Alanis Morrisette: Jagged Little Pill Acoustic 2LP, (2005 Music On Vinyl - 2014)
If you spent any time growing up in the 90s like I did, you had a chance to experience some of the greatest angst-filled bands of all time. By 1995, the grunge movement was in full effect. Bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, and The Smashing Pumpkins were taking over MTV and giving voice to the frustration of a generation. In a world of dudes yelling at things, insert Alanis Morisette to outshine them all. In her third album, Jagged Little Pill, Morisette created what could quite possibly be the greatest break up record of all time, winning countless awards including Album of the Year in 1996 and selling tens of millions of copies. You could feel the raw emotion come through in everything from her vocals to the distorted guitars scratching across the record. Even the harmonica playing feels angry and forward on the original album like it wants to slap you in the face.
Fast forward ten years and we are gifted Jagged Little Pill Acoustic, a two-LP masterpiece of reflection and revision. What were once songs that shouted at you and refused to let you look away are now doing the same through lyrics that feel like questions more than previous directives. When she asks “Do I stress you out?” to start the album on “All I Really Want,” it feels like a moment of introspection instead of a barb. This happens over and over again throughout the album. Amazingly, as you listen to this acoustic version, you start to reflect on the songs right alongside her. At first listen, you can’t help but be amazed at just how many of the songs hit commercial success and are easily recognizable, but are now completely different versions of their younger selves.
What shines on this version is not that in-your-face, fast-paced nature of the first album, but the small, quiet moments on songs like “Perfect” that bring you hauntingly close to the artist. The original track feels like a teenager lashing out at her parents for expecting too much. The acoustic version has the benefit of life experience and seems to almost ask if she has lived up to those expectations. This happens over and over again as Morisetter revisits her original masterwork with a quiet, but still not timid, version of each song.
Ultimately, what Morisette has been able to do with this album is create her own version of MTV Unplugged. Known for taking away the loudness and distortion of artists like Nirvana and Eric Clapton, giving them a stage, and seeing what will come of it Morisette does the same here on her own. And fittingly, she did not need that stage to do so. Many of those recordings live rent free in my head as does this effort by Morisette. What was once the face of female empowerment through unabashed anger has turned into a quiet, toned down, and reflective album. It is one of those albums that makes you realize just how impressive the original work was and how amazingly talented Morisette is as an artist. She has done the nearly unthinkable, leaning into the nostalgia of the past, and exceeding it with this sequel.
Take a moment to sit down and listen to an old friend. Enjoy the time reminiscing about the past, sharing moments of joy and sorrow as you reconnect with each flip of the record. While you’re at it, don’t give up on side four as there’s a little Easter egg waiting for you in your house after a minute of silence. How appropriate.