Liz Phair (album)

Liz Phair
Studio album by Liz Phair
Released	June 24, 2003
Genre	Pop rock, alternative rock
Length	50:14
Label	Capitol CDP 7243 5 22084 0 1
Producer	The Matrix Michael Penn Liz Phair R. Walt Vincent
Liz Phair chronology
whitechocolatespaceegg (1998) Liz Phair (2003) Comeandgetit (2003)

Liz Phair is the eponymous fourth album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released June 24, 2003 on Capitol Records. "Why Can't I?" and "Extraordinary" were released as singles. Phair began production on the album with Michael Penn.

Production

Initially, Phair worked on tracks for the album with songwriter Michael Penn as the producer, but the finished album received a lukewarm reception from Matador. Having already exhausted the recording budget, label president Andy Slater offered Phair more money to record if she agreed to work on possible singles with the production team known as The Matrix. The Matrix was known primarily for producing glossy hits for female singers such as Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, and Hilary Duff. Phair ultimately collaborated with The Matrix on four songs: "Why Can't I?", "Extraordinary", "Favorite", and "Rock Me".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Blender
Entertainment Weekly	(A-)
Pitchfork Media	(0.0/10)
PopMatters	(unfavorable)
Robert Christgau	(A)
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Stylus	(positive)
Spin	(5/10)

Though her eponymous album introduced Phair to a mainstream audience for the first time, success brought about a strong backlash from critics and disappointed fans of her earlier work. Many decried her for "selling out", and she became a "piñata for critics". The New York Times' Meghan O'Rourke titled her review of the album "Liz Phair's Exile in Avril-ville", and complained that Phair "gushes like a teenager" and had "committed an embarrassing form of career suicide." Pitchfork Media gave the album a 0.0, the lowest score on the website's rating scale. In his review, Pitchfork crtic Matt LeMay stated "it's sad that an artist as groundbreaking as Phair would be reduced to cheap publicity stunts and hyper-commercialized teen-pop"

Outtakes

There exist several circulating outtakes from the album. Some of them have never been commercially released, but some have leaked in bootlegs. The first 5 are from the "comeandgetit" EP. The outtakes are listed below:

• "Jeremy Engle"
• "Bouncer's Conversation"
• "Fine Again"
• "Hurricane Cindy" ("comeandgetit" version)
• "Shallow Opportunitites"
• "Why Can't I?" (Single Mix)
• "Take a Look" (Original Mix)
• "Rapids"
• "Liar"
• "Red Light Fever" (Alternate Version)
• "Down"
• "Bouncer's Conversation" (Alternate Version)
• "Love/Hate" (Alternate Version)
• "Good Love Never Dies" (Alternate Version)*
• "Apple Tree" (From Julie Johnson)
• "Faded"(From Julie Johnson)
• "She's Gone" (From Julie Johnson)
• "Love/Hate Transmission" (Original version of "Love/Hate"; not the alternate version)
• "Insanity"
• "Don't Apologize"

* The alternate version of "Good Love Never Dies" never leaked, but is still considered an outtake

Mass media

Singles "Extraordinary" and "Take a Look" were used in the Warner drama Charmed, on episodes "Oh, My Goddess" and "It's A Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World" respectively, while "Why Can't I" appeared in a Tru Calling episode, featuring on the soundtrack of films Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and 13 Going on 30 as well.

Track listing

All songs by Liz Phair, unless otherwise noted.

1. "Extraordinary" (Christy, Edwards, Spock) – 3:25
2. "Red Light Fever" (Gary Clark) – 4:52
3. "Why Can't I?" (Christy, Edwards, Spock) – 3:28
4. "It's Sweet" – 2:55
5. "Rock Me" (Christy, Edwards, Spock) – 3:21
6. "Take A Look" – 3:29
7. "Little Digger" – 3:36
8. "Firewalker" – 4:29
9. "Favorite" (Christy, Edwards, Spock) – 3:24
10. "Love/Hate" – 3:43
11. "H.W.C."– 2:56 (Not on the clean version of the album)
12. "My Bionic Eyes" – 3:52
13. "Friend of Mine" – 3:44
14. "Good Love Never Dies" – 3:00

Personnel

• Liz Phair - guitar, vocals, sampling
• Jebin Bruni - keyboards
• Mario Calire - drums
• Lenny Castro - percussion
• Matt Chamberlain - drums
• Alison Clark - background vocals
• Mike Elizondo - bass
• Victor Indrizzo - drums
• Corky James - guitar, bass
• Buddy Judge - guitar, electric guitar, background vocals
• Abe Laboriel Jr. - drums
• The Matrix - vocals
• Wendy Melvoin - bass, guitar
• Michael Penn - bass, guitar, background vocals, sampling
• John Sands - drums
• David Sutton - bass
• R. Walt Vincent - bass, guitar, harmonica, electric guitar, background vocals, Wurlitzer
• Patrick Warren - piano, keyboards
• The Wizardz of Oz - vocals
• Pete Yorn - guitar, drums

Production

• Producers: The Matrix, Michael Penn, R. Walt Vincent
• Engineers: Doug Boehm, Ryan Freeland, The Matrix, Michael Penn, R. Walt Vincent, Howard Willing
• Assistant engineer: Kevin Meeker
• Mixing: Serban Ghenea, Tom Lord-Alge
• Mastering: Ted Jensen, Eddy Schreyer
• Assistant: Mike Glines, Andrew Nast
• Arranger: The Matrix
• Drum recordings: Krish Sharma
• Design: Eric Roinestad
• Art direction: Eric Roinestad
• Photography: Phil Poynter

Charts

Album

Chart (2003)	Position
The Billboard 200	27
Top Internet Albums	27

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2003	"Why Can't I?"	Adult Top 40	7
2004		The Billboard Hot 100	32
		Top 40 Adult Recurrents	1
		Top 40 Mainstream	10
		Top 40 Tracks	15
		New Zealand Charts	37
	"Extraordinary"	Adult Top 40	14
		Top 40 Mainstream	28