So you can just imagine how much is expected from Morissettes 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 Mommas boy, is how she calls him in Narcissus. If you werent so wise beyond your years, I wouldve been able to control myself, she chides him in the first single Hands Clean. Whats 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. Wed rise post-obstacle more defined more grateful/we would heal be humbled and be unstoppable/wed hold close and let go and know when to do which/wed 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.
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.