Liz Phair – Liz Phair

The run-ins on this pressing (all four sides) are super slippery. When you try to drop the needle, it slides super fast to the first track, usually bypassing the first second of the song. You have to place your stylus with surgical precision.
That being said, once you figure out how to get the music started properly, the album sounds near flawless throughout. I had some popping/clicking issues on side three, but a cleaning resolved that issue.
The “root beer” translucent is OK. My LPs differ slightly (added mine to the images for this release). LP 1 is brown - no doubt about it. But LP 2 has almost like an oil slick look to it. Kind of like the tortoise shell pickguard on Liz’s guitar. 🤷🏻‍♂️
Overall solid pressing.

Liz Phair, one of the original riot grrls, moved away from her trademark lo-fi sound with her fourth album, this self-titled release, but not her anxious and heart-felt sentiment. Initial sentiment was negative, with many critics accusing her of selling out (and indeed, Phair herself stated that she was looking to increase her income from her music). And it worked - songs from this album ended up in several rom-coms and TV shows. However, re-visiting this album now almost twenty years after its release, many critics now laud Phair for her willingness to explore new avenues for her music, and songs like Extraordinary and Why Can't I? may be more polished, but they are still all Phair. If you need more convincing that Phair never lost her edge, just listen to H.W.C. and try to accuse her of being a sellout. While Exile and Whip-Smart will always be her best work, there is room for this album in any fan's collection. It's a fun listen and clearly influenced the next generation of riot grrls. As far as this record goes, it is a fair solid, if unspectacular pressing. Perhaps as a result of the production, the mix is generally flat without a good deal of dynamics. But it is a clean soundstage, with clear instrumentation and vocals. Very cool color vinyl too. It may be time for you to revisit this one too!

Recently bought a copy from The Sound of Vinyl that was advertised as "red" but it looks pretty similar to this. Runouts are the same. Can anyone attest to whether I have a different copy or this one?

Be careful... MY 2 purchases of this album had sides 2 and 4 miss stamped so if you wanted to play them without your tonearm swinging back and forth you have to free float the record and ignore the hole placement and adjust the center to match the pressing not the record hole or edge .

Other than that the audio quality was good.

My copy I ordered from her website came completely melted, and HWC was melted half off, so need a new second disc lol

Recently discovered her song "It's Sweet" and could easily be my favorite Liz Phiar tune.

I LOVE THIS COVER. I did not know this existed!

Very impressive pressing, especially for how inexpensive it is. Excellent sound quality with no notable drawbacks. Nice gatefold jacket and two well manufactured middle weight LPs. My side 4 had a few scuffs from the factory, but they did not affect the sound quality. Definitely worth picking up if this album is one of your guilty pleasures.

My copy is on reddish brown vinyl. I believe it’s exclusive to soundofvinyl.com

This release also gave you the option to download the 5 track Come and Get It EP complete with cd artwork.