Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette > Reviews > Temper, temper

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Great songs, wonderful vocals
Disadvantages:	It's a bit angry

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Angry young woman music isn’t usually my bag, but right now, Alanis Morissette’s 1995 Jagged Little Pill is really striking a chord with me. I bought it when it was first released, but recently it has made a comeback into my personal “most listened” chart.

I’m a woman scorned, you see, so this album rather suits me at the moment, and you’ll quite often find me doing the housework with this on full blast, snarling the incredibly vicious lyrics out at the top of my voice (after the little one has gone to school of course – there’s language!)

The anger. The frustration. The bitterness. It’s all very satisfactory. And the vicious rawness of it is the first thing that strikes you about this album.

The second thing is that this young woman has a remarkable voice. Her range and power is astounding, and it has an expressive quality that is lacking in so many female vocalists these days.

And then, of course, there’s the fact that she is a fine songwriter and that this is a really stellar album.

This is a fine album to play full volume and snarl along with, but it is also an album that benefits from a listen through decent headphones, where you can really appreciate Christopher Fogel’s skilful production. Before mixing Jagged Little Pill, Fogel was best known for working with Nine Inch Nails and you can still feel the edge.

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 ALL I REALLY WANT

“Do I wear you out
You must wonder why I’m relentless and all strung out
I’m consumed by the chill of solitary.
I’m like Estella
I like to reel it in and then spit it out
I’m frustrated by your apathy”

Harmonica, distorted guitar, a little wahwah mixed really low, and a shuffle beat, combine with Morissette’s amazing vocal gymnastics to make this a worthy opener. I love the strange and convoluted vocal lines she uses. Listen out for the wonderful layered vocals. The main vocal line is laid straight down the middle in the chorus, but way out to the right in the mix you get a high falsetto, and panned way out to the left, a low-pitched backing vocal.

And in the middle eight, a wall of guitar, the main vocal mixed in the centre, with Alanis whispering the lyric over the top, right into your left ear. Then, the obligatory third verse breakdown, with just drums, bass and voice, accented with the barest minimum of a guitar riff, before coming to a crescendo for the final chorus. It’s a strident cry for understanding from an unusual soul, this song.

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 YOU OUGHTA KNOW

“Did you forget about me, Mr Duplicity
I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner
It was a slap in the face, how quickly I was replaced
And are you thinking of me when you f**k her?”

Probably the most vicious song on the album lyrically, this reeks of anger, pain and bitterness. It’s a song for the bunny-boiler in all of us women. When a woman has been dumped, this is what she’s really feeling, even though she’s putting on a brave face and singing “I will survive”.

Vocals and some wonderful creamy-sounding bass licks take pride of place in the verse, followed by a big, rocking chorus, banging drums and bullet bass, with Morissette belting it out in full throat. It’s wonderfully evil.

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 PERFECT

“Sometimes is never quite enough
If you’re flawless, then you’ll win my love
Don’t forget to win first place
Don’t forget to keep that smile on your face”.

Just barely a ballad, the beautiful, crystal clarity of Morissette’s voice comes through on this track, at odds with the difficult nature of the lyrical subject matter. It’s a song about the unrealistic demands of a parent on a child, a parent who lives their life vicariously through their child and is never satisfied with their achievements.

The delicate, ethereal, almost childlike voice in the verse, is backed by a gentle acoustic guitar. A wobble of emotion in the voice in the beginning of the second verse is left in, and it becomes more strident as the child echoes the harsh words of the parent. And it ends with the quavering little-girl voice, desolate, singing:

“We’ll love you just the way you are
If you’re perfect”

It’s a tragic little song, well executed, but you’ll have to turn a deaf ear to the very obvious “Tracks of my tears” chord progression at the end of the chorus.

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 HAND IN MY POCKET

“I’m broke but I’m happy
I’m poor but I’m kind
I’m short but I’m health, yeah.
I’m high but I’m grounded
I’m sane but I’m overwhelmed
I’m lost but I’m hopeful baby”

It’s a study in duality, this song. I know exactly what she means with these lyrics. Sometimes you just can’t make up your mind, sometimes you just have to go with the flow and trust that everything is going to be OK.

More harmonica on this track, and a sort of laid back “Still haven’t found what I’m looking for” groove. And that wonderful, soaring voice.

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RIGHT THROUGH YOU

“You took me for a joke
You took me for a child
You took a long hard look at my ass
And then played golf for a while”.

Double tracked vocals are used to great effect again on this track, with the snarly secondary track panned to the left in the mix. It’s obviously an angry rant about the people who didn’t take Morissette seriously in her former career as a teen pop singer. The voice really flies in the big rocking chorus.

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 FORGIVEN
“You know how us Catholic girls can be
We make up for so much time a little too late
I never forgot it, confusing as it was
No fun with no guilt feelings”

Ooh, another song I identify with lyrically! I love the huge rocky chorus in this song. Morissette’s voice is enormous, hugely powerful and soaring. It’s a showcase for her truly remarkable vocal talent this one. And of course, it’s female Catholic angst, of course.

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 YOU LEARN

“You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn”

A loose shuffle beat and bass groove characterises You Learn, followed by a wonderful repetitive sing-along chorus. And a little homespun wisdom from Ms Morissette. The middle eight is a little hackneyed, but I can overlook that because of the gorgeous bass in that section and the overall gorgeous vocals.

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 HEAD OVER FEET

“You already won me over, in spite of me
Don’t be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don’t be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn’t help it
It’s all your fault”

It really reminds me of someone, this song. If the preceding songs were full of bitterness, this is about healing, learning to trust.

It’s not the strongest track on the album, but that’s not a major indictment, considering the overall quality. I wonder if it is the lack of viciousness that makes it lack sparkle?

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 MARY JANE

“Well it’s full speed baby
In the wrong direction
There’s a few more bruises
If that’s the way
You insist on heading”

In my opinion the weakest track on the album, it reminds me a bit of one of those rather florid Country and Western ballads about a woman who done took the wrong path. Wonderful voice, but not really my cup of tea.

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 IRONIC

“A traffic jam, when you’re already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It’s meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife…….”

It’s the definition of my life at the moment, this song! I love the lyrics. It’s a wonderful singalong song with a nice loose shuffle beat breaking into yet another big, stonking rocky chorus. A successful single and one of my favourite tracks on the album.

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 NOT THE DOCTOR

“I don’t want to be the sweeper of the eggshells that you walk upon
I don’t want to be your other half, I believe that 1 and 1 make 2”

Ever feel like the men you meet aren’t looking for a woman, but a mother, a healer, a crutch? That’s what this is about. It’s a nice enough acoustic guitar number.

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 WAKE UP

“You like pain but only if it doesn’t hurt too much
You sit….and you wait…to receive
There’s an obvious attraction
To the path of least resistance in your life”

I was married to this man! Another shuffle beat, another faultless vocal. It’s almost become old hat by now.

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For me, Jagged Little Pill is a remarkable album. It’s packed with great songs, and beautifully produced. It’s a showcase for an enormous talent. Most amazing of all, though, is the naked quality of her voice on this album. Very little has been done to it. No distortion. No delay. No reverb. No technical wizardry. It doesn’t need it. Just an incredible voice soaring effortlessly through a series of gorgeously unusual vocal lines. Yes, it’s angry, and yes it’s bitter. It’s a very personal album. But it’s great. It’s real. Why settle for an Atomic Kitten when you can have a real live bitch.

Cheers

Allie xx