I meant H.W.C was the Pete Yorn collaboration.
It's sort of funny, but I think the songs that Liz Phair produced on her own were like the best songs on the album. Michael Penn (the alt rock cred) and the Matrix were pretty generic or over-produced to me for some reason...
I was driving on the road for like over an hour and a half and listened to the new album the whole time. It's not bad, but it just sounds too overproduced or dare I say generic. The lyrics don't bowl me over but she sings pretty well on this album. There is no denying the catchiness of the material.
I think the single, "Why Can't I," is alright (something that sort of grew on me I guess) but the best part of the song was like her ernestly singing the chorus "Why can't I," during the middle of the song without all the added vocals and instruments. It made for a decent/ believable moment which got cheesed out by the entrance of the overproduced/ generic toned guitars that come 15 seconds later.
"Rock Me" was probably the worst song I've heard in a while. Since it was so "bad," it came out like a weird joke to me, something that couldn't be taken seriously. Especially when she sings "rock me" in a start and stop way. I would defintely not recommend this song though. LOL. Maybe she could have it sold for an X-Box ad. Commericals make good money. I also hope it's an homage to fellow Chicagoan Corgan b/c some of the guitar riffs remind me of certain SP song (1979?).
"Extraordinary" came off like a top 40 Disney/ Nickelodean song. Very generic sounding. But I guess, it could be encouraging for the teen girls out there.
The standout songs for me were It's Sweet, Little Digger (b/c I really liked the melody), Firewalker, Love/ Hate (although to be honest I like the energy of the song more than what she was saying as well as the apperance of a live jam), H.W.C., My Bionic Eyes, and Good Love Never Dies (b/c of the melody as well and it sort of made me feel good listening to it no matter how simplistic the lyrics are).
Again I have to say, that I have no hate for the Matrix but if she wanted to make an energetic pop song why couldn't she have gone to Glen Ballard or something cuz I don't think the collaboration worked that well. Even though "Why Can't I" is catchy, it still had a lot of "cheese."
I wonder if the album is selling well.