exile in guyville

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someone just mentioned "divorce song" on another thread and i realized that i hadn't heard this album in years. will it have stood the test of time when i go home and listen to it tonight?

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I think so. I was actually listening to an Ashtray Boy MP3, where the vocal stylings of Ms. Phair are present, and it sounded marvelous. Made me nostalgic for the days when she wasn't so musically prissy & precise. I, too, haven't listened to _Guyville_ in eons, but I played the living bejeezus out of it back in the day, so I could probably sing 90% of it to you, or anyone else.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 18:19 (twenty-two years ago)

i loved it when it came out too, and was really dissappointed by 'whipsmart' when it came out. maybe i should give that another chance too.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

i loved it when it came out too, and was really disappointed by 'whipsmart' when it came out. maybe i should give that another chance too.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

i'd only ever heard whipsmart - which i'd loved - then i got whitechoc... - which was less interesting but had some great songs. so i finally got around to hearing the supposedly exhilerating exile and was nonplussed. it sounds rawer than the others and i can imagine it came as a breath of fresh air or something at the time but, for the most part, the songs don't sound as well formed as the later releases.

― phil turnbull (philT), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Whipsmart's my favorite. It definitely deserves more time if you at all like her style.

I think Exile largely holds up as well. I still love "6'1"".

― Chris Dahlen (Chris Dahlen), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

in my all-time top ten, this one. it's beautiful and brave and funny and sad and hinted at a brilliant musical career to come. the two subsequent records have been a major letdown though, particularly 'white chocolate space egg', which is exceedingly mediocre. word is liz has engaged the production team responsible for avril lavinge's recent hits for her next record. hmm.

― angelo (angelo), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 23:09 (twenty-two years ago)

i always thought her playing on this record was very good...

there are two songs on her whipsmart that i considered very well-written: "shane" and "nashville".

― gygax!, Wednesday, 4 December 2002 23:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's a bit sad that the long cool shadow of Exile wound up making Whip Smart look like a drop-off: it really was a similarly great record.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 23:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I just had to ammend my top-10 (of the 90s?) list, because I replayed this recently after months of not hearing it and decided it's going to be very RARE if I completely adore 15 songs from an 18-track studio album ever again.

― V or maybe Vee, Wednesday, 4 December 2002 23:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, Liz Phair. She's a winner in my book. Rocks out to the max. But I saw her live, she's fuckin tiny. I swear. I my family we growsem big, and she has to be like 4'11 & 82 lbs.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Thursday, 5 December 2002 00:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I got this CD free for taking my kit off in a record store.. it's still one of my favourites. Whipsmart is my least fave of her three LPs but it's still pretty strong.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 5 December 2002 00:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Love love love Liz Phair, there's this weird quality about her that just sets her apart from the rest of the Lilith Crowd, I just can't put my finger on it. I guess I'm the only one who thinks "Whitechocolatespaceegg" is her finest hour though, huh?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 5 December 2002 01:17 (twenty-two years ago)

didja know she models for a lil boutique in chicago called Pheobe 45??

more (not as sexy), and more

― JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 5 December 2002 01:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Both EIG and Whipsmart are great, and I loved them right from the start (actually owned Whipsmart first, which may be why I like it more than most of her fans). And WCSE took quite a while for me to get into, but I did end up liking it too, just not as much as the other two. I have the Girlysound tapes on CD, which are very good in their own way as well.

― nickn (nickn), Thursday, 5 December 2002 01:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Exile- good
Whipsmart-awful
White Chocolate Space Egg- her best (despite the title)

― Mark M, Thursday, 5 December 2002 02:24 (twenty-two years ago)

more (not as sexy), and more

I think she looks sexier with more clothes on.

― Curt (cgould), Thursday, 5 December 2002 02:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Aside from the music, what made Exile so much more compelling was her bravado. Her vulnerability still showed through on Exile, but on later records, once she dropped the tough front, all her sensitivity had lost its complexity, so I lost interest. A similar thing had happened with Elvis Costello, after he stopped coming off as an asshole.

― Curt (cgould), Thursday, 5 December 2002 02:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I truly don't understand how people how like Liz can hate Whipsmart as much as they do, especially if they like both EIG and WCSE. Mark M, what is it about the LP that you hate?

― nickn (nickn), Thursday, 5 December 2002 02:50 (twenty-two years ago)

whipsmart is great. i remember not taking it too seriously at first, it did seem a bit of a letdown, but only because i loved exile so much... then a couple of years later, i heard whipsmart playing over the p.a. as we were waiting for a theater performance to start. and at a certain point i realized "hey, i love these songs! i'm gonna put this on when i get home!"

to this day i don't think i've listened to wcse in it's entirety. someday i will, i promise

― ron (ron), Thursday, 5 December 2002 03:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Love EIG; love the Girlysound tapes even more. ("Open Season," oh my God.) Am a little terrified to hear her forthcoming stuff.

― Douglas, Thursday, 5 December 2002 05:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Costello never stopped acting like an asshole.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 5 December 2002 05:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Whip-Smart was almost everything I was hoping for in a followup to EiG. WCSE, tho, was just horrific and there's no way I'm shelling out for the new one.

― Aaron A., Thursday, 5 December 2002 05:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I like her CK Jeans ad better.

― jm, Thursday, 5 December 2002 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

And the Apple ipod ad too, actually.

― jm, Thursday, 5 December 2002 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Now that's talent.

― Chris Ott, Thursday, 5 December 2002 21:37 (twenty-two years ago)

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