June 13 marked the 25th anniversary of Alanis Morissette’s iconic Jagged Little Pill – an album You Oughta Know…
Bad puns aside, whether it’s an album you’re already acquainted with or one of your mum’s favourites, Jagged Little Pill contains some of the most iconic songs of the 90s, including You Oughta Know, Ironic, and Hand in My Pocket.
Despite being the singer’s third album, Jagged Little Pill was Morissette’s international debut and was a commercial success, rocketing her to international acclaim. The album topped the charts in thirteen countries and was nominated for nine Grammy awards between 1996 and 1998; eventually winning five including ‘Album of the Year’. Morissette was only 21 when she won the award, making her the youngest to ever win it until Taylor Swift won in 2010. It is currently the 13th best-selling album of all time, selling over 33 million copies worldwide.
Influenced by post-grunge and pop-rock, Morissette’s alternative rock album was the result of a collaboration with producer Glen Ballard, who co-wrote the album. The duo experimented with the sounds they used on the 13-track album, resulting in the use of heavy guitar riffs, drum machines, and even the odd harmonica. At the time, the album was commended for its brazen angst and emotional exploration, with many critics praising the pointed lyrics and mature openness. The songs are laden with over-sung lyrics and crunchy dissonant harmonies, backed up by harsh vocalisations between verses and choruses. It sounds like a hard listen, but something about it just works. The album is filled with songs that you want to shout along to in the car and in the shower. Not all the album is hard and ‘jagged’, however, Morissette displays a softer side to her songwriting on the album in songs Mary Jane and Head Over Feet which plant their roots firmly in the rock ballad genre.
25 years down the line, the album holds up. Though, that’s not to say it feels timeless. The music sounds and feels as 90s as music can. But as someone who is four years younger than the album itself, I avidly urge the carrying of Jagged Little Pill into the younger generations. Rob Brydon, of Uncle Bryn fame, once stated that Avril Lavigne was the young person’s Alanis Morissette, and I understand the comparison. As a staunch Avril Lavigne fan growing up, listening to Alanis Morisette does feel like I’ve graduated to a more mature version of Lavigne’s debut album Let Go. Both Canadian singers dip into the pop-punk vein whilst singing with that rock style that belting both are known for. But these days, I identify less with Sk8er Boi and more with the angst displayed by 21-year-old Morissette.
The narrative of the album helps to maintain its relatability, touching on core human emotions. Within every song, there are accessible emotions that everyone can relate to; anger, the feeling of not being good enough, and the feeling of falling in love despite your own shortcomings. Prior to Jagged Little Pill, these emotions seemed practically untouched to quite the same extent within music. You’d be hard stretched to find a song quite as seething with unadulterated rage as You Oughta Know, or that defines the pressure that parents put upon teens to achieve as Perfect does. Even her song Ironic, while missing the mark on what is actually ironic, sends a clear message – “Life has a funny way of helping you out when you think everything’s gone wrong”. The album covers everything from a critique of the condemnation of female sexuality (Forgiven) to living your life and just learning from your mistakes (You Learn).
In my opinion, it is this innate emotional core of Jagged Little Pill that keeps the album from ageing past the point of being culturally unrecognisable by new audiences. In fact, the emotional narrative is what gave the album a new life in a Broadway musical of the same name. Jagged Little Pill opened as a Broadway musical earlier this year to positive reviews. While built around the songs of the album, the story is not that of Alanis Morissette. Unlike many jukebox musicals, the story focuses on a completely fictional family, written by Oscar-winner and Juno creator Diablo Cody, who stated that “the characters emerged from the individual songs and they were undeniable… the songs just seemed to do so much of the work for me”.
Personally, the album is one of my favourites of all time, and I can’t recommend it more. Plus, its anniversary only makes me more excited for the release of Morissette’s ninth studio album Such Pretty Forks in the Road at the end of July, her first release since 2012.
Rating: 9/10
By Robbie Nichols
Feature image credit: Maverick Recording Company