Liz Phair

Released five years after 1998’s whitechocolatespaceegg, Liz’s self-titled fourth album was seen by many in the indie world as a betrayal of sorts. She had shifted from her lo-fi, more sparse arrangements into what appeared to be a focused and deliberate direction that was unabashedly pop.

Originally, Phair had no intention to release her fourth album on Capitol. She and her band had already begun cutting early songs after a successful and inspiring tour from whitechocolatespaceegg. It was during this period that Matador was looking to dissolve their distribution relationship with Capitol, but it cost them Phair, which Capitol bargained for in the split. Phair herself had zero control in the decision and found herself fully within the workings of a larger label that she wouldn’t be able to break free from. As such, Liz Phair would eventually be released solely through Capitol Records and received wide distribution and a heavy push on radio.

Written over the course of five years with four different producers, Phair had roughly 50 songs that were early contenders for the album — some of which were sessions recorded with Brad Wood, her producer from her previous albums. Phair would end up re-working some of these songs with Michael Penn, who would also be tapped to produce the album.

With Penn, Phair had actually recorded an album’s worth of material when they initially presented them to Capitol, but the label’s response was tepid at best. Having exhausted the recording budget, then-president Andy Slater allowed Phair to continue provided she work with The Matrix—a trio of pop songwriters known for writing hits for artists including Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Jason Mraz among others—in order to produce some songs primed better for radio.

Phair’s collaboration with the Matrix resulted in four “hit-worthy” songs that made it to the album—two of which included the album’s two singles: “Why Can’t I?” and “Extraordinary.”

Liz Phair also features contributions from noted musicians Pete Yorn, Wendy Melvoin, and Buddy Judge.

In the end, after multiple re-works, tweaks, and a rather large production team, Liz Phair was released in June 2003 to a flurry of press—many of which focused negatively on Phair’s pop direction and her collaboration with the Matrix.

Upon its release, a handful of the unused tracks made it onto the comeandgetit EP, originally offered as a digital-only collection that fans could download with the purchase of the full album.

Released: June 24, 2003
Label: Capitol Records
Format: Vinyl LP, CD, Cassette, Digital
Country: US, Europe, Canada, Thailand, Japan, Phillippines, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia
Availability: Common

All songs written by Liz Phair except
Tracks 1, 3, 5 and 9 written by Liz Phair, Lauren Christy, Scott Spock, and Graham Edwards
Track 2 written by Liz Phair and Gary Clark

“Extraordinary”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Guitars: Corky James
Drums: Victor Indrizzo
Additional Vocals: The Matrix & The Wizards of Oz

“Red Light Fever”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Drums: Matt Chamberlin
Bass: Mike Elizondo
Guitar: Michael Penn
Keyboards: Patrick Warren
Percussion: Lenny Castro
Backing Vocals: Alison Clark

“Why Can’t I?”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Guitars: Corky James
Drums: Victor Indrizzo
Additional Vocals: The Matrix & The Wizards of Oz

“It’s Sweet”
Vocals, Guitar: Liz Phair
Drums: John Sands
Bass, Guitar: Michael Penn
Guitar: R. Walt Vincent

“Rock Me”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Guitars: Corky James
Drums: Victor Indrizzo
Additional Vocals: The Matrix

“Take a Look”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Guitar: Michael Penn
Guitar: Wendy Melvoin
Keyboards: Patrick Warren
Drums: Matt Chamberlin
Bass: Mike Elizondo

“Little Digger”
Vocals, Samples: Liz Phair
Bass, Guitar, Samples: Michael Penn
Piano: Patrick Warren
Drums: John Sand

“Firewalker”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Keyboards: Jebin Bruni
Drums: Mario Calire
Bass: David Sutton
Guitar, Backing Vocals: Buddy Judge

“Favorite”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Guitars: Corky James
Drums: Victor Indrizzo
Additional Vocals: The Matrix

“Love/Hate”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Keyboards: Jebin Bruni
Drums: Mario Calire
Bass: David Sutton
Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals: Buddy Judge

“H.W.C.”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Drums, Guitar: Pete Yorn
Bass, Harmonica: R. Walt Vincent

“My Bionic Eyes”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Keyboards: Jebin Bruni
Drums: Mario Calire
Bass: David Sutton
Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals: Buddy Judge
Electric Guitar: R. Walt Vincent

“Friend of Mine”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Drums: Abe Laboriel Jr.
Bass: Wendy Melvoin
Keyboards: Patrick Warren
Guitar, Backing Vocals: Michael Penn

“Good Love Never Dies”
Vocals: Liz Phair
Drums: Mike Stinson
Guitars, Bass, Wurlitzer Piano, Backing Vocals: R. Walt Vincent

Released: June 24, 2003
Label: Capitol Records
Format: Vinyl LP, CD, Cassette, Digital
Country: US, Europe, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Japan, Phillippines, Brazil, Indonesia
Availability: Common

A “clean” version of the album was released to accommodate retailers like Starbucks which refused to carry the album due largely to the song “H.W.C.” and how Phair was depicted on the cover.

Released: Spring 2003
Label: Capitol Records
Format: CD
Country: US
Availability: Somewhat Rare

This is one of a few advance promos released for Liz Phair. This particular one featured one of the publicity photos found within the liner notes of the official album as the cover. The back cover featured the tracklisting, but “Love/Hate” is displayed under its original title of “Love/Hate Transmission.”

Released: March 18, 2019
Label: Capitol Records (B0025951-01)
Format: 2-LP
Country: US
Availability: Somewhat Rare

In 2019, Capitol reissued Liz Phair on translucent “tortoise shell” vinyl.

“Liz Phair is actually a document of several different recording sessions spanning a few years’ time. Coming off of the tour for whitechocolatespaceegg, the band and I were all warmed up and wanted to capture what had gelled on the road onto tape. That session was tracked live. I love the fluidity of ‘Firewalker’ and ‘My Bionic Eyes.’ You can hear how we all move together as one beast. Dynamic is always great when you have a band that’s been playing together for a while. There’s a lot more unreleased material from that session.

The songs with Walt Vincent and Pete (Yorn) were created in a much less formal, more intimate way. I think of us back then as playful, like we were kids cooking stuff up in a garage in Culver City. I’ll never forget the very first session with Walt and Pete when they asked me to play a couple of songs so we could choose what to start with. I did my usual mumbling run-through, blushing brightly, and they immediately liked ‘H.W.C.’ When they asked me to sing the lyrics clearly, Pete’s face got all red, too, and he was like, “you animal!” Very funny.

Walt has an amazing knack for honing in on and making the most of a hook. ‘Good Love Never Dies’ is a prime example of that. I would leave for the day and Walt would stay up tinkering, layering instruments and BVs, and the next day, it would be like Christmas when I heard how it had all developed.

Working with Michael Penn was probably the most professional and clear-sounding recordings I’ve ever made. We did the basic tracking in studios around town, but the bulk of the work was done up in the aerie of the Capitol building, the lesser-known (but to my mind preferable) recording suite up on the top floor. Michael was a stickler for beautiful vocals. He introduced me to a little thing called a neti pot and if I were too congested, he’d postpone. He created these beautiful, abstract, mechanical sounds to thread through the work that gave it depth and landscape. ‘Little Digger’ and ‘Friend of Mine’ are two of the songs I am most proud of out of my whole catalog.

A few memories from that session: going up on the roof while Michael smoked, standing just beneath that iconic needle looking out over Hollywood at sunset, watching the prostitutes over on Argyle street strut their stuff; the day one of the hip hop bands brought a gun to the executive offices and the whole place shut down, got rewired with all kinds of stepped up security; going to Andy Slater’s office late in the evening when practically no one was in the building but him and us and listening to him play guitar; Abe Laboriel jnr. demonstrating that percussion is not a solid but a liquid.

I loved hanging out with Michael. He’s an incredibly smart, funny, and surprising person. He’d say these outlandish things that always turned out to be true.

When I went to meet The Matrix I was shocked when I rang the bell and Lauren Christy opened the door. I had met her and Graham before — a dinner with Ann or Scott Litt I think — we’d all hit it off. So for me, THE MATRIX (drumroll) were really just these awesome people that I already knew.

It’s a shame that fans can’t see how artists create behind the scenes. I’ve recorded with many people in many types of situations and all music-making sessions have much more in common than they have differences. It’s always ALWAYS folks who love music making the kind of music that they love.

I learned so much from collaborating with The Matrix, watching the way they worked and it was especially appealing to be influenced by another woman. Though “Extraordinary” and “Why Can’t I” seemed a stretch to my old indie fans, all the Matrix songs were incredibly effective live and could anchor a performance in any milieu. It was a pleasure and a privilege to take that stuff out on the road. It is so acrobatic vocally (I was Lauren’s avatar — she is a much better singer) and it opened doors to stage experiences I would never have had a chance to be a part of otherwise.

Little Digger” might be the most meaningful song to me for personal reasons, obviously, but I really do love that record and am very proud of the work we did on it.

Liz Phair had the most impact on my career besides Guyville — and it changed me as a performer. I sang “God Bless America” at the White Sox World Series game. I got to call up to the stage a young kid who was blind and suffering from leukemia during a 5,000 person NIKE event and give him his dream come true to play drums on ‘Why Can’t I” when it was a top ten hit. I played the main stage at Bumbershoot and won over a huge crowd who was not all that into it at first (if you think that’s easy, I have some swampland I want to sell you). I met every god-damn morning disc jockey in the northern hemisphere. But most importantly, I had a wicked cool team of support, and the best touring band and crew you could ask for. We played and skied, we played and windsurfed, we rode ponies and then played a show. Played paintball, rode dirt bikes, had parking lot weenie roasts and a thousand laughs, and a few tears. Good times.”

– Liz Phair

Liz Phair spawned two singles with “Why Can’t I?” and “Extraordinary,” both songs co-written with the Matrix team.

“Why Can’t I?” became Phair’s highest-charting single, peaking at #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Adult Top 40. The song was certified gold by the RIAA. A European-only CD single was released for the song which also featured the songs “Jeremy Engle” and “Fine Again.”

“Extraordinary” was the second single but didn’t feature a retail release.

“Rock Me” was slated to be the album’s third single, but was never released.

Liz Phair received mixed reviews. Most of the negative reviews were written by critics that weren’t willing to embrace Phair’s more pop-focused persona and her collaborations with the Matrix, calling her a sellout. Pitchfork notoriously gave the album a harsh 0 out of 10 in Matt LeMay’s review of the album (he would later tweet an apology to Phair).

In October 2021, Pitchfork revised their original ranking of the album (along with 18 other albums):

There really is nothing that can be said here that wasn’t already covered in Matt LeMay’s 2019 Twitter thread apologizing for this “condescending and cringey” review. So I’ll just quote him: “In 2019, it is almost inconceivable that there would be *any* controversy around an established indie musician working on a radio-friendly pop album with radio-friendly pop songwriters. To a smug 19-year-old Pitchfork writer (cough) in 2003, it was just as inconceivable that an established indie artist would try to—or want to—make a radio-friendly pop album in the first place. The idea that ‘indie rock’ and ‘radio pop’ are both cultural constructs? Languages to play with? Masks for an artist to try on? Yeah. I certainly did not get that. Liz Phair DID get that—way before many of us did.” – Amy Phillips