This Album Will Never Be Under Rug Swept! IGTMIM W/O

Everyone who has been a teenager knows what it’s like to have your parents tell you what you can do, and what you cannot do. My parents wanted me to study hard, be polite and nice to the elderly and go to bed early. They did not want me to smoke or drink, swear or listen to Alanis Morissette. Actually, it was my stepfather who had something against her. He told me that she looked like a horse, that she couldn’t sing and that her lyrics could poison a fragile little mind, like mine.

Eventually I grew up, like all teenagers do. (Actually, I’m still a teenager and still have a few years left before I turn 20) My stepfather still is against Alanis, but thankfully I am old enough to make my own decisions about everything. I heard “Thank U” on the radio a few years ago, and I liked it so much that I decided to buy the album “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie”. I was a little bit disappointed by the album, as it was too special and a little bit too intense for me.

In January 2002 she released the first single from her new album, Hands Clean. This was a little bit more mature than her previous material, and the sound wasn’t as intense as what I had heard from her before. I liked it a lot, and I bought the album Under Rug Swept a few days after it was released.

But, before I start telling you about the album, who on earth is Alanis Morissette?

Alanis Nadine Morissette was born June 1 1974 in Ottawa, Canada. When she was 3, she moved with her family to Germany, and lived there for three years. She became interested in music when she was 9 years old, and she wrote her first song the same year, called Fate Stay With Me. A year later she got a part in the TV-series “You Can’t Do That On Television”. With the money she made from being on television, she started her own record label and by the time she was 11(!) she had recorded her first song.
She kept on writing and recording music and she also had a few small parts in some movies until she turned 17, when she released her debut album Alanis. It sold over 100,000 copies. Her big breakthrough was in 1995, when she released the album Jagged Little Pill which sold over 27 million copies worldwide. Hit singles from this album include Ironic, You Oughta Know and One Hand In My Pocket. Her next album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie sold millions of albums as well. This year she is back with a new album called Under Rug Swept.

Everyone who has heard Alanis will immediately recognize an Alanis song later when they hear one. She has a very distinctive voice which is easy to identify.

And Now… Let All Of Her History Be Under Rug Swept And Focus On Her New Album!

HIGHLIGHTS

Under Rug Swept features 11 new songs from Alanis. She kicks off the album with 21 things I want in a lover, which features a strong bass and guitar riff. If you read the title you will understand what the song is about. I do like this song a lot, although I think that the bridge doesn’t have much to do with the rest of the song, but it is good anyway.

Narcissus’ music is excellent. She has gotten some very experienced musicians on this track, like Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers. The lyrics are harsh and direct, where she attacks all the types of boys that are in this society. It is a brilliant song which puts things in perspective.

Dear momma’s boy, I know you’ve had your butt licked by your mother
I know you’ve enjoyed all that attention from her
And every woman graced with your presence after
Dear narcissus boy, I know you’ve never really apologized for anything
I know you’ve never really taken responsibility
I know you’ve never really listened to a woman

Flinch has to be the most intense song on this album. The lyrics are torrid, and I felt ill while listening to this song the first song. (It’s just how lyrics like these affect me) Alanis doesn’t exactly use the strength in her voice a lot, but she does in a way sound fragile. (As fragile as someone with a voice like Alanis’ can sound) I listen to this song now whenever I feel sad, because this song makes me so emotional that I forget about it.

So Unsexy is the song I can relate the most to on this album, and although it may not be amongst the best songs on the album musically, it is lyrically. Everyone has felt what Alanis is singing about in this song, and that makes it good, even if you do think Alanis is crazy and mentally unstable.

Oh these little protections how they fail to serve me
One forgotten phone call and I’m deflated
Oh these little defenses how they fail to comfort me
Your hand pulling away and I’m devastated

The other songs which I didn’t choose to put a lengthy review on are: Hands Clean, Precious Illusions, That Particular Time, A Man, You Owe Me Nothing In Return, Surrendering and Utopia. I felt that I couldn’t do a review on each song, because they all sound similar in a way and I would be repeating myself way too much if I did so. Everyone knows what Hands Clean sounds like, if you don’t it’s natural to ask you what planet you have been on for the past 6 months. It has some nice instruments and a strong chorus. The only thing I dislike about the song is that it kind of beats around the bush and I have problems understanding what it is she means. The same goes for the song Utopia which I immediately associate with Lord of the Rings, (no particular reason) which also sounds like it is taken out from a fantasy.

Precious Illusions and A Man sounds REALLY Hindu. The beginnings sounds exactly like something that could have been taken out of a Bollywood film. They include some really freaky instruments (I tried to find out but I couldn’t. If anyone does know, please let me know as I am very curious!) “Precious Illusions” switches over to being a bit more “pop” later in the song, while “A Man” stays spaced out through the entire song. I did like “Precious Illusions” a lot and “A Man” too, although it takes you a while to get used to.

That Particular Time features some wonderful piano playing by Richard Causon (great musician who has featured on many songs for the last 20 years) and very good lyrics. It is about once wanting to fix a relationship at one particular time, but not anymore. I think the bridge shows how mature Alanis really is. And speaking of mature, You Owe Me Nothing In Return has to be the most mature song Alanis has ever written. She says that she is supportive of anything her lover wants to do, even if it means that their relationship is over. Although I am not too fond of the music in this song, the lyrics kind of make up for it.

You can express your deepest of truths even if it means I’ll lose you and I’ll hear it,
You can fall into the abyss on your way to your bliss I’ll empathize it
You can say that you have to skip town to chase your passion and I’ll hear it
You can even hit rock bottom have a midlife crisis and I’ll hold it
And there are no strings attached to it.

The last song is Surrendering (and I actually had to look at the backside of the CD to remember what the song was called), and it is in my opinion, the weakest link on this CD. It is an okay track, but it is not special enough or fascinating enough for me to remember. I feel that there isn’t enough Alanis on the song, and that she doesn’t give enough of herself.

What I Think of the Whole CD
Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect when I bought this CD. The whole Jagged Little Pill album was so different from the first single I heard from that album, “Ironic”, and “Thank U” wasn’t like the other songs on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.“Hands Clean” didn’t sound like the rest of Under Rug Swept either, but at least there weren’t any negative surprises on this album. I am pleased that Glen Ballard doesn’t have anything to do with this album (he had a lot to do with the two first albums), because I think that he is the reason why SFIJ was so weird. On this album Alanis gets the chance to do everything herself, without any influence from people who try to tell her what is appropriate, what will sell etc. The whole album was written and produced by Alanis herself, which shows that she got to do what she wanted to do on this album. Lyrically she has grown as well, which came as a surprise to me, because I simply didn’t think that she could grow anymore as SFIJ had very mature lyrics.
Tonya in my class told me that she thought that the lyrics sounded more like diary entries than songs, and I can agree with that but at least they are a lot more mature than what I or most people write in our diaries. Musically I am impressed. A lot of famous musicians appeared on the album, which just shows how big Alanis is. I also read in the cover that she did a lot of the music herself, and that makes me impressed as well because overall the music is exceptionally good.

Should YOU buy the album?
There is something special about Alanis, which makes people either love her or hate her. If you have heard Alanis in the past and not liked what she has done, chances are you won’t like her this time around either. Although, if you do dislike her music but value good lyrics then you may want to consider buying this album. If you have liked what Alanis has done in the past, I think that there is a great possibility that you will like, perhaps even LOVE this album Most stores sell this album for 13-14$, so if you do have a few bucks you don’t know what to do with, please at least consider buying this album.

If you are not sure if you want to buy the album or not, I have put up a link to Amazon where you can listen to sound clips of all the songs. It seems Epinions dislikes it because it is too long, so just pull the spaces together.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005TPKC/ qid=1022852870/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-3106356-4623054

Similar Albums I Recommend:
Actually, there aren’t any artists that can really compare to Alanis. Her style is so special that there is hard finding any. Michelle Branch does sound a bit like a younger version of Alanis though, in my opinion. This is unique, one of a kind, and therefore you must buy it ;)

This review is my contribution to the I’ve Got The Music In Me write off, the third part of KRISTINAFH’s Music May Madness Write Off. I was indirectly referred to this write off by cletta1201. I read about the write off on her profile page and decided to join in. Please visit pop goddess Kristinas profile page and read even more of the contributions to this write off.

http://www.epinions.com/user-kristinafh

Thanks for reading!
~Kent