its like Genesis pre and post Gabriel/Hackett. Some are sniffy because the music changed and became more popular. REM made good albums until near the end. And yes Automatic for the people is a very good album albeit some on here don't think so :-)What's some fans problems with automatic for the people? Is it their sold out became successful period that a lot of bands get called on by certain fans?
its like Genesis pre and post Gabriel/Hackett. Some are sniffy because the music changed and became more popular. REM made good albums until near the end. And yes Automatic for the people is a very good album albeit some on here don't think so :-)
An amusing (maybe) aside… my 93 yo uncle still plays and sings in his local ukulele band. He is a proud Welshman living in England. He told me that at a recent weekly practice meet up, he was asked by the group leader, to sing a popular tune in Welsh. He told them to pick a tune, and they duly obliged with Brown Eyed Girl. They ran through the whole tune, and he sang his heart out. At the end they stood and clapped, and there were even a few tears. I told it him was amazing he could belt out a tune in Welsh. He replied that he just sang whatever Welsh word came into his head that fitted the tune as the audience would have no clue what he was singing!Do you think (genuine question), artists singing in foreign languages would make little to no difference to your experience of music? I often wonder this, generally, when it comes to lyrics that don't capture.
That’s a challenge ;)Can we have a VAR review for anyone scoring this under 3 - It simply can't be possible unless you genuinely hate Pop music.
Seconded!PS, please don't give up on the thread @RobMCFC - these music threads have been incredible for exposing us all to albums and music we've not heard before and I've found some great tracks and learnt a LOT from other people. Thanks to everyone who contributes!
What has she done of similar success to this album in the years after it?
Can't think of any obvious hits as big as Ironic and Oughta Know.
She obviously remained a name, but have there been other albums of note? Whether that is in commercial success or just good albums overlooked.
I want to give something later a go, in case her voice 'dropped', a bit like Mike Patton's after their first album.
Her album after Infatuation Junkie was good, you'll recognize this one
What has she done of similar success to this album in the years after it?
Can't think of any obvious hits as big as Ironic and Oughta Know.
She obviously remained a name, but have there been other albums of note? Whether that is in commercial success or just good albums overlooked.
I want to give something later a go, in case her voice 'dropped', a bit like Mike Patton's after their first album.
Yes her latest album is a bit different but my favourite is Flavors of Entanglement from 2008. I just love her lyrics.The other album of hers I'm most familiar with is Under Rug Swept which is maybe 2 after this one? You can begin to here her 'calming down' a little bit vocally on some of the songs on that and I think that continued in later albums in that her range didn't really drop down but she softened how she sang. There's one from the early 2010's where you can tell it's her but it sounds quite different from the album we're listening to. I've just had a look at her most recent album and it appears to be mostly ambient.
At the home of football, Olympic stadium awaiting Sam Fender - only reason I booked this gig was to watch War On Drugs who were supporting but pulled out last minute ! Fuming. The geordie lad will have to do.
Great take that mate - bravo..........Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Nadine Morissette is an album that every logical bone in my body hates but which I'm giving a 9. Whatever criticism you want to throw its way will most likely be met with whole hearted agreement from me with the possible exception that it is trite - I'm open to being persuaded though. This is a pop record with all that trite implies.
The production is quintessentially 90's so I get the Friends comparison - both are products very firmly of its time. The only instrument making anything close to a good sound is the occasional acoustic guitar everything else sounds overly compressed and weak. The playing of said instruments is trite. The bass and guitar on You Oughta Know are particularly egregious examples. I note from Wikipedia that this was provided by Flea and Dave Navarro when they were both playing with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I can get behind an argument that Flea is a talented bass player but he's one i find largely unlikeable. His bass line on this is over played as if he's above the material, which he probably is, but it's a Morissette album so have some respect. I did find his bassline less annoying in the remix at the end of the album.
The drums have that awful 90's quasi dance r&b shuffle on large portions and like my criticism of the Embrace album the hands in the air big moments feel unearned musically. They just slap you with little warning or build up but not in an unexpected or surprising way. AND it is kind of trite - in All I Really Want when Morissette sings "why are you petrified of silence; here can you handle this?" and the tracks stops for a second is the most obvious move she could make in this moment. It's also hard to argue that her affectations are annoying and sometimes overpower the music.
BUT this is a great album. Even the much maligned Ironic forces me to yell "it's like rayyyyiaaayyyne on your wedding day" - it's almost a pavlovian response. It bypasses every cynical, snarky idea of what I think music should be and electrifies the little part of my brain that lights up and goes straight to sing a long. Morissette's annoying vocal affectations are numerous but well placed and effective to me for conveying the emotion of the line. She has a couple of variations to keep things fresh. The first couple of lines of the second verse of Perfect are pretty nice before she completely destroys the band. They certainly remind me of Maria McKee's Life is Sweet album (which i seem to keep mentioning recently) but they are less banshee.
Highlight of the album for me is Forgiven which I think serves as a good touchpoint for what I'm responding positively to. I feel like I've spent a month of nominations asking for stuff to be less subtle and more obvious. Well Jagged Little Pill delivers on this and in particular Forgiven. It's refreshingly upfront and obvious and Forgiven nails that post grunge rock thing perfectly - i feel like it's the song where the band almost keep up. The acoustic guitar solo lines are very on brand and nicely placed in the mix to catch your attention as you try and hear the line clearly. Wake Up is also a song that the band mainly delivers on - the bass almost goes into Epic by Faith No More territory. But what the band lack is more than compensated for by the vocal performance and delivery including all the affectations for me. It's delivered with such a boldness and so unapologetically that it totally pulls me in despite my best intentions.
My logical, trying to be cool rational brain, hates this. The chimp part of my brain really enjoys how Morissette varies her delivery across multiple lines (particularly in All I Really Want) and makes sure everything is in large print for the hard of hearing. I think if you didn't speak English you could understand this album but I actually think some of the writing is pretty good. For instance I like the sweater line already mentioned AND if I'm totally honest and unconcerned by what people would think of me I'd actually say I quite enjoy Ironic. I often have more spoons than I need. It's a song that will often come back to my memory despite not having heard it for years and it is eminently sing-a-longable. I think any disagreement here is a sign of snobbishness. You are not Flea and you are not above the material.
It's not a cool album but it is confident and Morissette is, as far as I can tell at least, concerned mainly with being herself, writing about things that have actually happened to her and not making it to hard for me to hear what's she saying - a line like "I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man" is nicely balanced conveying something obvious but also with some subtext and depth. It's the opposite of jazz so it's a 9 from me, singing into a hairbrush and wondering if i can justify buying a chorus pedal for my bass.
I’d blame the drink when you wake up ;)He was surprisingly good, will nominate maybe for future