Whitechocolatespaceegg (or whitechocolatespaceegg as typeset on the cover art) is the third studio album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Liz Phair

Liz Phair

Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there...

, released in 1998 (See 1998 in music

1998 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...

). whitechocolatespaceegg peaked at #35.

Album information

Unlike her previous two albums, which dealt heavily with themes of sex and relationships, Whitechocolatespaceegg focused more on motherhood and family, as Phair had recently given birth to a son and was in the process of going through a divorce.

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. 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."

Track listing

All songs written by Liz Phair, except where noted.

1. "White Chocolate Space Egg" (Jason Chasko, Liz Phair, Doug Stoley) – 4:35
2. "Big Tall Man" (Chasko, Phair) – 3:49
3. "Perfect World" – 2:15
4. "Johnny Feelgood" – 3:22
5. "Polyester Bride" – 4:05
6. "Love Is Nothing" – 2:16
7. "Baby Got Going" (Scott Litt
   Scott Litt
   Scott Litt is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums.-Biography:...
   
   , Phair) – 2:02
8. "Uncle Alvarez" – 3:52
9. "Only Son" – 5:08
10. "Go on Ahead" – 2:53
11. "Headache" – 2:53
12. "Ride" – 3:04
13. "What Makes You Happy" – 3:36
14. "Fantasize" – 1:55
15. "Shitloads of Money" – 3:39
16. "Girls' Room" – 1:46

Outtakes

There exist several circulating outtakes from the album. Most of them have never been commercially released, however, some bootlegs

Bootleg recording

A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...

 include these songs, which are listed below:

• "Tell Me You Like Me"
• "Bars of the Bed"
• "Blood Keeper"
• "Oh My God"
• "Waiting for the Bird"
• "Desperado Theme"
• "Freak of Nature"
• "Russian Girl"
• "Hurricane Cindy"
• "Rocket Boy"
• "Stuck on an Island"
• "I'm Like That"
• "Greased Lightning"

And rejected mixes of:

• "White Chocolate Space Egg"
• "Fantasize"
• "Headache"
• "Big Tall Man"
• "Baby Got Going"
• "Only Son"
• "Ride"
• "Perfect World"
• "What Makes You Happy"
• "Girls' Room" (same as official released version)

The song "Hurricane Cindy" was included in the Japanese import, and was rerecorded for her self-titled album

Liz Phair (album)

Liz Phair is the eponymous fourth album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released June 24, 2003 on Capitol Records. "Why Can't I?" and "Extraordinary" were released as a singles...

, but did not make it to the final tracklisting, and was released on the comeandgetit

Comeandgetit

comeandgetit is the second EP released by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair composed of 5 out-takes from her self-titled album. It was available as bonus material for those who purchased the album.-Release:...

 EP, both released five years later. "Waiting for the Bird" and "Greased Lightning" were released as b-sides to the song "Polyester Bride". "Rocket Boy" was rerecorded released as a promotional single, and was included in the Stealing Beauty movie soundtrack. "Stuck on an Island" was released on the "What's Up Matador?" compilation. "Freak of Nature" appeared on a radio sampler, Local 101, sold in the greater Chicago area, and along with "Hurricane Cindy", was include on the advanced promotional copy of the album.

Personnel

• Liz Phair - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Leroy Bach
  Leroy Bach
  LeRoy Bach is an American musician, composer, and music producer. Bach is perhaps best known for his work as a multi-instrumentalist in the band Wilco from 1997 through 2004. He has also worked as a touring and/or studio musician for such notable acts as Liz Phair, Beth Orton, Iron & Wine, Andrew...
  
   - acoustic bass
  Acoustic bass guitar
  The acoustic bass guitar is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually somewhat larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar...
  
  
• Scott Bennett - organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  , bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Bill Berry
  Bill Berry
  William "Bill" Thomas Berry is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M....
  
   - bongos
  Bongo drum
  Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
  
  
• Peter Buck
  Peter Buck
  Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
  
   - guitar
• Jason Chasko - bass, guitar, piano, drums, background vocals
• Nathan December - guitar, electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Tommy Furar - bass
• John Hiler - organ, piano, keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , background vocals
• Scott Litt
  Scott Litt
  Scott Litt is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums.-Biography:...
  
   - acoustic guitar, bass, harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  , violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  , drums, keyboards, background vocals
• Scott McCaughey
  Scott McCaughey
  As a singer and songwriter, Scott McCaughey is the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5.He is also bassist for Robyn Hitchcock's most recent touring band, The Venus 3, along with Bill Rieflin and Peter Buck....
  
   - guitar
• Mike Mills
  Mike Mills
  Michael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
  
   - bass
• Troy Niedhart - accordion
  Accordion
  The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
  
  
• Ed Tinley - guitar, clapping
• Randy Wilson - keyboards
• Brad Wood
  Brad Wood
  Brad Wood is a record producer from Rockford, Illinois. He served as a drummer for the band Shrimp Boat. Brad records, mixes and produces records and is based in Los Angeles, California. He began his career in earnest in 1988 with the construction of Idful Music Corporation- a recording studio in...
  
   - organ, bass, guitar, drums, keyboards, background vocals, clapping, drum machine
  Drum machine
  A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
  
  

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.