From: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org (support-system-digest) To: support-system-digest@smoe.org Subject: support-system-digest V8 #128 Reply-To: support-system@smoe.org Sender: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk support-system-digest Friday, October 7 2005 Volume 08 : Number 128 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [support-system] Somebody's Miracle reviews (Melodic.net / Paste Magazine) [Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle reviews (Melodic.net / Paste Magazine) Two more "Somebody's Miracle" reviews: From Melodic.net: (http://melodic.net/reviewsOne.asp?revnr=3712) Liz Phair "Somebody's Mracle" (Capitol/EMI) 2-1/2 stars Released: 2005 Producer: John Shanks/John Alagia Style: Singer songwriter rock (female) Format: Album Website: www.lizphair.com Reviewed by: Kaj Roth On her last album, 38 year old Liz Phair worked with The Matrix, Michael Penn and Pete Yorn and the result was a nice pop/rock album and also her poppiest so far but with the new album "Somebody's Miracle" she teamed up with John Shanks and John Alagia. This time the music leans more towards singer/songwriter rock like Sheryl Crow and Natalie Imbruglia with a Nashville feel to it, Liz is a mature woman and a pro at making mature music but it just gets a little too cozy - the young and bitter girl from the early 90's has been replaced by a happier woman who sings about sunshine and miracles instead of frustrating matters using the fuck word once in a while. The uptempo "Count on My Love" sounds like a female version of Tom Petty and the song is also one of few standout tracks, none of the others are particularly bad - they4re just non-edgy and harmless midwest influenced rock. Indie rocker "Can't Get Out What I'm Into" takes Liz back to her early albums and sound, "Why I Lie" is a flirt with The Rolling Stones and her vocal performance on the opening track "Leap of Innocence" doesn't feel 100% - I can4t hardly listen to the verse. I expected more from this! ***** From Paste Magazine: (http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article?article_id=2261) Dischord - Liz Phair "Somebodys Miracle" (Capitol) Diary of the month by Jeff Elbel Liz Phairs newest project, "Somebodys Miracle", evinces maturity through balance. Though unlikely to shed the provocateurs image, Phair now celebrates lifes joys (Count On My Love), while still airing the dirty laundry during Why I Lie. Like 2003s "Liz Phair", this album sports a similar mainstream-pop sheen. Its the sound of indie-rock darling Phair becoming comfortable in her own skin. Wind in the Mountain recalls female pop-boundary pushers Aimee Mann and Alanis Morissette, while preaching perseverance through the tough times. Stars and Planets bounces like the goddaughter of The Beatles Getting Better. Unflinching honesty is Phairs throughline. "Somebodys Miracle" looks with sad envy upon those who attempt committed relationships and make them work. Similar to poring over a friends diary, hearing Everything to Me feels almost like an invasion of privacy. The key to understanding Phair as an artist is realizing she trusts her audience with her most tender secrets. The more intimate the detail, the more universal it becomes, and the deeper the bond with those who-for better or worse-can identify all too well. Diarrhea of the Mouth by Andrew Earles As if her shamelessly calculated mainstream reinvention in 2003 as sultry mom meets fourteen-year-old mall slut wasnt confusing enough, whatever scarcely identifiable indie-rock cred Liz Phair mayve once possessed has now been parlayed into the realm of  CMT countrypolitan (?!?!). OK, so given its predecessors lame shot at Top 40 glory, perhaps the sheer awfulness of "Somebodys Miracle" isnt really that jarring. Listening to it now, I can envision a field-traipsing video for, say, Wind In The Mountain or Everything To Me sandwiched between Montgomery Gentrys latest jingoistic meltdown and the commercial for a Chevy extended-cab pickup truck. The crossover has worked (commercially) for some artists, like Exile, who promptly fell into the loving arms of modern country after failing to successfully follow up their afternoon rock hit, Kiss You All Over. Barely offset by a radio-ready power-pop rocker or two (Cant Get Out Of What Im Into), Somebodys Miracle further makes Phairs past involvement with Lilith Fair and Matador Records seem downright alien in comparison. The use of hotshot producers John Alagia (Dave Matthews, John Mayer) and John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Chris Isaak) merely underlines the albums shameless chart-scaling aspirations. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2005 23:15:22 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Toronto Eye Weekly) One more "Somebody's Miracle" review: From Toronto Eye Weekly: (http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_10.06.05/music/ondisc.html) LIZ PHAIR "Somebody's Miracle" Capitol/EMI 2 stars One cannot reasonably expect another "Thriller" from Michael Jackson, or any more hints of "Live Through This" from Courtney and apparently there is not a drop of "Exile in Guyville" left in Liz Phair. Most critics gave up on the off-key Chicago singer/songwriter well before her self-titled 2003 effort did little to make good on the promise of turning her into a pop star. With "Somebody's Miracle", hardcore fans may finally have to admit total defeat. If this latest effort is a result of perspective gleaned from a divorce, having a child and the maturity that comes with age, give me youthful malaise and naoveti. The formerly fiercely outspoken and sexually empowered Phair is virtually nowhere to be found ("Table for One" hints at what could have been) and it doesn't just seem to be a case of diminished libido. Her songwriting here is at its most infantile and safe (cue "Stars and Planets, with its incessant "we all shine" chorus), while the charm of her imperfect crooning and intimate aesthetic has been smoothed over with Sheryl Crow levels of slickness. It's a shame Phair couldn't have been satisfied with the adoration of a following of young women who looked to her to say what they were thinking. ANDREA MILLER - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ End of support-system-digest V8 #128 ************************************