Whip-Smart is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released in 1994, the follow-up to Phair's critically acclaimed debut, 1993's Exile in Guyville. Despite not being as critically well received as her previous record, Whip-Smart debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200 and ultimately achieved gold status. As of July 2010, it had sold 412,000 copies.
At the time of its release Whip-Smart received generally favorable reviews from music critics, figuring inside end of year lists, including those by the Los Angeles Times and Q Magazine. The album was ranked sixth for its year inside The Village Voice Pazz and Jop Poll. Although obscured by its famous predecessor, the album has gained more recognition with time and is largely considered a key record to Phair's legacy as an artist, along with her other two Matador Records releases and the Girly-Sound tapes. In 2003, the German version of Rolling Stone magazine placed the record at 95 on its list of greatest records since Autumn of 1994. In 2014, Rolling Stone named Whip-Smart the 18th greatest album of its year – considered by the magazine the peak of mainstream alternative rock.
Phair was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone on the week Whip-Smart was released, and by 1994 and 1995, she made a frequent number of television appearances, including the Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and MTV's 120 Minutes.
In 1995, "Supernova" was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in the 37th Annual Grammy Awards.
Background
After the success of Exile in Guyville, expectations ran high for Liz Phair's sophomore release.
Recording
Phair described Whip-Smart as particularly difficult to make because at the time she didn't have many songs that weren't about the music industry, which displeased her manager. In fact, a substantial number of tracks on the final album (namely, "Chopsticks", "Shane", "Go West", "Whip-Smart", and parts of "Jealousy", previously known as "Thrax") were songs already written in 1991, when Phair recorded under the Girly-Sound moniker.
In total, Whip-Smart took about one month to record. The album was recorded in two distinct sessions: the first in August 1993 in Chicago, and the second in February 1994 in the Bahamas.
Guitarist Casey Rice described the initial sessions at Idful Studios in Chicago as subject to many distractions, such as "the phone ringing, people dropping by the studio, and so on". Phair wanted to move recording to New York City, but due to financial constraints, the band ended up continuing with Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas instead.
The same team that worked on Guyville worked again on what would become Whip-Smart. The album was recorded and mixed by Brad Wood, with the assistance of Casey Rice. Wood characterized the recording process as very much spontaneous, saying that "[Liz would] bring in a song and we'd record the whole thing that day. I'd have to write a drum and bass part right on the spot." There was, however, pressure to improve on the sound of the previous record, to meet the expectations of Phair's newly formed fanbase.
Liz Phair has described Whip-Smart as a chronicle of the beginning, middle and end of a relationship: "a rock fairy tale, from meeting the guy, falling for him, getting him and not getting him, going through the disillusionment period, saying 'Fuck it,' and leaving, coming back to it." Phair also described the sound of the album as more confident and playful – and less frustrated, tense, and sexual – than Exile in Guyville. The inner liner notes feature a series of Polaroid photographs taken by Phair herself.
Reception
Critical reception was generally favorable. Richie Unterberger of AllMusic states that "if there are flaws in this generally first-rate follow-up, they mostly arise in comparison with Guyville, a record of such unexpected impact that most anything Phair could have done may have been found lacking" and that "there's no question that Phair is a major songwriter and artist, but this album is more a solidification of her talents than a breakthrough statement."
Cashbox awarded the album their 'Pick of the Week' with the reviewer commenting that "this must have been how people 20 years ago felt listening to Bruce Springsteen's early works. It's not so much how great Liz Phair is now, as the awesome idea of how brilliant she's likely to become... Whip-Smart is, quite simply, a stunning work from an artist that should have all music lovers in ecstasy at her arrival on the scene."
Charts
Whip-Smart debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200 and spent 17 weeks on the charts. Phair stated, "Basically they wanted me to be public, I wanted to be private. All these people wanted me to be really big and I felt like this tiny pea in the center of all this chaos. I didn't want this success. I kept thinking this is wrong. Why do all these people want it so much more than I do?"
| title1 = Chopsticks
| length1 = 2:05
| title2 = Supernova
| length2 = 2:48
| title3 = Support System
| length3 = 2:58
| title4 = X-Ray Man
| length4 = 2:13
| title5 = Shane
| length5 = 4:12
| title6 = Nashville
| length6 = 4:42
| title7 = Go West
| length7 = 3:17
| title8 = Cinco de Mayo
| length8 = 2:43
| title9 = Dogs of L.A.
| length9 = 2:21
| title10 = Whip-Smart
| note10 = Liz Phair, chorus by Malcolm McLaren
| length10 = 4:18
| title11 = Jealousy
| length11 = 3:37
| title12 = Crater Lake
| length12 = 2:06
| title13 = Alice Springs
| length13 = 1:50
| title14 = May Queen
| length14 = 2:42
| total_length = 42:02
- "Whip-Smart" interpolates "Double Dutch" by Malcolm McLaren, written by Malcolm McLaren.
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
|30
|-
! scope="row"|Canada Albums Chart
| 35
|}
Certifications
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Organization
! Level
|-
| RIAA – U.S.
| Gold
|}