whitechocolatespaceegg
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Whitechocolatespaceegg
| type = studio
| artist = Liz Phair
| cover = Liz Phair - whitechocolatespaceegg.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{start date|1998|8|11}}
| recorded = 1996–1998
| studio =
| genre = Indie rock
| length = 51:10
| label =
| producer =
- Jason Chasko
- Scott Litt
- Liz Phair
- Brad Wood
| prev_title = Whip-Smart
| prev_year = 1994
| next_title = Liz Phair
| next_year = 2003
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Whitechocolatespaceegg
| type = studio
| single1 = Polyester Bride
| single1date = 1998
| single2 = Johnny Feelgood
| single2date = 1998
}}
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/whitechocolatespaceegg-mw0000025055 |title=whitechocolatespaceegg – Liz Phair |website=AllMusic |accessdate=September 24, 2012 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}
| rev2 = The Baltimore Sun
| rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-08-13-1998225155-story.html |title=A shocking, conflicted Phair to remember |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=September 13, 1998 |accessdate=January 10, 2019 |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine}}
| rev3 = Chicago Sun-Times
| rev3score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4453425.html |title=Fun Phair // New album soars despite slow start |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=August 11, 1998 |accessdate=May 28, 2016 |last=DeRogatis |first=Jim |author-link=Jim DeRogatis |url-access=subscription |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119071553/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4453425.html |archivedate=November 19, 2018 |url-status=dead}}
| rev4 = Christgau's Consumer Guide
| rev4score = A{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2087 |chapter=Liz Phair: Whitechocolatespaceegg |accessdate=September 24, 2012 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |year=2000 |isbn=0-312-24560-2}}
| rev5 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev5score = A−{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/1998/08/14/music-review-whitechocolatespaceegg/ |title=whitechocolatespaceegg |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=August 14, 1998 |accessdate=March 18, 2020 |last=Browne |first=David |author-link=David Browne (journalist)}}
| rev6 = The Guardian
| rev6score = {{rating|2|5}}{{cite news |title=Liz Phair: Whitechocolatespaceegg (Matador) |work=The Guardian |date=March 5, 1999 |last=Sullivan |first=Caroline}}
| rev7 = Los Angeles Times
| rev7score = {{rating|4|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-aug-09-ca-11393-story.html |title=Liz Phair, 'Whitechocolatespaceegg,' Matador/Capitol |work=Los Angeles Times |date=August 9, 1998 |access-date=September 24, 2012 |last=Hochman |first=Steve |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305150022/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/aug/09/entertainment/ca-11393 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |url-status=live}}
| rev8 = Pitchfork
| rev8score = 6.4/10{{cite journal |url=http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/p/phair_liz/whitechocolatespaceegg.shtml |title=Liz Phair: Whitechocolatespaceegg |journal=Pitchfork |date=August 1998 |accessdate=September 24, 2012 |last=Moll |first=Susan |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051217054944/http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/p/phair_liz/whitechocolatespaceegg.shtml |archivedate=December 17, 2005 |url-status=dead}}
| rev9 = Rolling Stone
| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/whitechocolatespaceegg-19980730 |title=Whitechocolatespaceegg |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=July 30, 1998 |accessdate=September 24, 2012 |last=Chonin |first=Neva}}
| rev10 = Spin
| rev10score = 6/10{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5EbyHNqgkwC&pg=PT28 |title=Liz Phair: whitechocolatespaceegg |journal=Spin |volume=14 |issue=9 |date=September 1998 |accessdate=May 28, 2016 |last=Lukas |first=Paul |pages=186–87}}
}}
Whitechocolatespaceegg is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released in 1998. It peaked at number 35 on the Billboard 200.[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r371984/charts-awards|pure_url=yes}} allmusic ((( whitechocolatespaceegg > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))] As of July 2010, the album had sold 293,000 copies.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/957331/ask-billboard-kylie-fever|title=Ask Billboard: Kylie 'Fever' |magazine=Billboard|date=2010-07-16|accessdate=2012-02-17}} Unlike her previous two albums, with themes of sex and relationships, Whitechocolatespaceegg focused more on motherhood and family, as Phair had recently gotten married and given birth to a son.
Reception
The album received generally positive reviews. Rolling Stone called it "engagingly intimate" while at the same time "playful and pop-y, with just enough dry humor". The magazine also praised the album for its storytelling-esque lyrics.[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/whitechocolatespaceegg-19980730 Whitechocolatespaceegg : Liz Phair : Review : Rolling Stone] The Washington Times wrote that Phair had successfully proved she was "no longer an unbridled twentysomething but now, at 31, a wife and mother, [who] has grown as an artist as well as a woman."[https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-56759964 Liz Phair grows confident about music. (Arts) | Article from The Washington Times ]{{dead link|date=July 2021}}
Billboard praised the album, noting "droll in her truth-telling, devastating in her offhand insights, and dazzling in her homespun rock dominion, Liz Phair is arguably the most original talent of the decade, as Whitechocolatespaceegg powerfully reaffirms. For track-to-track subtlety, poignant wit, and no- bullshit pronouncements that carry real poetic weight, Phair is the backstairs bard without peer...Phair is a truly affecting songmaker. Moreover, she can take the pop vernacular in all its jukebox/folk-pop/dancefloor familiarity and make it subversive again on superb material like "Uncle
Alvarez," "Only Son," "Ride," and "What Makes You Happy." {{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1998/BB-1998-08-01.pdf|magazine=Billboard Music Week|title=Reviews & Previews|issue=1 August 1998 |page=18 |access-date=July 23, 2024}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Liz Phair, except where noted
| title1 = White Chocolate Space Egg
| writer1 = Liz Phair, Jason Chasko, Doug Stoley
| length1 = 4:35
| title2 = Big Tall Man
| writer2 = Phair, Jason Chasko
| length2 = 3:49
| title3 = Perfect World
| length3 = 2:15
| title4 = Johnny Feelgood
| length4 = 3:22
| title5 = Polyester Bride
| length5 = 4:05
| title6 = Love Is Nothing
| length6 = 2:16
| title7 = Baby Got Going
| writer7 = Phair, Scott Litt
| length7 = 2:02
| title8 = Uncle Alvarez
| length8 = 3:52
| title9 = Only Son
| length9 = 5:08
| title10 = Go on Ahead
| length10 = 2:53
| title11 = Headache
| length11 = 2:53
| title12 = Ride
| length12 = 3:04
| title13 = What Makes You Happy
| length13 = 3:36
| title14 = Fantasize
| length14 = 1:55
| title15 = Shitloads of Money
| length15 = 3:39
| title16 = Girls' Room
| length16 = 1:46
| total_length = 51:10
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Japan bonus track {{cite web | url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/177354/products/262823/1/ | title=ホワイトチョコレートスペースエッグ | リズ・フェア }}
| title17 = Hurricane Cindy
| length17 = 2:54
| total_length = 54:04
}}
Personnel
- Liz Phair – guitar, piano, vocals
- Leroy Bach – acoustic bass
- Scott Bennett – organ, bass guitar, drums
- Bill Berry – bongos
- Peter Buck – guitar
- Jason Chasko – bass, guitar, piano, drums, background vocals
- Nathan December – guitar, electric guitar
- Tommy Furar – bass
- John Hiler – organ, piano, keyboards, background vocals
- Scott Litt – acoustic guitar, bass, harmonica, violin, drums, keyboards, background vocals
- Scott McCaughey – guitar
- Mike Mills – bass
- Troy Niedhart – accordion
- Ed Tinley – guitar, clapping
- Randy Wilson – keyboards
- Brad Wood – organ, bass, guitar, drums, keyboards, background vocals, clapping, drum machine
=Production=
- Producers: Liz Phair, Jason Chasko, Scott Litt, Brad Wood
- Engineers: John Hiler, Liquid Grooves, Chris Sabold, David Schiffman, Ed Tinley, Brad Wood
- Assistant engineers: Victor Janacua, Matt Judah, Brad Kopplin, Julie Last, Chris Sabold, Al Sanderson, David Schiffman
- Mixing: Victor Janacua, Tom Lord-Alge, Brad Wood
- Mastering: Ted Jensen, Katrin Thomas
- Programming: John Hiler, Randy Wilson
- Loops: Liquid Grooves
- Treatments: Scott Litt
- Art direction: Liz Phair, Frank Longo, Jon Mathias, Mark O.
Charts
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (1998) ! Peak |
| scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 35 |
|---|
| scope="row"|Canada Albums Chart{{cite web | url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=5076& | title=Item | website=Library and Archives Canada | date=17 July 2013 }}
| 69 |
References
{{reflist}}
{{Liz Phair}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Matador Records albums
Category:Capitol Records albums