financial success that expanded her fanbase.
• Tear Jerker
  • "Little Digger". It's about her son coping with her new boyfriend after she splits up with his dad. 'Now you're thinking little thoughts about it, taking every inch of him in. What does it mean when something changes how it's always been? And in your head you keep repeating the line, 'My mother is mine.'."
  • "Divorce Song".
    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
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Pretty much every post-Exile in Guyville album, but 2003's blatantly, unapologetically commercial Liz Phair especially alienated her established fanbase.
• Tough Act to Follow: After Exile in Guyville, critics certainly think so.
• Vindicated by History: The Liz Phair album has actually received some positive re-evaluation by music critics in the years following its release. Even the critic who gave the album its infamous 0.0 rating for Pitchfork has different feelings about it now and regrets the drubbing. Pitchfork themselves would rescore the album in a 2021 article, bumping it up to a 6.0.

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