Liz Phair "Exile in Guyville" (25th Anniversary)

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Liz Phair’s beloved debut record, Exile In Guyville, which was first released on June 22, 1993 via Matador. On October 20th, Matador Records will reissue the album on limited edition purple vinyl.

An 18-track double album loosely framed as a song- by-song reply to The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St., Exile In Guyville was dubbed a classic upon arrival. The album’s profile has only risen in the ensuing years. It is now regarded as an iconic work and a feminist landmark, recently cracking the top ten of Pitchfork’s “Best 150 Albums of the 1990s” (#4) and the top 100 of Rolling Stone’s “Best 500 Albums of All Time” (#56).

Liz Phair has continued to defy expectations and break barriers. She has released five albums, sold over five million records, composed music for television, and received two Grammy ® nominations. In 2019, she published a memoir titled Horror Stories. On her most recent full-length, Soberish (2021), Phair reunited with Exile in Guyvilleproducer Brad Wood.

Today, three decades after the release of her debut, Phair’s influence in contemporary music – and particularly over female voices – resonates more strongly than ever.

“An emotionally honest low-fi masterpiece that stands on its own.”— Rolling Stone

“Exile remains a kind of sanctified codex for girls: the map that pointed us toward adulthood, or something like it.”— Pitchfork

“A kind of girl-next-door casually swinging a sledgehammer at rock ’n’ roll as we knew it, singing about sex, love and power in a direct, unmediated way that few women before her had.”— NewYorkTimes

“Maybe the greatest work of traditional American indie rock that anyone has ever made. It’s also probably the best road-trip album of its generation and the signal of a rare talent’s arrival. It deserves to be celebrated. Let’s do that.”— Stereogum