2008 Writer
PERRYEASTEP
willowsbee, OH

Alanis...Her music will be studied...some day. Wonderful!

5 star rating

a fan of good music, flirting with the edge
Pros

    11 songs that can each stand alone

Cons
    Takes a while to appreciate

SEP
20
2008
 
 
 

I fell in love with Alanis about the same time most people who loved her did. It was her album "Jagged Little Pill", released in June of 95. Morissette rocked an entire nation with hits like "You Outa Know", "Hand in my Pocket", "You Learn", and my favorite from the album, "All I really Want". Every song on that CD was awesome. That was over thirteen years ago. She never really recaptured the public quite like she did in the summer of 95 again, but thats not to say her music wasn't as good. I happen to think - like every artist, you continue to shed new skin as you grow.

After a few more albums came "Under Rug Swept", released to my surprise very quietly. Only one song off the album made it to the radio stations, which I always felt was terrible management, or PR work. This was another incredible album, and should have been received much better. I started to think that a lot of people wanted the same type of anger in her songs, as with Jagged. Whatever the case, this album should have been one of her biggest success since Pill, but it seemed to disappear almost as fast as it's release.

The best thing about Alanis Morissette is that she wears her heart on her sleeve through her music, and new album "Flavors of Entanglement" is no exception. She realizes there is strength in vulnerability, and with that knowledge shares her growth as an individual as well as a musician.

The pearls of wisdom beyond her years typical of Morissette abound in this new collection, but thanks in large part to producer Guy Sigsworth these songs have more edge and grit than anything she's released since the '90s. These songs sway, caress, mesmerize and most definitely rock. Those seeking a return of the so-called "angry" Alanis from 1995's "Jagged Little Pill" will probably never come any closer to it than this new record, but this time around she is older and wiser, and the songs are stronger for it.

This album may have been a long time in coming, but lyrics like these from the urgent, chest-pumping "Moratorium," which snap and jerk amid Sigsworth's spellbinding production, prove it was worth the wait:

"I declare a moratorium on things relationship/I declare a respite from the toils of liaison/I do need a breather from the flavors of entanglement/I declare a full time-out from all things commitment."

Last edited on Oct 28, 2008



I_thumb_up Alanis Morissette - Flavors of Entanglement is recommended by PERRYEASTEP

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I_comment_shdw24 Comments about PERRYEASTEP’s Review

 


Tranquilrain wrote on Oct 28, 2008 at 2:10PM

Music has always been a way in which I project my feelings thru song and also the one thing that kept me holding on when certain parts of my life were spiraling downwards and I felt lost in darkness. Some of what I listen to is very intense, aggressive,- or even melancholy- not everyone's cup of tea. Like film, I have to be careful what I listen to. If vulnerable, I tend to be very affected by songs I listen to and take in those feelings [anger, depression, bitterness, negative emotions]

I have goth, new wave, and industrial roots and that is what I mostly listened in highschool back in the 80's + 90's and still do- that is dating myself but its true!

There are some phenomenal female singers out there and I love women who wear their heart on their sleeve because I am that sort of woman lol My all time fave singer is Tori Amos who is inspiring, amazing and a brilliant writer, creative writer and extremely emotional. Her words touch closer to my heart than any other singer out there. I have everything by her and its a LOT plus Ive seen her 3x live in concert. Id do a review on her but my problem is when I really love someone I have a hard time staying focused in my writing! You should check her out. I think a lot of people who like Tori like Alanis.

My other fave singer is british singer PJ Harvey + Scottish singer Shirley Manson of garbage [I love european singers/bands a lot] because both resonate a raw passionate persona that is identical to how I see myself and how I feel.

Tranquilrain wrote on Oct 28, 2008 at 2:10PM

Very interesting review. I did like her first album a LONG time ago. i was about 25 back then so its one of those albums that really recalls a kind of significant time in my life. back then i was getting married- that marriage in the end did not work out. funny thing, one of her songs was in my actual reception music back in '96. i've been divorced for some yrs and am now remarrying. I kind of lost interest in her music after that time period, understandably. My father actually loved her for a long while also and still does!

Personally I am a music junkie and most that I listen to would be seen as pretty underground, not mainstream. But I have been into music since a child and have always had solid roots in everything I listen to, branched out from past roots to future ones.

I'd say I am WAY more of a music fanatic than a film one [not saying that I don't love film, just saying if you think I know a lot about film, I know even more about music! Because I am very emotional, I am very stimulated by music, sound and words in a song and it is cathartic for me.]

c]

mysticstarfish wrote on Oct 5, 2008 at 4:01PM

She is great!

Katrena wrote on Sep 26, 2008 at 10:05PM

Great info on the review!