(Yes, I know, banners are lame, but the owner of that website is a personal friend of mine, so I made a personal exception for his case. :))
Why an Alanis Morissette section? If you're asking yourself that, one thing is fairly certain: You've never paid much attention to the woman's music. Following the release of "You Oughta Know", the media labeled her a cheap, rage-filled copy of Madonna, an attempt at success through outrageous sexual explicitness. The truth is, as anyone who has listened to Jagged Little Pill can tell you, she is one of few artists today who write songs with meaning. To put it simply, if you have bought into the media's incorrect portrayal of her, you don't know her.
Like Soundgarden, she often writes songs of a philosophical or spiritual nature. However, her approach to this is quite different. Soundgarden runs with a downbeat, angry, grim and often hopeless style, while Morissette tends to be brighter, happier, and probably most of all, hopeful.
OK, I hadn't updated this page for a while, because I simply didn't think I could keep up with all the great sites that are on the web now, like the one in the banner above, or www.alanismorissette.net, or www.alanismorissette.com, which isn't a very big site but still fun to go to because it's done by Alanis herself.
(Also check out Maverick's official site on her, at http://www.maverickrc.com/alanis/, and Reprise's official site on her at http://www.repriserec.com/alanis/, featuring interpretations by her of all the songs on SFIJ.)
Oh, here's the obligatory SFIJ cover:
I haven't heard all of SFIJ, but I've heard most of it. What's it like? Well, it doesn't have the same edge that JLP had, but it's a musically interesting album with some catchy songs. It's been knocked for being too personal (not "connective" enough)... Some of the songs seem to be written exclusively for herself (particularly the apalling "Unsent"). But most of the songs are interesting and should interest those who liked the quieter stuff from JLP.
Anyway here are some articles on her (old ones, from when she first got popular):
Rolling Stone article, Issue 720, November 2, 1995, by David Wilder
Oh, and here's a ZIP file of all of JLP's lyrics. I find it more convenient to have it as a ZIP so I can download it and view it on my own computer than having to go online to check every time I want to see it.
And, oh yeah, SFIJ's lyrics.
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