Released June 24, 2003 | Length 50:14 | |
Label CapitolCDP 7243 5 22084 0 1 Producer The MatrixMichael PennLiz PhairR. Walt Vincent | ||
Liz Phair is the 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. Liz Phair debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200. As of July 2010, the album had sold 433,000 copies.
Contents
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 Capitol. 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
Although the album introduced Phair to a mainstream audience for the first time, its success brought about a backlash from critics and disappointed fans of her earlier work. On MetaCritic, a review aggregator site, the album holds a score of 40/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews." 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 critic 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."
Some critics were not as harsh in their evaluation of the album, however. In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Chris Willman awarded the album an "A-" and described it as "an honestly fun summer disc," noting "Little Digger" and "Rock Me" as highlights. Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani also described the album positively, calling Phair "frank and funny" singling out "It's Sweet," "My Bionic Eyes," and "Rock Me" as noteworthy tracks. Robert Christgau awarded the album with an "A," praising "Extraordinary," "Favorite," "Little Digger," "Rock Me," and "H.W.C.", and noting that the album included "no bad songs."
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:
* 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 TV series 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 How to Deal Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and 13 Going on 30 as well. "Extraordinary" was also featured in the film Raising Helen.
Track listing
All tracks written by Liz Phair, unless otherwise noted.