To rock off my ranking of 500 albums, I thought I would start with the album that I've become obsessed with in the past year or so. Liz Phair is a bit frowned upon these days, ever since she 'abandoned' her indie roots and took up with the founders of Avril Lavinge. However, many music critics will always cite the exception of her debut album as proof enough of her talent.
Exile In Guyville was a debut of mostly unreleased songs that Liz had compiled on her Girlysound indie, raw, lo-fi, homemade cassette tapes, so basically this is a greatest hits type of album that she compiled. Her incomplete, weary voice matches her world-weary, self-aware lyrics completely. And the frank, sexual discussion unheard of females at the time didn't hurt either. But, the musical interpretation is what makes Exile In Guyville a masterpiece.
She took classic rock, grunge, and folk (my favorite genres) and mixed them with her post-feminist lyrics about divorce, one night stands, revenge, flying over Chicago and many other topics. If she never topped it, well, few could.
Top Tracks: really nearly every song is fantastic, but 'Fuck and Run', 'Divorce Song', 'Shatter', '6'1', and 'Strange Loop' stand out the most.
I Could Live Without Ever Hearing Again: Well, no song is not worth listening too - I don't really care for 'Johnny Sunshine' or 'Gunshy', but they are not bad.
5/5
2 comments:
Great review! I couldn't do something like this for rock, given I mostly listen to showtunes, but I guess I could for that genre..
Great post! You made me want to hear this album (which I did and it's really nice!). Thanks!
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