Jagged Little Pill Full Album

[Cristoforo Kanoy]

JaggedLittle Pill is the third studio album by Canadian-American singer Alanis Morissette, released on June 13, 1995, by Maverick and her first album to be released worldwide. It marked a significant stylistic departure from dance-pop sound of Morissette's first two albums, Alanis (1991) and Now Is the Time (1992). To underscore this transformation and establish herself on the international stage, Morissette adopted her full name professionally, moving beyond her previous single-name moniker "Alanis". This deliberate change in both musical direction and personal branding signaled a new chapter in her career, setting the stage for her breakthrough international debut. Morissette began work on the album after moving from her hometown Ottawa to Los Angeles, where she met producer Glen Ballard. Morissette and Ballard had an instant connection and began co-writing and experimenting with sounds. The experimentation resulted in an alternative rock album that takes influence from post-grunge and pop rock, and features guitars, keyboards, drum machines, and harmonica. The lyrics touch upon themes of aggression and unsuccessful relationships, while Ballard introduced a pop sensibility to Morissette's angst.[8] The title of the album is taken from a line in the first verse of the song "You Learn".

Jagged Little Pill was a worldwide commercial success, topping the charts in thirteen countries. With sales of over 33 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling albums of all time and made Morissette the first Canadian to achieve double diamond sales.[9] Jagged Little Pill was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning five, including Album of the Year, making the then 21-year-old Morissette the youngest artist to win the top honor up to that point. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has Jagged Little Pill on their "200 Definitive Albums" list. Rolling Stone ranked Jagged Little Pill number 69 on its 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[10][11]

The album has been re-released twice: on October 30, 2015, in a 2-disc deluxe edition and a 4-disc collector's edition commemorating its 20th anniversary; and on June 26, 2020, in a 25th anniversary deluxe edition. An acoustic re-recording of the album was released on June 13, 2005, to mark its 10th anniversary. A musical stage production based on the album premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge on May 5, 2018; it transferred to Broadway the following year, and was nominated for 15 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.[12] A world tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of Jagged Little Pill began in early 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14][15]

In 1991, MCA Records Canada released Morissette's debut studio album Alanis, which went Platinum in Canada.[16] Her second album Now Is the Time sold a little more than half the copies of her first album.[17][18] With her two-album deal complete, Morissette was left without a recording contract. In 1993, Morissette's publisher Leeds Levy at MCA Music Publishing introduced her to manager Scott Welch.[19] Welch told HitQuarters he was impressed by her "spectacular voice", her character and her lyrics. At the time she was still living with her parents in Ottawa. Together they decided it would be best for her career to move to Toronto and start writing with other people.[19]

After graduating from high school, Morissette made the move.[17] Her publisher funded part of her development and when she met producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, he believed in her talent enough to let her use his studio.[17][19]

Morissette co-wrote the album solely with Glen Ballard, who also produced the album. The demo recording sessions started in 1994 at Ballard's home studio, and included only Morissette and the producer, who recorded the songs as they were being written. Ballard provided the rough tracks, playing the guitars, keyboards, and programming drum machines, and Morissette played harmonica. The duo sought to write and record one song a day, in twelve- or sixteen-hour shifts, with minimal overdubbing later. All of Morissette's singing on the album respects that rule, each recorded in one or two takes. The tracks that were redone later in a professional studio used the original demo vocals.[20]

Ballard met Morissette in 1994 when his publishing company matched them up. According to Ballard, the connection was "instant", and within 30 minutes of meeting each other they had begun experimenting with different sounds in Ballard's home studio in San Fernando Valley, California.[21] Ballard also declared to Rolling Stone that, "I just connected with her as a person, and, almost parenthetically, it was like 'Wow, you're 19?' She was so intelligent and ready to take a chance on doing something that might have no commercial application. Although there was some question about what she wanted to do musically, she knew what she didn't want to do, which was anything that wasn't authentic and from her heart."[22] The first track the pair wrote was "The Bottom Line", which was not included on the album's initial release, but was included on the album's 2015 re-release. The song was written in one hour, immediately after they met.[23]

The first song to be shown to A&R and record company people was "Perfect", with a simple arrangement containing only Morissette's vocals and Ballard's acoustic guitar. In December 1994, the duo took the demos to a studio and began working on full band arrangements for 5 songs: "You Oughta Know", "Right Through You", "Forgiven", "Wake Up" and "Mary Jane". Los Angeles engineer Chris Fogel engineered the sessions. By January 1995, having been passed over by many labels, Ballard was considering an independent release before Morissette's lawyer Ken Hertz arranged a meeting with Guy Oseary, who worked at A&R for Maverick Records. Oseary said he got interested in working with Morisette right at the beginning of "Perfect", which he would later describe as "the first time I heard anyone tell stories that way and express themselves in such a manner", and within two days Morissette was signed with the label.[26][19]

The album opens with "All I Really Want". It features harmonica, swirly guitars and canned drums, and is in a grunge-pop vein. The lyrics talk about "intellectual intercourse" and a mental connection with another angry, frustrated, frightened, uncomfortable soul. The lyrics of "You Oughta Know" have been described as exploring themes of "raw anger and frank portrayal of female sexuality".

"Hand in My Pocket" is a cataloging of contradictions set over fuzzy guitar and a '90s drum machine. It portrays a lighter side to Morissette, with lyrics that touch upon themes of her self-effacing and hopeful side. "Right Through You" is a grunge song with angry lyrics about sleazy record bosses who prey on female artists who they want to "Wine dine and sixty-nine" rather than actually supporting their musical careers.

"Perfect" is thought to be about internalised negativity, the pressure to do well and approval. Meanwhile, "Mary Jane" is built over a ballad's tense and ringing electric guitar. It addresses themes about depression and anorexia as it sees Morissette trying to reassure a friend who's having a rough time.[31] In 2010 a writer suggested it was an example of an anti-rhetorical argument about taking action.[32] Though the name "Mary Jane" is another name for marijuana, the song seems not to be about the plant.

"Ironic" is a pop rock song,[33] set in the time signature of common time, composed in a moderate tempo of eighty-two beats per minute.[34] The song's use of situational irony[broken anchor][35] led to some fascination with whether it is a correct application of the term ironic.[36][37] According to the Oxford English Dictionary "irony" is "a figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used"[38] making lyrics such as "It's like rain on your wedding day" not ironic.[39]

The album cover, featuring photography by John Patrick Salisbury and art direction by Thomas Recchion, combines a picture of Morissette crouched atop a cliff in Malibu, California and another of her face with various shades of red, blue and green, and typewriter-style fonts.[41][42]

Maverick Records released Jagged Little Pill internationally in 1995. The album was expected only to sell enough for Morissette to make a follow-up, but the situation changed quickly when KROQ-FM, an influential Los Angeles modern rock radio station, began playing "You Oughta Know", the album's lead single.[43] The song instantly garnered attention for its scathing, explicit lyrics,[17] a subsequent music video went into heavy rotation on MTV and MuchMusic in Canada, and the song rapidly ascended the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart peaking at No. 1 for five weeks, the most ever by a female artist to that date.[44] Soon after US Top 40 and Album Rock radio stations began playing the song and it reached No. 7 and No. 3 on the Mainstream Top 40 and Album Rock Track charts, respectively.[44]

After the success of "You Oughta Know", the album's other hits helped send Jagged Little Pill to the top of the Billboard Album Chart. "Hand in My Pocket" was the next track released; it topped the Modern Rock chart and reached No. 8 and No. 4 on the Mainstream Top 40 and Album Rock Track charts, respectively.[44] While top 40 and album rock stations were still catching up to modern rock radio stations on playing the first two tracks, "All I Really Want" was promoted at modern rock stations and reached No. 14 on the Modern Rock chart. The fourth U.S. single, "Ironic", became Morissette's biggest hit, partly due to the unique music video featuring four identical but differently dressed Alanises driving around in the same car. The video was nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards in 1996 winning three including "Best Female Video".[45] "Ironic", which was released as a physical single, therefore, becoming the first track off Jagged Little Pill eligible for the Billboard Hot 100, peaked at No. 4 on the Hot 100, while also hitting No. 1 on the Modern Rock and Mainstream Top 40 charts.[44] "You Learn" and "Head over Feet", the fifth and sixth singles, also topped the Mainstream Top 40 chart, reached No. 7 and No. 25 on the Modern Rock chart, but were not picked up by Mainstream Rock stations, instead charting highly on the Adult Alternative ("You Learn" No. 2; "Head Over Feet" No. 11) and Adult Top 40 charts ("Head Over Feet" No. 1: "You Learn" No. 3), with a single of "You Learn" backed with Morissette's Grammy Award performance of "You Oughta Know" peaking at No. 6 on the Hot 100.[44] The parade of singles kept Jagged Little Pill (1995) in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for 72 weeks.

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