Exile in Guyville

Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time (50 music items)

"A smartass indie-rock rebel grabs her guitar and cooks up a perfect debut album of wisecracks, obscenities, tortured love songs and freewheeling sex songs. She's never topped it, but who has? Essential moment: "Fuck and Run," in which the ironic ice queen breaks down and admits to a sentimental streak. Of course, she takes it all back in the next song."

The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women (150 music items)

"Liz Phair's 18-song double-LP, Exile in Guyville, is her first and best album. Thick with tomboy swagger, it's a wrecked confessional detailing the insanity of dating and screwing in your twenties. It's also an ingenious, track-by-track response to The Rolling Stones' oppressively masculine Exile On Main Street. In her unsparing songs, the 25-year-old Oberlin graduate broke through Chicago's indie scene with some of the most self-assured and explicit feminist rock to date, with lyrics like, "I w"

500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die! (500 music items)

"Phair’s debut was intended as a song-by-song riposte to the Stones’ Exile On Main Street. The concept isn’t fully realized, but the ambition and intelligence it implies give rise to a startling record, boosted by both its admirable musical scope and taboo-busting lyrics. Standout track: “Never Said”"