I’ve really struggled with this record’s reputation, as while I hear the hooks all too clearly, it’s much harder to hear the “revolutionary force” top hat “Jagged Little Pill” has worn for thirty years. And that isn’t because the mid-90s production has aged – to me, many of these songs still sound as good as they did when I first heard them. It’s not because Alanis sometimes veers into a caterwaul – I find her voice quite distinct, and unique (though not charming nor emotionally-impactful). I think the problem is that she’s 19, and while producer and co-writer Glen Ballard said she was a very smart 19, and knew quite specifically what she didn’t want her music to sound like, I think her songs overstep her personal experience bounds. I, for example, simply don’t believe she went down on a guy in a theater, or that the revelation that Catholicism is a cult is that impactful to anyone over the age of 21.
All this aside, I enjoyed JLP top-to-bottom, however suspicious I am of her inspiration or however much I smirk a bit at her attempts to convey defiance. That’s because on so many songs, she and the guitars and drum machine that accompany her display confidence in their approach. Whether it was AM herself or GB, they knew they had something, the same way Vanessa Carlton’s mom knew she had something when her daughter first played the piano riff of “A Thousand Miles” on their home piano some years later. It’s just that they’re both professionals, and good, and they had a LOT of somethings.
There isn’t a song on here I disliked, though a few were derivative and more of their time. Do we call “Forgiven” or “Right Through You” songs by Gearl Jam, for instance? In other places, I wrestled with the irony problem again, not just on “Ironic”, but on “Perfect” – does Alanis sing the song so imperfectly as a commentary on the lyrics which decry parental (or other) expectations of young people? Or can she simply not carry a tune with such a slow meter?
But there’s way more good stuff than bad. I mentioned I heard two songs I thought should have been singles vs. those that were released but overreached as I didn’t realiz(s)e “All I Really Want” actually was released as a single. That guitar riff is tasty and Alanis’ vocal intonations scattered all over the wind is a terrific opener. The other song I really liked was “Not The Doctor” with its very firm declaration of independence and/or separation, and the grungy quiet/loud dynamics (all over the record generally) especially effective. I prefer these tunes to both “You Learn” (I like her recommendations, but not her pat, simplistic conclusion) and “Head Over Feet” which were released as singles.
I did say earlier that there is one truly great, great song on this record, and reading the posts before, I don't think anyone aside from our nominator
@Saddleworth2 mentioned it. And that song is “Hand In My Pocket”. I love it because it doesn’t sound like it was written let alone produced in the mid-90s. It’s timeless. It's a simple, pleasant riff that then transitions to what I think is a wonderful bit (right before “And what it all comes down to . . .”) via a great set of hooky chord changes. Check out some of the cover versions of this on YouTube done in a wide variety of styles by women-fronted and men-fronted bands, done as a country tune, as a power chord tune, as a single acoustic artist. It works across genres. I love because it lays out a long list of very real contradictions in young people at age 19, and some of them are especially clever, especially in third verse:
I'm free, but I'm focused / I’m green, but I’m wise / I’m hard, but I’m friendly, baby
I'm sad, but I'm laughing / I'm brave, but I'm chickenshit / I’m sick, but I’m pretty, baby
I touched on this in my very first nomination here – The Replacements’ “Let It Be”. The inherent struggle with contradictions and not knowing how or what direction to go as one moves from youth to adulthood is one of my (and many artists’) favo(u)rite topics in pop music. And here she is laying it bare, with a wonderfully honest and optimistic message (no one’s got it “all figured out” and that’s “fine, fine, fine”). This – to me – is the REAL Alanis – not the jilted sexpot, not the naïve philosopher. And she and Glen wrote this song in 15 minutes. That, my friends, is talent. I always liked this song, but now I absolutely love it.
Scoring this has taken me a while. I have very rarely used half point scores. For me, an 8 needs to be strong in effectively every song, while a 7 just needs the songs I don’t really like to be reasonable and not annoy me. This falls between the two as I adore “Hand In My Pocket”, very much like another half dozen, and tolerate the remainder.
I’m brave, but I’m chickenshit, true. But in this case, I’m going to be brave. 8/10.
