Exile In Guyville

Liz Phair walked so that Garbage could run. Suffers from the problem with first albums where Liz has recorded nearly every song she's ever written so there's a real mess of genres and songs that probably could of been cut with no great loss. Overall I'm enjoying listening to this

nicht meins

Loose, sparse. Seems fitting that I listened to this in the Seattle area (even though Liz was based in Chicago): very riot grrl, lo-fi, grungy. Certain points I was into, certain points not so much. Eighteen songs is a bit long. Favorite tracks: "Fuck and Run", "Divorce Song", "Soap Star Joe", "Shatter"

Good album…should have been a couple of songs shorter but good variety in songs

Distilled and concentrated 90's punkrock. If you want to know why a lot of pop songs from this decade took on the patina of angst and confusion, this is why. Although I grew up during this era and love the influence it has had on pop culture, it's a little too distilled for my taste.

Pretty bad ass!

Phairly good.

Middling tunes let down by half the vocals being completely out of tune.

Phairly decent

the female Elliot Smith but not as good

I got into this a year or so after it came out and just loved it a lot, and still give it the occasional listen. Decades after the fact I still think it's very good. The signing is not terribly strong, though in that it's a class in playing to your strengths. And despite being very much a young person's product the lyrics still hold up. Certainly still a landmark of a certain facet of the 90s indie sound.

4.0 + This album wins because it’s honest. Liz Phair can’t sing or really play guitar. All she can be is herself and that’s what I hear on this record.

Ehhhhh. I'm sure it means something to a different audience, but it's not my jam.

not a fan

It was next to impossible to find new music in 1993, especially albums from a relatively new and obscure female artist who wanted to be your blow job queen and fuck you until your dick turns blue. The internet wasn't yet a thing, MTV and FM radio wouldn't touch such material, and we had to rely on reviews from Rolling Stone and Spin Magazine to even learn something like this existed. Even then, I don't recall any local record store carrying this album on cassette or compact disc, and I doubt Columbia House offered this album either. So it wasn't until the Wild West Era of Napster that I finally heard Exile In Guyville, and it's become one of my go-to albums ever since then. Sometimes I think this is the best debut album ever. It's certainly one of the top 5. Every song is written by Phair as a track by track response to the Stones' classic "Exile On Main Street". If the algorithm had any sense of humor, they'd recommend both albums consecutively to everyone. If listening on Spotify, make sure you listen to the remastered version with all 18 tracks available, as the link here goes to the old version where Spotify doesn't include some of the songs for whatever reason. Liz Phair would achieve more popular success after this landmark album, but never get back to this level of openness and rawness. A trailblazer like Liz Phair knew there's no way to top this masterpiece. If I could only keep 10 albums from this list, this would absolutely be one of them. Pour one out for the amazing Liz Phair. She'll fuck you and your minions, too.

3/5 interesting but nope.

Meh. That is all.

Good one! I dig her voice and the music - somehow both relaxing and uncomfortable at the same time. Will listen again.

I really should’ve listened to this long ago. It’s very much my shit. Great songwriting, shaggy, yet just polished enough production. Definitely earns the hype.

liked how raw the lyrics were

I'm a little underwhelmed

yeah, this was fine. i didn't much care for her music back then, and i really don't now, although i absolutely love her unwillingness (at least on this album, i've never met her or anything) to take absolutely no shit whatsoever.

Typical 90s shite. Awful decade

i really did not like the voice it was incredibly irritating but i did like the music so the songs without so much singing i enjoyed however the voice was just plain bad. i woukd give a 5/10 and a 2.5 but i cant so i’ll round down

This record exhausted me. I remember the buzz after its release, hearing about how "revolutionary" it was. Was it? Is it? After all this time and a re-listen the remaster actually does give it a little more sheen (I'm very much not a low-fi fan)... the music is sometimes just "ok" (actually "Shatter" could or should be a great song) but sweet fancy moses there's no getting by her voice which is absolutely unmanageable and the up-front and dry mix (lo-fi!) does absolutely zero favours to. Was this album cool because of her "bold language?" Maybe. Ordinarily I'm all for it but not in and of itself - for the most part it's used in such a stupid high school back row of the class teenage-giggly way and as a result most of these songs just are a sloppy pile of absolutely nothing. If you get off on "pushing boundaries" in the sense that being edgy with sex and language in music is super important - or maybe all that's important - then go for it here. If you're of the theory that even if your lyrics have the effort of repeating a kindergarten nursery rhyme but you still need to put some effort and thought and creativity into actually freaking making art then you'll probably feel as I do after enduring this. This revolution should not have been televised and instead should have been exiled to the "do not release" pile. 2/10 1 star.

Great lyrics. Edgy. Enjoyable sound. "Flower" is a great song.

Fun album, would listen to it again.

I expected some pre-packaged 2000’s trash pop. Instead I got a moody, thoughtful singer-songwriter gem that I would never have found without this website. It took forever to figure this out, she sounds like Johnny Cash Does Indie Grunge. Shatter is amazing. The guitar sounds like The Durutti Column (i.e. haunting, eerie, heartfelt). Divorce song was an enthralling listen, as was Stratford-On-Guy. I did not expect to give this album more than 3 stars, but it is a very strong 4!

feminist grunge mixed with stonesy blues. nice

Sounds like Courtney Barnett, or more she sounds like her.

Pretty intense lyrically, but some good songs

3,5 star but not 4. Okay-ish but totally forgettable music

I don't like this album much at all.

What a killer rock album. Excellent songwriting throughout and killer tunes to match. Every song is POWERFUL.

Pretty boring. Ok I guess. I don’t get why it was acclaimed.

she hits an emotional chord like few others do with her lyrics. My natural cynicism is now compounded by emotions.

3/5 Not really catchy, sounds like the radio

not my style

Gritty and hard-to-listen-to lyrics delivered with emotion and catchy tunes. Has you happily singing along to inappropriate and embarrassing songs. Gets better with every listen.

Brilliant confessional singer-songwriting, this consistently engaging album is witty, caustic and unabashed.

I was surprised I liked it alot

Angsty guitar-driven singer-songwriter stuff. Grungy power-chord transitions but not that heavy. Not a lot of standout tracks, and the bored-sounding vocals got tiring after a while.

super meh

Great guitar riffs and a “fuck you” attitude throughout the whole album

Like an 80s Joni Mitchell. Glad to have listened although probably wouldn’t relisten.

A bit raw. Liz is ok in small doses. Not my favorite but not bad.

4.5

Surprisingly good.

Good storyteller. She could be strong and vulnerable simultaneously eg. Fuck and Run and Shatter. Was also intrigued by the edginess/unique production of Flower.

DNF. 90s rock isn’t really for me I guess. But it was nice to try.

Got better by the end, first tracks felt a bit unpolished and underwhelming. But I like what this album represented for the 90s

Great album

What a journey I went on with this album. I listened to it in two parts. The first portion on Friday, where my experience of it was as interesting enough background music, that didn’t wrassle for my attention too strongly with whatever else I was doing. Today, though, I picked up where I left off - with Canary - and something had shifted. Maybe it was that England lost the biggest game they’d played in my lifetime in the most painful way possible, but I heard what I think Ms Phair was selling. Her songs suddenly struck me from two angles - 1.) the stark, surprising lyrics: chock full of a certain kind of sexual ennui, oscillating occasionally into revelry and back again. 2.) The songs themselves, roughly hewn, simple-sounding but they have the same punch as anything by that other purveyor of rough-hewn, simple-sounding guitar-led songs from the 90s, Kurt Cobain; and honestly, I realised she is the first artist I think to ever draw comparison with Kurt in my mind as a peer and equal rather than an imitator. And I realise that possibly sounds like damning with faint praise, but it’s not intended as such. I’m so pleased I didn’t just settle on basing my review on my experience of the first half of the album. Well worth it.

Love it

Has sexual politics ever been better? More tuneful? More truthful? Smarter? When I'm listening to this, I'm inclined to say no. Especially now I've just learnt Phair wrote the whole thing as a track-by-track response to Exile On Main Street. It's also the birthplace of today's voguish Bedroom Rock sound (Japanese Breakfast, Soccer Mommy, Beabadoobee, to name a few from the last year). But somewhere along the line things got sadder, less melodic, less funny. What you get from Phair that you don't get from the new crop are the seemingly infitine personality facets. Here, Liz is a real cunt in Spring and your blowjob queen. She's tested by the male-dominated music industry to see how far she'll bend. She wants to be fuck you till your dick turns blue, jumps when you circle the cherry, and wants to be mesmerizing too. She also gets away with what the girls call murder, is done with the fuck and run game she's been playing since she was 12, and wants a boyfriend. But then again, the boys are just heroes "in a long line of heroes, looking for something attractive to save". And if you don't believe one person can be that complex, there are 18 songs on this thing. And if you don't believe one person can be that complex and prolfic AND consistent, marvel at how she's still able to pull a hook like Stratford-On-Guy out the bag at track 17. Just marvel.

Her voice didn’t really sound good, so I couldn’t finish it.

Never listened to Liz Phair. Love her style. very Good album.

Phair shows her roots with quick-witted lyrics and shorter tunes. What is missing is any remarkable single or thing that sticks with you.

Seems like a powerful female record. Her voice wasn't great to listen to. Not my thing, but I can see why people would like it.

Turns out Liz Phair isn't a great singer. I assume this album was chosen because of it's writing...but it's hard to pay attention to the lyrics when the singing is so bad.

Bloated tracklist, but there are some real gems in there too. I see why it's on here even if I don't think its a "great" album. I just wish it was more refined.

Decent. Some great songs, but I think too long and one note.

Some songs are truly awesome. Guitar ideas are also very good. I just find that the overly sexual lyrics are so over the top, that they come off as edgy, which slightly annoys me in some songs. Other than that, I actually enjoyed the record quite well.

Eh

Just, but just, an OK background music piece. But too close to boredom.

Het eerste nummer had me niet mee, en in het hele verloop van het album werd daar geen verandering ingebracht. Het gitaarwerk is wel oké

Simple indie rock, doesn't wow me but it's still pretty good.

Tuneful in places, out of key singing in others.Wouldn’t listen again. 2*

Conflicted... Really liked this musically (very basic and effective guitar) and was fully enjoying until I paid attention to the lyrics a little. Not terrible, but not great (ie. Divorce song?). After looking up the lyrics though, there are definitely some pearls along the way and the context of the album certainly makes it worthy of this list. Awesome to hear some more females in this little adventure and this was a pretty brave and outspoken record for the time so big points for that. Pretty bland voice, but really cool melodies. The drums left a lot to be desired though - very hollow if heard at all and Explain to Me was proper out of time - sounded like a poorly joined loop! Tough one to rate.

If Exile in Guyville is shockingly assured and fully formed for a debut album, there are a number of reasons why. Most prominent of these is that many of the songs were initially essayed on Liz Phair's homemade cassette Girlysound, which means that the songs are essentially the cream of the crop from an exceptionally talented songwriter. Second, there's its structure, infamously patterned after the Stones' Exile on Main St., but not the song-by-song response Phair promoted it as. (Just try to match the albums up: is the "blow-job queen" fantasy of "Flower" really the answer to the painful elegy "Let It Loose"?) Then, most notably, there's Phair and producer Brad Wood's deft studio skills, bringing a variety of textures and moods to a basic, lo-fi production. There is as much hard rock as there are eerie solo piano pieces, and there's everything in between from unadulterated power pop, winking art rock, folk songs, and classic indie rock. Then, there are Phair's songs themselves. At the time, her gleefully profane, clever lyrics received endless attention (there's nothing that rock critics love more than a girl who plays into their geek fantasies, even -- or maybe especially -- if she's mocking them), but years later, what still astounds is the depth of the writing, how her music matches her clear-eyed, vivid words, whether it's on the self-loathing "Fuck and Run," the evocative mood piece "Stratford-on-Guy," or the swaggering breakup anthem "6'1"," or how she nails the dissolution of a long-term relationship on "The Divorce Song." Each of these 18 songs maintains this high level of quality, showcasing a singer/songwriter of immense imagination, musically and lyrically. If she never equaled this record, well, few could.

Not good. But not too offensive

wtf!!

One of the worst things I've ever endured.

no

this album has so much personality to it. fantastic storytelling. the lyrical style reminds me of mitski at times but its even better. i think it could've used a little more musical variety, a lot of the melodies got monotonous, although overall the energy/pacing was good. 9/10

Felt real sad but sounded great. 8

(3.5) I feel like I wouldn't like Liz Phair as much if I didn't enjoy seeing her so much in concert (she opened for The Smashing Pumpkins and I barely knew her music beyond "Why Cant I?"), but she does have a cool stage presence and is fun to watch live. A lot of her songs are pretty catchy too, and short and sweet; I never feel like her songs go on for too long. I saw her tagged as "slacker rock" on RYM and I think that's probably a good way to describe her music?

never heard of Liz Phair, but this was fun. Like.... an indie Alanis Morrisette

Generally acceptable 90s indie rock. Very of its era. Very potty mouthed. Too long.

Really good. Not something you listened to song by song or very often.

Egzotycznie brzmiące nazwy zarówno albumiku jak i artysty i maly cyc na okladze nic mi nie mowil, okazalo sie, ze to albumik indyjskiego rocka, ale jest to undergrundowa produkcja, wiec low fi pelna geba, nie tylko to slychac przez to w jaki sposob jest zmasterowany, jak wykonane overduby, ale glownie przez liryczny kontent, bo jest on do bolu szczery, a jak to w muzyce niepopularnej glonym topikiem bedzie seks lekarstwa i turlanie kamienia, ale jest to pisane, ze gdybym mial zgadywac z jakiego roku albumik, to strzelalbym na okolice 2k10 i bum internetowych grajkow spiewakowych, ktore zalalo swiat za sprawa rozpowszechnienia sie serwisow strimingowych, a nie wczesne lata 90, bo o ile jeszcze poczatek plyty do never said, czyli najbardziej popowego kawalka jaki mozna tu uslyszec, to dalej slychac coraz to coraz to odwazniejsze eksperymenty, nie tylko jesli chodzi o kompozycje instrumentalna, ktora w niektoych miejsach jest wrecz minimalistyczna i sa nawet kawalki jedynie z klawiszami kreconymi synthem, czy gitarkowaniem Pani Liz, lirycznie dzwie sie, ze tak jednolity tematycznie jest albumik, bo wszystko mozna sprowadzic do relacji miedzy ludzkich, dobitnie pokazuje to track flower, ktory byl dla mnie kwintesencja tego co slyszalem w poprzednich kawalkach, wokal i klimat kojarzy mi sie z NANA, moze znalazlem pierwowzor nany, na plejke wrzuce gunshy oraz soap star joe

7/10. Maybe deserved an 8 as it was definitely quite good, but it did get a bit samey listening to the whole thing, and it's not really my style.

Pues cómo que sí fue underwhelming. No sé que esperaba exactamente pero igual... Me gustó Help Me Mary suena super super años 90. Mood: rockero, peo no lo suficiente

A special record, to dive in and explore on subsequent listenings. Very 90s. Very good.

Bland save for a few tracks. Very one note

Not really for me!

I think 30ish minutes of Liz Phair would have been a solid album. Generally, the production style and music is compelling, but it just didn’t hold up for almost a full hour without getting pretty boring and samey. 6

Meh, wasn't overly interested.

Creo que nunca había escuchado a Liz Phair y muy agradable. Se puede distinguir ahora ese sonido noventero y a ratos me sonaba como un mashup de The Cranberries con un poco de PJ, algo de Fiona, hasta me cuestioné si existe una categoría llamada "rock de mujeres" así como hay "escritura de mujeres" (según). Varios moods, todo a su punto, ya fuera algo más ligero o divertidón. Canciones fav: "6'1''", "Never Said", "Explain It To Me" y "Fuck and Run". 8.5/10

I can see how this is on this list. It's not my favorite style of music but I did enjoy some of the lyrics.

No sé cómo descubrí este disco en su momento, pero me gustó mucho. Además el título, la portada, las canciones tienen un hilo conductor con un mensaje bastante claro e interesante. Canciones como Help Me Mary, Mesmerizing, Fuck And Run o Johnny Sunshine. Un gran disco que merece la pena escuchar.

Bonne chanteuse, j’ai bien aime et ca a passe vite comme ecout en background. 3.85

I only made it through half... It's like a teenage girl singing her inner monologue.

This was really good!

Really enjoyed the album

Skipped it

Meh

Her more famous songs on this didn't really grab me. I most enjoyed Mesmerizing, Divorce Song, and Stratford-on-Guy.

No thanks.

Reminds me a lot of Lisa Germano, but less weird (and thus, in my book, less good) but yeah, acceptable early nineties alt rock singer songwriteriness. Fave track - "Soap Star Joe", had some amusing lyrics that caught my attention...

Yeah!

3.5 | Ni idea sobre ella ni sobre el disco. Que album tan curioso, tremendamente explícito y obsceno pero con una instrumentación típica de ese rock alternativo 90ero que era medio inofensivo, a veces tan minimalista que hasta la batería elimina. Se siente como si fuera una cantante de folk superagresivo. Justamente esa canción más explícita de todas siento que también es la más interesante en su arreglo (Flower, por supuesto). A pesar de todo el disco es bastante más que solo tratar de espantar con letras sexuales, en general si hay buena composición y escritura; me parece algo triste que busqué un poco más sobre esta mujer y... TODO lo demás que escuche se me hizo bastante X sin inspiración y mientras más adelante en los años peor se ha escuchado. De verdad parece que tenía un album muy brillante dentro de sí y nada más. Se me hace que fácilmente ha de ser esos discos que ha de haber inspirado a muchas mujeres y que se interpreta como muy feminista, aunque no parece que era la intención de Phair. Un lugar en la lista para un trabajo femenino, con carácter, de rock alternativo bastante bien hecho, quizá no es mi máximo pero su lugar lo tiene muy merecido. ¿Cómo podría alguien odiar algo con la letra "Obnoxious, funny, true, and mean, I want to be your blowjob queen"?

Very good album. Slick guitar sound and nice vocals. 7/10

Thank you 90s!!! I remember reading once that the one thing the Red Hot Chili Peppers collectively agreed on is their crush for Liz phair

this was rly good

Seguramente fue una rebelde en su momento y la música no necesita ser sobresaliente para darle paso a letras interesantes, pero este disco no me atrapó. Suena un poco tedioso y aunque a ratos suena peleonera, el resto del tiempo se me hizo aburrido. Me recordó a PJ Harvey, pero sin ese algo que la haga especial.

Swagger and confidence.

This isn’t my sound. But it sounds like a reasonable version of that sound. 5/10

Lots of good songs.

I find this very ovverated critically... it’s a solid record for sure. I don’t see this worthy of all the perfect reviews

i resonated with her idgaf attitude, some songs were bland

That’s a nip on the album cover

Not my thing. Although I can appreciate what this is, and some songs like F and Run kinda struck an interesting nerve. Almost like Cody Chestnutt did in a way.

Fences. Total garbage. She can’t sing.

I don't think she can sing, but she does so anyway. The lyrics are not good either. I don't ever want to hear it again.

Siento que este album envejeció mal. Por lo que leí en los detalles, cuando salió fue altamente aclamado y alcanzó buenos lugares de venta, pero no me pareció tan bueno. Parece como un precursor de Natalie Imbruglia o Meredith Brooks, pero más indie, y seguro para su época fue un disco algo atrevido y vanguardista. No guardé ninguna canción.

pues la primer mitad un poco lenta pero se medio compone después, se nota que es bien alternativo el pedo que traía esta vieja

Sé que ustedes no se picaron con How I Met Your Mother, pero el disco me recordó la fase "oscura" de Robin Daggers, AKA Robin Sparkles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdEExeQ8D8U) Trata de ser tan oscuara y tan cruda que parece una parodia de Alanis Morissette. Eso no es tan terrible y un par de canciones medio me gustaron, sin embargo, no creo que sea suficiente para estar en la lista. 2.5 no más por Fuck and Run.

Great album, edgy Kate Bush that sounds like it's had a lot of influence on heaps of alt rock punk stuff around today especially in Aus. Dance of the Seven Veils, Mesmerising, Girls!.., Divorce Song all massive tunes.

Was hoping I wouldn't get a rock album for once. It's clearly more lyrics focused, they're very straightforward and to the point. This is definitely one of those albums written to get some shit off the artist's chest, no filter and no bullshit. The instrumentation is a little weak and generic though, which is something I look for first before I even listen to the lyrics. That being said I can see myself being in the mood for this kind of aesthetic.

Don’t know about the exile on Main Street connection, but great nonetheless

Pretty good. Grungy. I can hear the influence she had on so many female musicians.

Ok. Nice voice. Glad I listened to it but probably wont go looking for more

I like the feel of it, just lacking a little more quality.

Not terrible, but not my favorite either. I like Liz's voice.

Very good, feel like I only scratched the surface though. Will need to listen again but on the day it's a 3 from me

Exceedingly average

Bold and brash. I loved this. Had never heard of if, but I can hear her in all the young solo artists that I listen to all the time now

Common alt-rock with interesting vocal

это альбом с не самым сильным женским голосом, не самым лучшим продакшеном, но он узнаваем. этот красивый и милый инди-поп с примесью кантри не собирался стать великим, но критики решили на него молиться. альбом обладает несколькими мощными хитами вроде «Never Said» и «Fuck and Run», которые для целого поколения стали родными. Смотря на такое восхваление критиков возникает важный вопрос, а слушали ли критики вторую часть альбома, ведь если убрать четыре песни из промежутка «Girls! Girls! Girls!» до «Flower», то изменится лишь хронометраж. Поэтому 4, недотянуто до идеала.

Not great not terrible, extra star for the nip

Great and groundbreaking

Mostly 1-stars but Girls! Girls! Girls! and Gunshy are honestly pleasant to listen to.

Grim

Terrible album cover

6'1"

Just ok. No clue how this got ranked as #56 of all time by RS

All I had heard was "Why Can't I?" but I knew she was a staple of the 90s when it came to rocker females. And rock she did.

Its ok

Very intense, raw energy to it.

Thought I would like this, but couldn't finish it to be honest

this kinda blend with songs of its time, like i can listen to it but i can easily forget abt it

Feels like a usual indie rock album, it's a bit too long but it's enjoyable. Lots of tracks aren't that unique though, some of them feel too generic