Review Summary: A painfully honest album that shows a brilliant artist at her peak.
Jagged Little Pill is much more than an album that plays music- this is an album that shows a period of time. I can't count the times my stepmother slapped me on the head for screaming Alanis Morrissete lyrics at the top of my lungs on long car rides. I still to this day will sing, "isn't it ironic, don't you think? at slight turmoils in my life such as when it's my turn to take out the trash and I don't want to. Alanis used to get me through the day and even though years have passed and my slight crush for her has faded I will always adore this album.
To state the obvious first this girl knows how to sing. Her voice is so cringe worthy at times that it might actually turn first time listeners off but is easily remedied with multiple listens. Tracks such as "Ironic" allow Alanis to not only wail her heart out but slow down in parts of the song as she shows off a very sweet and controlled voice. Her voice is also very hard to confuse with any other artist a flaw that many female pop stars have. Her voice is so unique and abrasive that it would be difficult to mimic regardless.
To match perfectly well with the vocals are the instrumentals that are always carrying the music along smoothly while never distracting from Alanis's witty vocals. The bass lines are always strong and adorably funky highlighted on such tracks as "You Outta Know". The drums while nothing special seem to add interesting fills throughout the album. The guitar playing is again not amazing but fits perfectly with the music that it hardly matters. Other instruments are also used on the album such as a harmonica employed during "One Hand in my Pocket" which not only adds more depth to the song but also makes the song more enjoyably quirky overall.
The main highlight of Jagged Little Pill are Alanis's wikidly clever lyrics, which as the title states are a very jagged pill to swallow. Lines such as these show the honesty of the lyrics very well:
Is she perverted like me would she go down on you in a theatre? does she speak eloquently and would she have your baby I'm sure she'd make a really excellent mother
Lines like these never come off as cheesy or cliche but come off with such painful honesty that I can remember times when I purposely turned this album off. But the lyrics aren't always angry. Tracks such as, "One Hand in My Pocket" are positively engaging. Lines like, "I'm shy but I'm friendly baby I'm sad but I'm laughing I'm brave but I'm chicken ****" reminds me why I had such a big crush on her in the first place, this girl is adorable.
In retrospect I've had a lot of phases in my life. From the goofy phase of wearing Linkin Park shirts and pants 10 sizes too big to the slightly feminine phase the The Cure put me through Alanis still holds the title of the only musician I think I could truly fall head over heels for. And while it's no longer often my grandmother takes a swing at me for singing obnoxiously or for jokingly calling Alanis my wife I still find time to sing "Perfect" lyrics quietly to myself in the shower thinking to myself, what if?
Recommended Tracks
Ironic
You Outta Know
Perfect
Hand in my Pocket
