Exile in Guyville

Phair has said it is a song-by-song reply to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St., while some critics dispute the song-by-song claim. Casey Rice plays lead guitar on "Mesmerizing" and "Divorce Song", Brad Wood plays bass, drums, organ and synth, Tony Marlotti bass on "Johnny Sunshine", and John Casey harmonica. The cover is a photo-booth picture taken and cropped by Nash Kato of Urge Overkill; the word Guyville comes from an Urge Overkill song title. Phair told NPR in 2018 that she wanted to take agency of her sexuality and say shocking things in a little girl voice.

Its release date is June 22 or May 17, 1993 in different parts of Wikipedia. It reached 196 on the Billboard 200 and went Gold in 1998. It was number 1 in Pazz & Jop in 1993, AllMusic gave 5 of 5, Christgau an A, and Pitchfork 9.6 in 2008 and 10 in 2018; Rolling Stone ranked it 328th in 2003 and 56th in 2020. Spin's 1993 review praised Wood's masterful production while criticizing lyrical inconsistency. The 2008 reissue adds "Ant in Alaska", a cover of Lynn Taitt's "Say You" and an instrumental, plus a DVD.