I would hate for this album to get bad reviews, and the one I read in NY Press made me so mad I wanted to beat up the guy to protect Liz from feeling hurt by his blunt masculine insecurities. he ranted and raved that Liz was too polished in this new sounding album, had turned her back on her righteous indie image which he now suspected was forced in the first place. I am feeling outrage because this is what Liz is singing about, the masculine rock world's inability to take her songs with the same nineties grain of salt they accord, say BECK. No one calls Beck a sell out for having a little studio flourish and effort on ODELAY. Or what about WEEN, whose each new album shows that, in between scotchguard bong hits, they are slowly mastering the art of the studio? Liz Phair uses irony as they do, as homage with a cynical edge, which is the only way anyone can listen to what they really enjoy and yet still feel "hip." Ween patrons the arena rock of KING CRIMSON while Liz goes after Neil Diamond. But as far as they boys are concerned, Liz is trying to BE Neil Diamond. No one ever accused BECK of actually wanting to BE Kool Moe Dee.

My high strung, gooey relationship with chick singers began in the early nineties as I taught myself to be "sensitive" by crying to Joni Mitchell's BLUE.. I later got into others, the Indigo Girls first album, Enya, Kate Bush, then PJ Harvey, the unjustly ignored Melting Hopefuls, Sunberries, Crandaddys, etc. With all these women's voices I would hear my anima talking to me, linking me to my own melancholy unconscious in a profound way. As the guy in the Bob Hope movie once said "Man's unconscious is a maudlin swamp".

I dont think, as I look back, that it was all that benficial. Who can say? In being too enamored of these morose soliquoys, I no doubt missed some real life experiences. Certainly being a liberal arts educated "feminist" didn't help. Liz Phair sings to men like that, like me... like even the moron who wrote the bad review in NY PRESS (actually it maybe a woman)... and from the viewpoint that we may be wrong in not just acting like a guy and grabbing some ass. in that way she is like Bob Dylan more than Beck, because Beck's lyrics are too arch. Like Dylan she is more the poet/preacher using song structure and music instead of a piece of paper. The music she chooses is space pop alterna rock, and so what? It's all perfect, and if you can't catch the irony, then you aint subtle and need to go back to WEEN for your witticism.

Or maybe I am just giving her too much credit, cause I think she's cute in a younger sister sort of way.