REVIEW: Alanis Morissette, Unlpugged (Maverick)
- Bob Gajarsky
When your second album 'only' sells seven million copies, you've established lofty heights. Alanis Morissette's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie may not have been as commercial a hit as some wanted, but it served the singer's purposes well.
While the mega-successful Jagged Little Pill showed an "angry young female" (as coined by lazy critics), SFIJ showed that young woman turning into an adult - and not quite sure of which direction she wanted to take.
This Unplugged performance is culled from a recent live performance on MTV at Brooklyn's Academy of Music. And while wags initially thought Alanis a concoction of studio wizardry, her low-key performance works wonders to contradict those images.
In "You Oughta Know", Alanis' voice and tone has changed - from someone whose obsession with this former lover will strangle her own life, to someone who has come to grips that she's got better things to do than wist over a former lover.
The cover of the Police's "King Of Pain" - sung slowly and drawn out - suggests that Morissette could feel this song as her own, an introspective look into her soul. The current radio single "That I Would Be Good" offers another look into her soul, in a state of calming satisfaction with herself.
Three new tracks - "No Pressure Over Cappucino" (originally performed live on the Jagged tour) and outtakes from SFIJ, "These R The Thoughts" and "Princes Familiar" should delight the legions of Ms. Morissette's fans.
With Unplugged, Morissette has a new label that lazy critics can attach to her byline - interpreter. It sounds far better than angry white female.
