Defend the Indefensible - Alanis Morissette

But defense...hmm...

her version of "King Of Pain" is even funnier than the original.

Jagged Little Pill is still a pretty good album, with some really amazing moments (and some great lyrics! This is surprising in retrospect.)

i'm also inclined to think that she didn't make good use of her strengths. she focussed to much on fee-form stream-of-consciousness meandering twaddle - greater emphasis on snappy observations and catchy tunes, and she'd have bben great.

"Too Hot" is dumb fun, yessir.

The whole God thing in Dogma was funny...that's the only redeemable quality about her, aside from that she got slimed on You Can't Do That On Television.

xpost

It comes across as desperate and slightly unhinged, like she's the Jennifer Jason Leigh character in "Single White Female".

CREEPY

"You Learn"
"You Oughta Know"
"So Pure" (that's the one about the free-stylin' chance where she's dancing in different styles in the video, right?)
"Uninvited"
"What I Really Want"

the nme random alanis quote generator is fun.

d'oh.

Wait, you said defend?

"Hands Clean" is better than you remember.

I like that one. I guess I wasn't including that. Thinking especially of the ballads with piano.

I wasn't going to say it, but since so many people have put down her looks in comments on ILM, I think she's cute.

1995 was a peak year for me being out of touch with anything current (musically) in the English-speaking world, so in some ways the mystery is how I even heard some of these songs. (First half of the year was dominated by not being able to breathe through my nose thanks to sinus problems; the second half was when I tried to recover from being an invalid: taking Brazilian dance classes and that sort of thing.)

there is no defense for alanis morissette.

So wrong.

I like her. I used to watch MTV just to see her videos.

i LOVE head over feet tbh.

i mean, i own jagged little pill on LP. i paid $12 for it.

No idea why Alanis is indefensible. Jagged Little Pill is total classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7eB8mmZtlA

Jagged Little Pill is total classic

You were so close there I had to fix it.

Now listening to Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie "Baba" is great. So she apparently went to India for a time?

Okay, as I listen to more of this album I am feeling a little more sympathetic toward the anti-Alanis hostility (though I still think it's way over-generalized). She can be awfully self-righteous about being completely impossible, but it's not as though we don't have to be in a relationship with her. The lyrics here just get totally out of hand as it goes on (not exactly in a linear progression, but as the album moves on), more and more of a straight journal entry sort of sound as others have described her lyrics in general. But the music too is less interesting than on Jagged Little Pill (overall), even though there are some good things here and there. This is all on first listen (and most of this I really don't recognize).

her first two albums were THE SHIT when i was depressed during middle school/high school, but her subsequent albums have been a lot mellower, not necessarily sound-wise but personality-wise. instead of lashing-out and rage, she's processing things maturely, which lends this pop-psychology flavor to her lyrics that doesn't excite me very much.

also just in case you're feeling completionist, rudipherous, here's the Thank U b-side called Pollyanna Flower:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug42wnTh2XY

Thanks, I like that too (now that I've heard it).

Don't miss out on "Uninvited," Rudipherous.

Okay. I'm still digesting "You Oughta Know." "but you're still alive. . ." I can relate to the viciousness of that.

I'm finding "Uninvited" a bit tedious. Maybe that was the point.

just listened to "Thank You", which I had totally forgotten existed. on the one hand, the beat and vocal melody are really nice; but jesus christ, can that woman write some terrible lyrics or what?

I think her lyrics are mostly pretty good and quite knowing about their own preciousness.

revive timed for kentucky derby obv

I have to admit the lyrics are a big part of the fun for me in "Thank You," but I'm not simply laughing at them.

I think her lyrics are mostly pretty good and quite knowing about their own preciousness.

I tend to agree with this, especially the second part. I suspect she's more aware of the ridiculous side of her songs than people give her credit for.

I still would love hear someone sample the opening of Thank You to great effect.

The beginning is especially great. Actually, when I heard it I thought I had heard it somewhere else, but I think I was being reminded of something on side two of "Aerial Tal"!

iirc UR is also terrific off that record

Awful drum machines on everything I've heard from her.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0Dw9z44gXhplDh5HCWZIxP

http://gawker.com/5952403/alanis-morissette-music-leads-to-domestic-abuse-case-in-florida

how have i never seen this thread before

"You live you learn, You love you learn, You cry you learn, You lose you learn, You bleed you learn, You scream you learn." You just don't hit your boyfriend in the face with a plate. But, you learn.

^ lol @ this

http://www.poynter.org/2016/alanis-morissette-is-taking-over-molly-ringwalds-advice-column/391110/

Many people in dire need of help and possibly even contemplating suicide will be now be jolted out of their emotional paralysis as they scurry off in search of thesauruses.

She's now an advice columnist for the Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/09/alanis-morissette-queen-alt-rock-guardian-advice-columnist

if only someone had mentioned that sooner

Oops :s

hehe

Dear Alanis: it rained on my wedding day. What literary device best describes this situation?

Dear Alanis: My boyfriend has left me for someone who I suspect will suck him off in a movie theater. What is the proper way to communicate my displeasure with this state of affairs?

Never seen so many "Removed by moderator" in the comments section.

Wait - Molly Ringwald had an advice column?

my wife and i honeymooned in oct on the central coast of ca and stayed for a couple nights at the esalen institute in big sur. alanis was there and teaching a workshop called 'hurtling toward wholeness'. we didn't attend any of her workshops but did dine with her at the communal dinners. she's lovely and thoughtful and wise.

I thought you were kidding until I googled "esalen institute alanis." Wow. Perhaps one day she'll create an ingenious ad campaign for Coke.

so I guess she has a brother named Wade who is a yoga master!! this video is redonk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A16YQm_tqjI

this whole thing is hilarious but i laughed the hardest at 'wade morrissette' for some reason

I hear her more now than ever, pretty much daily--she seems to have replaced the Guess Who as every milquetoast Canadian radio station's default Cancon (on whatever the proper name is right now for Top-40/AOR/Boomer stations). "Ironic," "Hand in Pocket," and "Thank You," mostly--at least I've been spared "You Oughta Know."

What a terrible trade.

You Oughta Know that you made me imagine 1970-era Burton Cummings singing that song.

Burton has a light touch next to Alanis: "You Oughta Know" would need Rare Earth or Blood, Sweat & Tears or the Ides of March.

OK, it's not necessary to bring out the big guns.

Actually, I was never bothered by her vocal affectations - they seemed a lot more playful and eccentric than the oversouling of Clayton-Thomas or Joplin.

I’ve been in a room with her twice (once professional, once incidental). She seemed cool both times.

One can't say that about Burton Cummings.