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Week 14:
Alanis Morissette
Artist Introduction
Hope you like my choice, Alanis Morissette. The Jagged Little Pill album (1995) is still one of my favorite albums, and as you’ll hear, 5 of my selections are from that album. I love the sound of and the inflections in her voice. Her songs and lyrics are raw, sometimes angry, sad, healing, and emotional. Hope you enjoy.
Mom Cascella
Most Popular
Hand In My Pocket
An easy start. Fun, rhyming song and lyrics. Very popular song from Jagged Little Pill. She has a uniqueness in her voice that really stands out. And yes, that’s her playing harmonica.
Head Over Feet
Again from J.L.P, a rare thing (a happy song). The lyrics are sweet, and a little more harmonica in this one. Love the tone of her voice.
Thank You
Really like the beginning, and then then heavy drumming. And she sings the crap out of this one, especially in the chorus. I read she took a trip to India to escape the chaos and craziness of J.L.P. She returned and realized how grateful she was for its success, and that was the inspiration for this song.
Personal Favorites
You Oughta Know
Even though this is one of her more popular songs, I had to put it as a favorite. A great rock song. I love that she’s getting her anger out thru these raw lyrics (and please, read lyrics during listen, they’re great). She’s pissed off, and I love it. And FYI, that’s Dave Navarro on guitar and Flea on bass, NICE!!!
Uninvited
Love the haunting, beautiful beginning. This song has it all. Beautiful vocals, and a great buildup. When orchestra comes in, it rocks. Very passionate and you feel her emotions. And just when you think its over, they hit you one more time. Love this song!! Also, FYI, Alanis won two grammy’s for this song, Best Female Rock vocal and Best Rock Song, 1999.
Ironic
Another great song with clever lyrics. Everything that can go wrong in life does. I love each separate story. The changes in her voice work really well throughout. If you have a chance, watch this video, it’s a fun one. Funny thing is that she didn’t originally love this song, and didn’t want to put it on J.L.P., but I’m glad her team talked her into it.
Unique Songs
You Learn
Slow, jazzy rhythmic song. More great lyrics, a metaphor for life’s tough lessons. Basically she’s saying life’s tough, suck it up and move on. I really get that. The whole song just has a different sound for her.
Mary Jane
Much softer song, so different. Much deeper lyrics, a bit sad. Got a bluesy feel, which I like a lot. And she again sings it so well. “Mary Jane, be selfish” is a great lyric in the context of the song.
On The Road Again
First of all, this one’s for laughs. And it is certainly different. She harmonizes well with Willie Nelson (is that a country twang in her voice, that’s different). I read that she did this song because she was happy to be back “On The Road Again” after the Covid pandemic. It’s a fun duet.
Conclusions
This was a lot of fun for me. Alanis was a Canadian teen Pop singer before J.L.P., and that album made her famous. And J.L.P. is now a Tony Award winning Musical. She’s done four other albums since J.L.P., but none have measured up to J.L.P. I hope you enjoyed. I’ll go with an 8.8
One last note. While he did not play drums on the Jagged Little Pill album, Taylor Hawkins (R.I.P.) did tour with Alanis for 18 months, supporting the J.L.P. tour. He was subsequently discovered by Dave G. and joined the Foo Fighters, and the rest is history.
Cascella Family Reviews
Vin Cascella
Joe Cascella
Finally, I have some time to listen to some music. Let’s hop right into it.
Hand in my Pocket – A simple but great start. Her voice is powerful and unique, and her lyrics are very fun. It’s not often you hear the main hook of the chorus have different lyrics throughout the entire song. I thought that was pretty neat. A very familiar but great start for Alannis.
Head Over Feet – Yeah, she’s a very witty lyricist. They are simple lyrics, but clever and clean and set up for nice flowing songs. This is an extremely enjoyable listen, with solid vocals and fun to sing along to. Is that back to back harmonica bridges in her songs haha. It sounds good so I’m all about it! So far I’m 2/2 on adding songs to my playlist (Idk why she wasn’t already on it).
Thank you – Alannis demonstrates impressive vocal range here, but the song isn’t my favorite. This is my first miss. It’s kinda boring. We haven’t seen too much instrumentation at this point
You Oughta Know – This is really good grunge punk rock. A loud impactful chorus that jumps off the page. The music cutting at the oughta know, really solid. We’re also starting to see some nice bass work. I love a good song with building versus into a powerful chorus. You can feel her emotions as she sings this, and I love it. Playlist!
Uninvited – Once again, impressive vocals. A fun and unique instrumental bridge into the second chorus. As soft and as slow as this song is, it still has that building element into a really loud sound. I’m using loud a lot, which is a compliment. Neat guitar solo at the end too. This song is still good, but overall was not one of my faves to this point. Maybe because everything else is a smash hit.
Ironic – God she is badass! Great lyrics, fun singing, just another bop. I love the ASMR talking into the incredibly fun chorus. Instant playlist.
You Learn – Funky rhythm, but very weird. Perfect for the unique section of this. It kinda has a similar structure to her big songs, but a very different sound. I like her normal sound much better. Some good guitar work with vocals acting like an instrument in there, that was cool.
Mary Jane – Belting out depressing lyrics. Very talented but I don’t care for it as a song. At least she’s there to support
On the Road Again – A little Willie Nelson collab! I’m not sure how well their voices complement each other. I kinda wish she sounded a little softer. Still nice but I can see other female vocalists doing a better job with old man Willie.
Overall Review: Wow, I was very very impressed with Alanis. I came into this kind of sour because she has a really terrible live cover of Castle of Glass at the Linkin Park tribute show. She also plays a second song that is an original, and that sucks too. I knew she had some great songs too, but I was not expecting this at all. She absolutely crushes in so many of these songs. I love her songwriting, and I find it all clever and smooth. She has these little nuances throughout her music that work, and I had a bunch of fun listening to this entire selection. As mentioned, I didn’t realize how much of her catalog I knew, and it’s a shame half of it was not already on my playlist. This was the most impressed I’ve been from an artist I was pretty meh on, so thank you for this amazing artist selection. I gotta go 8.5, monster score!
Dad Cascella
Alright then, on to mom’s pick Alanis Morissette. Obviously any music lover knows her story. Canadian dance and pop singer with a couple of minor hits above the border. She then re-invents herself and puts out Jagged Little Pill, an album that explodes worldwide. I also know she has put out other albums, but nothing that compares to J.L.P. Let’s take the dive.
HAND IN MY POCKET- Good start. A regular on FM radio, which is true with a lot of Alanis. To me, it’s a pop song but she sings it rockish. I don’t usually like synthesizers in music, but this synthesized bass (?) works. Clever lyrics. Gotta love a frontwoman playing harmonica.
HEAD OVER FEET- Softer, nice easy pop song. A love song with heartfelt lyrics. Really like her voice on this one, especially live versions. And again, love the harmonica lead midway.
THANK YOU- know this song from hearing it countless times. But listening on this deep dive shows how really good this song is. I really like the sound throughout. Beautiful song with fantastic lyrics. My impression from this is that Alanis wasn’t happy with her former Pop/Dance music, but was afraid to speak up. But Jagged Little Pill was a brave new direction. She thanks her past life of “fraility” and “nothingness” as learning experience and embraces strength in her new direction of music. Great, great song performed live. I have a new appreciation for this one, which seems to be a trend for me going deeper into Alanis songs.
YOU OUGHTA KNOW- Everybody knows this one, which more than any others put Alanis on the map. Nasty (in a good way), break-up song, her most rocking in these selections, sung with force, strength, and command. She puts it all out there with tough, demeaning lyrics of an old flame. At 3:15 are her best lyrics about being over this guy, and she’s happy to move on. Tough chick. Good for you Alanis. And as a side note, while I always liked the music in this song, I did not know it had Dave Navarro on guitar, and the unmistakeable slap bass of Flea. Thanks Lisa
UNINVITED- Wow, this is different. Didn’t know this one before (I’m an idiot). Her best work!!! Very powerful, slow rock song with her very best singing yet. And the orchestration in the big production is perfect. And her lyrics are so deep and strong. Tells a story of a powerful man expecting the love of a powerful woman (“shepard and shepard”). But she’s strong enough to slow down and not leap right away. Absolutely going on my playlist. Want to see the force of this song? Watch Alanis performing this song at the Grammy’s (1999) or as an encore in Austin, Tx 2024 (which was a great rock performance). Can’t say enough about the song, lyrics, and performance of UNINVITED.
IRONIC- another regular FM staple, nice guitar work to a basic rock song. Simple, fun lyrics. I like the catwoman singing at the bridge. Not much more to say, still thinking of that last song.
YOU LEARN- Love the rhythmic feel throughout this song, about taking chances in life. And again, she sings it very well. Sometimes you win, sometimes not. But that’s life. Learn from your mistakes (and then write a blockbuster album about these experiences). Alanis learned her lessons well. Funny thing is that I knew this song, but always thought it was called Jagged Little Pill.
MARY JANE- second of only two I didn’t know from this batch. Another beautiful ballad with deep lyrics, and again powerfully sung. Tells a sad story but offering hope. Damn, Alanis tells great stories in her lyrics.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN- yup, the old Wille Nelson standard, with Willie himself accompanying Alanis. Fun song to end. Is that Alanis singing country? At this point, I don’t think she can sing anything bad. Good, different way to finish this dive.
I have to say, this deep dive caught me way off guard. I figured I’d listen to these Alanis Morissette songs, songs that mostly I’ve heard hundreds of times. And as I’ve liked her music, I would probably give a low to mid 7 rating. But I was a bit surprised as my dive went on. Firstly, to watch Alanis’ videos, she seems to cultivate a psychotic appearence (which I believe she knows about and works for her). Watching her live onstage, again she moves rapidly while belting out her music. But these live performances show how talented she really is. This girl can absolutely sing. She’s sometimes soft, sometimes nasty, often rockish. But she always nails her singing. Though her music is good, you’re not gonna get exceptional musicianship. BUT, her lyrics kick ass. She sometimes fun, sometimes soft, sometimes deep, and more than sometimes exceptional. And I really can’t say enough about her live performances. In concert, her songs, lyrics, and singing take on a new life, with more of a rockish feel on many of these selections. So with this all in mind, I give Alanis Morissette an 8.5
Uncle Vin Cascella
Altho I own a JLP CD, other than playing You Oughta Know over and over and over to learn most of the bass work I never gave it a full listen. So the extent of my knowledge of her music was from the radio.
HAND IN MY POCKET: I love the sound of this one- tremendous production. Her vocals are better than I had remembered (a re-master commonality?) Changing the final line of the chorus is really cool and smart- I know a few songwriters that do that, including me! Lol. Great song, great start!
HEAD OVER FEET: I forgot about this one- great vocals with lots of sweet and fun lyrics. Some sneaky ear candy in there too.
THANK U: I love the pace of this song. Fine vocals. Some interesting lyrics but a little repetitive structurally. Still an OK tune.
YOU OUGHTTA KNOW: ahhh, perhaps one of the greatest songs by a female vocalist ever- this song seemed to be ubiquitous for at least a full year, and then played only every other hour for another year. Her vocal performance is beyond tremendous- I can envision her spitting angrily into the studio mic and also hear her vulnerability. The vocal strength is awesome! I did not know that Flea played the bass until Lisa informed us- WOW! And the rest of the Band smokes too.
UNINVITED: Very cool song that I had never heard before. Very interesting production, not the least of which is the simple piano riff thru most of it. They also (as in a few other songs), raise and lower the volumes to great effect. The orchestral intensity matches her usual vocals. Great song.
IRONIC: I didn’t know all of the lyrics to this one but I always liked its sound and structure. Some cool, fun lyrics (uhh, but not about the plane crashing!). A bit formulaic… then the fantastic bridge, with some voice trickery- well done!
YOU LEARN: Am I getting a little tired of her usual sound and structural pattern? Just a little. Still great vocals, and the band shows some chops on this one.
MARY JANE: New to me. I like it. Perhaps a tad long?
ON THE ROAD AGAIN; She’s great, as usual. The headline here is Willie staying on the harmony throughout- most stars insist on singing at least 1 verse. And Willie’s harmony is really sweet and endearing. Nice final song.
Thank you Lisa- fantastic selection. I’m gonna give it an 8.4.