LIZ PHAIR
Somebody's Miracle
Capitol Records 2005
www.lizphair.com

Sample it here

What’s the 4-1-1?
The one time indie rock queen is back with her follow up to the successful self-titled album from 2003.

Genre
Rock / pop rock / singer-songwriter

The Good
Speaking as one who’s never listened to Liz Phair before, I have to say that I come away relatively impressed. Phair certainly can write some lyrics, to say the least. She can rip the modern day pop star/disposable celebrity as she does in “Stars and Planets” and then turn around and visit some dark emotional place in a song like “Table For One.” In between those two poles on the musical spectrum, Phair comes up with some catchy pop numbers and some great sounding rock tracks. Besides the aforementioned “Stars and Planets,” I loved the title track as well as “Count on My Love.” The best song here is “Got My Own Thing.” It’s a mid tempo track, but just has an incredible vibe and a great hook in the chorus. It’s a marvelous tune.

The Bad
The fact that Phair worked with four different producers on this album gives a scattershot feel to some of the songs. The flow of the album is dependent on a consistent feel, and you can really get that from a single producer. It led to a few songs that just didn’t do justice to the album overall. One thing that I did notice throughout a lot of the CD is that the vocals sound completely overproduced as if they are trying to hide something in Phair’s voice.
While I liked the rock style of the closing track “Giving It All To You,” I didn’t particularly care for the lyrics. They just felt too pedestrian. The phrasing of the vocals for “Closer To You” is odd, though it won’t affect the general enjoyment of the song.

The Verdict
I ended up liking about half the album’s cuts a lot. The remaining seven tracks range from being simply “okay” to ones that just don’t cut the mustard. I don’t know how her original fans will take this release, but those who got hooked on her from her most recent CD should really enjoy the album. I know I enjoyed it.

Did You Know?
John Shanks, who played guitar and produced three of the songs on Somebody’s Miracle, used to record and perform live with Melissa Etheridge. Liz Phair sang God Bless America at the 2005 World Series.

Rating: out of 5

-- Jay Roberts