Rolling Stone (10/31/02, p.136) - Ranked # 24 in Rolling Stone's "Women in Rock: The 50 Essential Albums" - "...A perfect debut album..."
Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.54) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Rolling Stone (6/10/93, p.68) - 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...Despite its low-fi production, EXILE IN GUYVILLE roams giddily all over the pop landscape...Phair writes sturdy riffs that render her rudimentary guitar technique beside the point..."
Spin (9/99, pp.124-5) - Ranked #13 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
Spin (4/93, p.97) - Highly Recommended - "...an astounding hunk of fresh-faced, edgy pop capped by Phair's clean but lacerating guitar-strum and a remarkable sense of vocal delivery..."
Entertainment Weekly (6/4/93, p.54) - "...Phair's confidently off-kilter voice gets over like a poetry slam winner unsatisfied with her last verse..." - Rating: A
Q (1/94, p.87) - Included in Q's list of `The 50 Best Albums Of 1993' - "...superior garage rock..."
Q (8/93, p.98) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a melodic sleight of hand that invokes the detachment of Suzanne Vega, some Throwing Muses opacity and Big Star's thoroughbred rattle...the kind of record to give your little sister some very big ideas..."
Alternative Press (5/01, p.104) - Included in AP's "10 Essential Breakup Albums".
Alternative Press (7/95, p.100) - Ranked #83 in AP's "Top 99 of '85-'95" - "...The eighteen pop songs of EXILE IN GUYVILLE are a sweeping tour through the stupid blisses and devastating abuses of sex and love....Every song is self-contained and freshly conceived..."
Melody Maker (9/4/93, p.35) - "...[Phair] brings something a little bit fresh and dangerous to the articulate chantootsie genre...comes on like Polly Harvey with a sense of purpose and as much melody as attitude..."
Musician (9/93, p.76) - "...what makes Phair worth hearing isn't her conceptual ambition, but the sheer strength of her writing...she's an ace at conveying mood through melody and expressing complex feelings with simple, vivid imagery..."
Village Voice (3/1/94, p.5) - Ranked #1 in the Village Voice's 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
NME (Magazine) (8/28/93, p.37) - 7 - Very Good - "...she's capable of communicating her sexual politics with a fair degree of incisive anger, sarcasm and humour..."
Personnel: Liz Phair (vocals, guitar, piano, bongos, hand claps); Brad Wood (guitar, organ, synthesizer, bass, drums, percussion, background vocals); Casey Rice (guitar, cymbal, hand claps, background vocals); John Casey Awsumb (harmonica); Tony Marlotti (bass); Tutti Jackson, O (background vocals).
From Big Mama Thornton to Madonna, the sexually aggressive woman has always held a special fascination for pop fans. With EXILE IN GUYVILLE, Liz Phair became the latest and by far the most foul-mouthed addition to the line. Her mission was to put a lacquered fingernail up the posterior of alternative rock's 'Guyville' establishment. Her model was the Rolling Stones' EXILE ON MAIN STREET and its portrait of a lonely, nihilistic world. Phair's ingenuous voice, stripped-down arrangements, and catchy melodies made her sound like a female Jonathan Richman. However, it was her biting lyrics that drew the most attention, making EXILE IN GUYVILLE one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 1993.