Liz Phair's latest release is lyrically very different from her previous work. Gone is her desire to be someone's 'blow-job queen.' Instead, she wishes to be part of somebody's fairy tale as in the title track, or to have someone who means everything to her as in the first single, 'Everything to Me.' Similar themes of longing and regret give this album'heavier on ballads than Phair's previous work'a more adult alternative feel. It is thankfully not as poppy as her last album, Liz Phair, but, much to the chagrin of many hardcore fans, not the stripped-down sound of her much lauded debut, Exile in Guyville.
The best songs on this album display Phair's trademark attitude and confessional tone. 'Why I Lie' is a strutting anthem about a woman who admits she constantly lies to and hurts her lover, but either doesn't know how or refuses to change, while 'Table for One' is the heartbreakingly honest first-person tale of a close relative battling alcoholism.
Other songs, like the track 'Wind and the Mountain,' 'Everything to Me' and 'Leap of Innocence,' make great counterparts to Phair's 'Polyester Bride,' off of her 1998 album Whitechocolatespaceegg. The best song on the album is 'Got My Own Thing,' a bratty kiss-off to her detractors whom she dismisses with, 'I do what I do, 'cause I do what I do.'
Where the album falters, however, is in the songs that were clearly written to satisfy the Top-40 half of Liz's fan base. 'Stars and Planets,' while catchy in parts, is a generic song about the perils of celebrity, made even worse to listen to by the fact that Phair willfully traded her indie cred for pop success with Liz Phair. 'Lazy Dreamer' just sounds lazy. Ditto 'Count on My Love' and 'Giving It All to You.' Phair is a very talented songwriter, but pop is not her fort??. She would have been better off getting the Matrix back to retool the poppier numbers or, better yet, left them off the album entirely as they add little and don't fit the tone of the album as a whole.
Those expecting to hear another rendition of Exile in Guyville needn't bother listening to this record, but fans of Whitechocolatespaceegg, Liz Phair and adult alternative music in general should find this album well worth listening to. It may not be the miracle the title promises, but with at least 10 solid tracks out of 14, it may just be worth your time.
