Whip-Smart

Infobox Album | Name = Whip-Smart
Type = Album
Artist = Liz Phair


Released = September 20 1994
Recorded =
Genre = Indie rock
Length = 41:52
Label = Matador
Producer = Brad Wood
Reviews =
*"Allmusic" Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:t69us33ua3zg~T1 link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/lizphair/albums/album/188330/review/5943663/whipsmart link]
Last album = "Exile in Guyville" (1993)
This album = "Whip-Smart" (1994)
Next album = "Juvenilia" (1995) |

"Whip-Smart" is the second album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released in 1994, the follow-up to Phair's critically received debut, 1993's Exile In Guyville. Despite the strength of the first single "Supernova" on the rock charts, the album received mixed reviews. "Whip-Smart" debuted at #27 and ultimately achieved gold status. As of July 2003, it had sold 600,000 copies.

Phair has stated that the songs on "Whip Smart" chronicle the beginning, middle and end of a relationship: "a rock fairy tale...from meeting the guy, falling for him, getting him and not getting him, going through the disillusionment period, saying, 'Fuck it,' and leaving, coming back to it." ["Whip-Smart Is The Best-Selling LP By An Artist Of The Matador Records" [http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/8529/autobiography/whipsmart.htm "Wild and Unwise - The Liz Phair Story"] ]

The cover art of the album is taken from a Soviet poster ["We, soviet children, follow Lenin's way" http://www.sovmusic.ru/english/p_view.php?id=7] . In the original poster, there is a small child in the middle of the star, however the album cover shows a somewhat out-of-focus photo of Liz Phair.

Track listing

"All songs by Liz Phair"

#"Chopsticks" – 2:05
#"Supernova" – 2:48
#"Support System" – 2:58
#"X-Ray Man" – 2:13
#"Shane" – 4:12
#"Nashville" – 4:42
#"Go West" – 3:17
#"Cinco de Mayo" – 2:43
#"Dogs of L.A." – 2:21
#"Whip-Smart" – 4:18
#"Jealousy" – 3:37
#"Crater Lake" – 2:06
#"Alice Springs" – 1:50
#"May Queen" – 2:42

Personnel

*Liz Phair - guitar, piano, vocals
*Brad Wood - synthesizer, bass, guitar, percussion, drums, background vocals

Production

*Producer: Brad Wood
*Engineer: Brad Wood
*Mixing: Brad Wood

Charts

Album

References