Exile In Guyville (15th Anniversary Edition) (CD - 1993)

Personnel: Liz Phair (vocals, guitar, piano, bongos, hand claps); Brad Wood (guitar, organ, synthesizer, bass, drums, percussion, background vocals); Casey Rice (guitar, cymbal, hand claps, background vocals); John Casey Awsumb (harmonica); Tony Marlotti (bass); Tutti Jackson, O (background vocals).

The 2008 reissue of Liz Phair's groundbreaking debut album, EXILE IN GUYVILLE, features two songs recorded during the original sessions for the album, as well as a bonus DVD about the making of the album and its cultural moment. Upon its release in 1993, EXILE IN GUYVILLE was a seismic event in the shift from alternative rock to indie rock, being both one of the key early lo-fi releases and, arguably, the album that completely re-defined the female singer-songwriter for its time. Crucially, it's also filled with smart, funny indie rock classics such as "Divorce Song," "6'1"" and "Never Said."

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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize