Alanis Morissette- Page 2

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 6/16/05 at 10:08pm

I adore Alanis and own all her albums, but I'm a bit confused: why is she going back to her first album and performing only its songs? As much as I enjoy JAGGED LITTLE PILL, I don't think Alanis really came into her own until SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE.

I'm in the minority here, I know, but I think JUNKIE is more artistically daring; while JAGGED LITTLE PILL is all rage and reactionary, JUNKIE is more introspective, forgiving, yet dark because it probes deeper. And I think her finest album is UNDER RUG SWEPT, which balances the two.

I don't know why (other than financially) she's returning to her first rock album, when she's progressed to a new place as an artist.

Updated On: 6/16/05 at 10:08 PM

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 6/16/05 at 10:14pm

Blue, it's because it's the 10 year anniversary of Jagged's release. (Can you believe it was so long ago?? I feel old.)



Rumor has it that the inspiration for "Oughta Know" is one of Alanis's ex (duh). Who, you ask? None other than...Dave Coulier from "Full House".

All together now...ewwww.

[mabel]

Posted: 6/16/05 at 10:15pm

At the concert last night, Alanis said something about wanting to take a hard look about the work she did on Jagged Little Pill 10 years ago. She mentioned that most people just try to barrel past their previous work and not really confront it, and that's what she's trying to do in reworking her old songs...or something to that effect.

[Justice]

Posted: 6/16/05 at 10:17pm

Jagged Little Pill was all her. It was her rage, her passion, and her heart. It was the first album (after 2 solo albums that flopped) where she had artistic freedom...and the fact that it's ten years later...
I love Alanis. I think she's brilliant and even more so, talented. I am upset that I missed this concert (due to lack of funds), however, since I'm moving to LA, I'm going to look up where and when she'll be playing there. I really want to see this.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 6/16/05 at 10:20pm

Justice, I just looked it up for you...LA on July 13.

[mollyllom]

Posted: 6/16/05 at 10:49pm

I like her music, and was a fan back when that album came out (boy was I little though), but I think if she can't write better music now than she could 10 years ago, rerecording her old album acoustic is just a way of her to waste time until she figures out why she can't write as successful album. I'm not dissing her or anything, it just kind of makes me wonder.

[robbiej]

Posted: 6/16/05 at 11:00pm

I understand why she'd want to do that. I remember a lot of people who were really perplexed by JUNKIE. And, to be honest, I was a little put off at first because it was so much more complex than just the raw rage. PILL is directed outward...and for this fag who was 20-21 when it first came I, I too was directed outward. It clicked for me like no other piece of music had. It felt like it was written just for me (I know lots of people who had that reaction). JUNKIE was directed inward. More self-critical. And that, too, was exactly where I was when the album came out.

This will now be the gayest (4th grade definition) thing I've ever said:

I feel like Alanis and I grow at the same pace and that it's wonderful to emotionally keep up with such a wonderful artist.

You can all make fun of me now.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 2:49pm

Rumor has it that the inspiration for "Oughta Know" is one of Alanis's ex (duh). Who, you ask? None other than...Dave Coulier from "Full House".

I did know this, actually. I'm thinking he's also her inspiration for "Hands Clean," considering the song is about a secret affair between an adult and someone much younger.

but I think if she can't write better music now than she could 10 years ago,

Oh, but she can. It's just none of her subsequent albums (which have more complex melodies and very interesting introspective themes) have matched the commercial success of JAGGED LITTLE PILL.

It was the first album (after 2 solo albums that flopped)

The first two pop albums weren't really flops -- they were pretty big in Canada! I still remember dancing as a kid to the "Never Too Hot" video and waking up one morning to hear "Alanis" co-DJing with Tarzan Dan on AM640 radio (the Torontonians out there will know what I'm taking about!).

[Justice]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 9:38pm

I don't think "Hands Clean" was written for Dave Coulier. I could be wrong, but I believe it's about her dating a forty-something year old when she was 15. Dave wasn't that old at the time...and, it's also a rumor that "You Oughtta Know" was written about him. She has never admitted this as a fact, and to this day will not tell anyone who it's about.

RobbieJ...I totally agree with you. When I got into Alanis (also at 20) I was in a weird sort of relationship, and during the breakup, this album helped me through it. Also "I See Right Through You" is every young gay man's song, as they look for relationships in a "one night Stand" world.
And how many times did we want to give Alanis a high five whenever she sang "I'm young and I'm underpaid, I'm tired, but I'm working!"?

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 9:49pm

In a totally selfish way, I'm glad she decided to focus on JLP again 10 years later. I was a middle school kid when it was originally released, and it was the first album I bought. I could sing along to the angry lyrics (with swear words!) and feel empowered as a girl.

10 years later, I'm roughly the same age that Alanis was when the album was originally released, and her words have new meaning to me. I appreciate her newer material as a sign of artistic and personal growth, but I have to admit that maybe I don't have the maturity for them to resonate with me the same way JLP does now. I listen to songs like "Perfect", "Hand In My Pocket" and "Right Through You" and it seems like a diary of this part of my life!

Updated On: 6/17/05 at 09:49 PM

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 9:57pm

She's fantastic. I still listen to Pill about every two weeks.

[MatthewAddison]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 10:06pm

I love her. Just love her.

And the fact that SHE (the woman I love so much) is with RYAN (the ONE man I have had a crush on longer than some of you were born)...just makes my heart full of happiness.

My quirky Canadian with my gay-tendencies crush. Perfection at it's finest.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 10:16pm

He plays basketball occasionally when he's in Vancouver a few blocks away from my house. Hubba.

Updated On: 6/17/05 at 10:16 PM

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 6/18/05 at 7:27am

He's so hot. I am still kicking myself over not being able to see him when I saw her in concert. It was when they were first dating and So Called Chaos came out and she played in a TINY venue that I was lucky enough to get tickets to. When she introduced Bees Of My Knees, she said that it was written about "my lovely boyfriend" and gestured to where he was sitting, by the stage. However, the angle I was at, I couldn't see him. I didn't think anything of it until a few days later, I discovered she was dating Ryan Reynolds. Then I hated myself.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 6/18/05 at 10:50am

"I feel like Alanis and I grow at the same pace and that it's wonderful to emotionally keep up with such a wonderful artist."


OMG Robbie that's exactly how I feel. It's scary. And, yes, I, too, felt her lyrics were wriiten just for me, and about me.. It's like every cd describes me at that exact stage of life - and since Alanis and I are roughly the same age (I'm a little youngr), we continue to grow together. Oh, and I have a twin as well..Just a nice bit of trivia.

I LOVE Alanis. I wish I could have been there!

[Justice]

Posted: 6/18/05 at 11:22pm

The funny thing is, I went through a "Hands Clean" right after the song came out.