10 Musical Shifts That Fell Flat On Their Face

Liz Phair does not get celebrated nearly enough credit as one of the greatest female voices of the ‘90s.

For as much as people like to talk about people like Alanis Morissette and Courtney Love as the female counterparts to grunge, Phair’s Exile In Guyville made her the undisputed Queen of Alternative Music almost overnight. Even with all her previous accolades, that didn’t mean she was bulletproof from the ‘00s cliches.

Much like a lot of her female counterparts, Phair used her 2003 self-titled album to do a left turn into pop music. Instead of rocketing her into stardom, this ended up being one of the death knells of her career, with songs that tried to compromise Phair’s gruff sound with crystal clean production. While most of these songs aren’t bad on principle, they all feel like a severe step down from the artist we got to know back in ‘93.

The snide attitude is still here, but the way it's married to shiny pop hooks just make the album feel disjointed rather than experimental. At a time when people were counting on Phair to deliver more poignant material, some of these songs feel like they should be coming from an edgy Avril Lavigne record than from one of the greatest voices in alternative music.