''No More Mr. Nice Girl'' is the debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American poet and

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

artist

Maggie Estep Margaret Ann "Maggie" Estep (March 20, 1963 – February 12, 2014) was an American writer and poet, best known for coming to prominence during the height of the spoken word and poetry slam performance rage. She published seven books and rel ...

. It was released on April 26, 1994, via Nuyo and

Imago Records Imago Records (The Imago Recording Company) was an American independent record label, which was active during the early 1990s. It was started by Terry Ellis after he left his previous record label, Chrysalis Records. In 1990 Ann Munday was hired a ...

. The album sold more than 30,000 copies, which was considered as "a modest showing by the recording industry but a clear bestseller by poetry standards." The video for the track "Hey Baby" gained rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and was featured on an episode of

Beavis and Butt-head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, ...

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

stated: "...the musical numbers are a little awkward, but Estep's words are vicious, cutting, smart, provocative and funny." He also further added: "The music may have dated and so has some of the

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

references, but Estep's words retain their power on ''No More Mister Nice Girl''." ''Stereo Review'' wrote: "Estep is really more out of the beatnik performance tradition, and so the music on ''No More Mister Nice Girl'' is essentially functional, a

post-modern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

equivalent of

bongo drum Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

s at a poetry reading." In ''The

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

guide to '90s rock'', Ira Robbins wrote: "Even though her solo performances seethe with a star quality combination of charisma and content that should make such crutches superfluous, Estep's album, ''No More Mr. Nice Girl'', finds her so bent on coloring within the lines of rock song structure that she sacrifices her usual slashing intensity for mere melodicism."

Legacy

In ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

of Estep, Sean O'Neal wrote: "Like other spoken-word artists of the grunge era such as

King Missile King Missile is an American avant-garde art rock band best known for its 1992 single "Detachable Penis". Vocalist John S. Hall has fronted several disparate incarnations of the group since founding it in 1986. History King Missile (Dog Fly Rel ...

(and even

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...

, if you like), Maggie Estep married her aggressive, sardonic verse to rock music, on albums such as 1994’s ''No More Mister Nice Girl''. Tracks like “I’m Not A Normal Girl” and “The Stupid Jerk I’m Obsessed With” found Estep embracing her own neuroses and taking aim at boringly conventional idiots—two of the guiding philosophies of

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...

Track listing

# "Hey Baby" – 3:22 # "I'm Not a Normal Girl" – 2:18 # "Paradise Lost" – 3:58 # "Even If" – 3:42 # "Car Guy" – 0:10 # "The Stupid Jerk I'm Obsessed With" – 2:15 # "My Life of Gardening" – 3:35 # "Fuck Me" – 2:26 # "Scarification" – 3:09 # "Pee Lady" – 0:27 # "Sex Goddess of the Western Hemisphere" – 2:42 # "I Swear" – 2:56 # "Vegetable Omelet" – 0:37 # "Rip Trip Strip" – 2:47 # "Ingeborg, Mistress of the Dark" – 3:12 # "Bad Day at the Beauty Salon" – 4:52

Personnel

– vocals, production (exec.) ;Session musicians *

Knox Chandler Knox Chandler is an American musician known primarily as a guitarist, though he also plays cello, keyboards and other instruments. He has worked extensively as a session musician. In the early to mid-1970s, Chandler attended the Hammonasset Scho ...

– cello *

Steve Dansiger Steve Dansiger is an American drummer and member of the first two incarnations of avant-garde band King Missile and of the band Pianosaurus. Dansiger is now a therapist and author with a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Dansiger has appeared ...

– drums *Julia Murphy – bass *

Pat Place Pat Place (born 1953) is an American artist, photographer, and musician noted for her work as a founding member and guitarist of no wave bands James Chance and the Contortions and Bush Tetras. Art Place grew up in Chicago. She studied art in co ...

– guitar ;Additional personnel *Chris Albert – engineering, mixing *Steve Boyer – mixing, production *Barbara Lipke – assistant engineering *Gail Marowitz – art direction, design *Jason M. Solomon – production (exec.) *Leon Zervos – mastering

References

External links

*
Maggie Estep - "Hey Baby" official music video
{{Authority control 1994 debut albums Maggie Estep albums