Published on Feb 28, 2002
Normally, when an artist who has had an album released which was
a cultural phenomenon, the armchair critic in all of us looks at
the next disc or two they release and wonder if they’ll be able to
live up to the level of success we anticipate.
In the case of Alanis Morissette, her fourth American release
(and third Stateside studio album)
Under Rug Swept was being monitored on two different radars
in the Pierce Memorial Archives. How would it compare to
Jagged Little Pill… and would it be a better disc than
that frisbee known as
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie?
The answers are pretty clear. For the former, Morissette will
never come close to topping what
Jagged Little Pill was in terms of being a cultural
watermark. It’s silly for her to even try to do a sequel, and she
wisely has chosen the last two times not to attempt it. As for the
latter question,
Under Rug Swept is a surprisingly good album, even with the
occasional lag in energy, and is a return to form for Morissette
and her stream-of-consciousness tales of woe and heartbreak.
I’ll be honest: I didn’t expect much of this disc. I’ve never
understood how people swarmed over Morissette when she burst onto
the American scene in the mid-’90s. But the more I heard from songs
I downloaded from the Internet, the more I was convinced that this
was a disc that was worth spending the money on – and, in fact, I
did buy the disc. (Memo to Michael Greene and Hillary Rosen: See
that? File-sharing actually
gained a sale.)
Right out of the gate, Morissette comes out strong. “21 Things I
Want In A Lover” is a powerful track, one which will undoubtedly be
the second hit single from this album. Morissette’s laundry list of
qualities in her ideal man make it sound like she’s looking for a
combination of Brad Pitt and Superman, but she is able to deliver
the goods in a well-written track. The first single, “Hands Clean,”
is Morissette’s open letter to an older mentor of hers whom she
apparently had a relationship with when her career was starting in
Canada. Interestingly, she seems to look back on that time with a
mixture of disgust and wistfulness – all wrapped up in a catchy yet
understated rhythm line.
While Morissette seems to have gotten a lot of the bile out from
her
Jagged Little Pill days, she still can be blunt in her
lyrics. The notable example is in the song “Narcissus,” another
stream of consciousness track which took me aback because it was so
well-written and executed. That said, I want to see how radio will
handle the line “You go back to your friends who will lick your
ass”. The funny thing is, had Morissette used “kiss your ass”
instead, the force of the message would have been weakened. In this
case, the stronger language is appropriate.
Under Rug Swept is filled with semi-autobiographical songs,
many of which don’t necessarily have a happy plot or ending. Yet
many of these songs prove how skillful a songwriter Morissette
truly is. “Flinch” might have the tone of a ballad, but lyrically,
it’s one of her most powerful tracks ever. Likewise, “So Unsexy”
has a pointed message, but the slow funk-pop groove might throw
listeners a curve.
There is only one track which doesn’t pull its weight on this
disc – “That Particular Time” is far too lethargic, and it comes
dangerously close to dragging the rest of the album down with it.
Fortunately for Morissette, “A Man” quickly pulls the disc out of
that brief tailspin – and while the remaining tracks aren’t the
strongest in the bunch, they do provide a proper resolution to the
disc.
If
Jagged Little Pill was the portrait of the artist as an
angry young woman and
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie was a snapshot of
Morissette trying to come to grips with her life through
spirituality, then
Under Rug Swept could rightfully be seen as the culmination
of the whole journey, with Morissette openly talking about how her
past shaped her into what she is today. It’s a major improvement
over her last studio effort, and is sure to be warmly embraced by
her legion of fans. This could well be the album that Morissette
has been struggling to make since her ascension to
superstardom.