Jagged Little Pill

Alanis Morissette

album cover

Somebody's a Little Upset

Jagged Little Pill refutes your mother's wisdom about how anger is not a terribly constructive emotion. On most of these riveting, fulminating songs, Alanis Morissette snarls, at the top of her formidable lungs, about egregious slights—from parents who suffocate with their expectations ("Perfect"), from lovers who've become too needy and dependent ("Not the Doctor"), or the ones who sent her into a prolonged spinout ("You Oughta Know").

There's lots of music powered by anger. What sets this hugely influential album apart is Morissette's knack for bringing listeners into the center of her storm. She doesn't merely recount assorted setbacks, she offers a minute-by-minute tour of them, sparing no detail to describe raw and often uncomfortable emotions. Morissette's taunting voice sits right at the front of the mix, and though she starts out delivering the simple yet devastating melodies straight, she eventually hauls out an impressive array of wounded bleats and bellowing screams to deliver her stories. These wild flashes feel truly wild, too unruly to have been plotted beforehand.

Throughout Jagged, Morissette does the high-drama stuff while the band, which includes ace alt-rock guitarist Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction), provides steady, unflappable support. The album's most memorable songs aspire to the swaggering confidence of U2's big-tent anthems, and have similarly broad sing-along refrains. These give Morissette's self-absorbed lyrics—particularly the litany of betrayal that is "You Oughta Know"—a sense of righteousness. The melodies are deceptively simple and thoroughly ingratiating, and as they repeat, they become rallying cries strong enough to empower the disheartened. Morissette frequently sounds like she's totally lost in pursuit of catharsis, but that's just showbiz: No matter how heavy the subjects or how much fire she breathes, she knows that at the end of the day, she's selling pop songs. Not transcripts of therapy sessions.

Genre: Pop, Rock
Released: 1995, Maverick/Reprise
Key Tracks: "You Oughta Know," "All I Really Want"
Catalog Choice: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Next Stop: Avril Lavigne: Let Go
After That: Paula Cole: This Fire
Book Page: 522

1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die