Under Rug Swept by Alanis

Alanis Morissette sets steep standards with every album she makes. That is over 14 million copies sold of her Grammy-winning debut recording Jagged Little Pill, considered one of the biggest-selling albums in pop music history. Her second Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie has already done a respectable 2.5 million in sales but that is so way, way behind her first one and talks are already rife that the Canadian pop star is fast losing her touch.

So you can just imagine how much is expected from Morissette’s latest studio recorded album Under Rug Swept. At the very least it should sell much, much more than Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie or else industry talks will take a turn for the worse. At best it should surpass the remarkable sales performance of Jagged Little Pill and forever enshrine Alanis in the pantheon of the greatest and most popular music artists of all time.

Alanis is without Glenn Ballard, the producer who ably steered her through both her two earlier albums in this, her third outing. She also has no co-writers. Each one of the 11 tracks in the album was written, performed and produced by Morissette. She also played guitars and keyboards in all of the cuts. This means that this is her most personal effort ever and she will sink or swim on her own merits.

Alanis is known for the confessional outpourings in her songs and Under Rug Swept tells more than the others ever did. Her focus is on a particular man who broke her heart. Are you unhibited in bed? More than three times a week? she asks in 21 Things I Want in a Lover. Dear Momma’s boy, is how she calls him in Narcissus. If you weren’t so wise beyond your years, I would’ve been able to control myself, she chides him in the first single Hands Clean. What’s it been over a decade? It still smarts like it was four minutes ago, she admits with so much pain in Flinch. And then steeped in desperation she asks, When will I stop leaving baby? When will I stop deserting baby? When will I start staying with myself?

The aftermath of that experience is this chronicle of recriminations that shows hints of healing only on the last cut. We’d rise post-obstacle more defined more grateful/we would heal be humbled and be unstoppable/we’d hold close and let go and know when to do which/we’d release and disarm and stand up and feel safe, she exults in Utopia. But even the best intentioned of listeners can tire of such avowals and this massive dose of Alanis’ mind, heart, soul, vocal chords, etc., etc., can induce boredom, send you packing or in exasperation, climbing up the walls.

The best way to appreciate Under Rug Swept is to sweep every agonizing whine from Alanis under the rug and concentrate on her deeply expressive voice and marvel at how musically accomplished she has become. As I mentioned, she did this album all by herself and the clever interplay of power ballad, rock and hip hop sounds does more for the album then all of her broken-hearted meanderings.

Bohemian’s triumph

Bohemian Rhapsody, the epic rock tune by Queen, was recently named Britain’s favorite single of all time. This is according to a poll of over 31,000 people made by British Hit Singles and published by the Guinness Book of Records. The six-minute song of several varied movements was the closest that a pop single came to classic opera way back in 1971. Bohemian Rhapsody hit number one in the charts when it was first released in 1975 and duplicated the feat 16 years later when it was reissued to raise funds to fight AIDS after the death of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury. It is interesting to note that Bohemian Rhapsody bested five songs by the Beatles that made the Guinness list.

The top 10 favorite singles of all time in Great Britain are: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen; Imagine by John Lennon; Hey Jude by the Beatles; Dancing Queen by ABBA; Like a Prayer by Madonna; Angels by Robbie Williams; Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles; Wannabe by the Spice Girls; Yesterday by the Beatles; and Let It Be also by the Beatles.