Liz Phair-Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)
Artist: Liz Phair
Catalog Number: CDP-553554
Year of Release: 1994
Country and Year of Edition: US 1994 Columbia House
Sell Price: $2.70
Sell Date: 8/30/24
Condition: VG+/VG+
Discogs Last Sold 7/7/24 VG+/VG+ $2.00
Low: $1.00
Median: $2.00
Average: $2.24
High: $3.31
Current low price: $1.49
Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 6
Have/Want: 59/13
Where Sold: Hastings, MN
Time It Took To Sell: 12 years
Where and When Bought: Columbia Record club late 90's
Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A-
Sad To See It Go: No
Recently I saw a group called Snail Mail that was marketed as Matador's current heir to Liz Phair. I really didn't think so. I like Liz Phair for a reason. She seems adult. Someone a couple years older than me, an architype of the "single woman of the 90's" before life presented marriage, parenting and other problems. This was right before the "mommy 'n' me" pop era when she was probably thinking about getting a divorce and before "reinventing" herself out of her main audience into a fleeting one.
Whitechocolatespaceegg was a transitional album to that era. I didn't ignore it completely when it came out since I loved the prior two. At the time one great song stood above all, "Shitloads of Money" to the point I didn't remember any other song on the record. This was a brilliant story in the form of a toss-off concept. Tongue in cheek and not. She's serious and most of her "friends" (audience) that are shocked by this base summation have an explanation delivered in the form of a sea chantey. It's a greeting card: I wish you success for yourself and your friends. Wonderful!
Today, this album had another standout I had zero recollection of, "Big Tall Man." This is the soaring melody that the pop record after didn't have, but couldn't be a hit because the lyrics were too abstract. In fact, they were indecipherable until I actually looked them up. Instead of being confessional, she is taking on the voice of the "Big Tall Man." Is he winning and spinning with his relationship (with LIz?) or is he just in a good mood from mowing a lawn? And is the "lawn mowing" literal or a sexual metaphor? Or both?
Those thing of the past problems were replaced with other problems that have since been since been resolved. "Ride" sounds like the Beach Boys now.
Good to catch up.
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