Day 0807 - Jagged Little Pill

Alanis Morissette "Jagged Little Pill" (1995)

Another of those albums that was EVERYWHERE while I was in high school.

I remember being vaguely aware even at the time that Alanis had had albums before this.   Reading up on it, her self-titled album and "Now is the Time" were Canada-only releases in more of a dancey pop vein.  The release of those two records completed the two-album deal she was signed to and she was free to move to Toronto, get together with producer/writer Glen Ballard to put together "Jagged Little Pill".

A lot of people view it as her debut, and certainly it is her first international release and her first album in the more raw, alt-rock vibe.

Morissette seemed to be up for trying different things.  The single "You Oughta Know" was given to Dave Navarro and Flea (at the time both in Red Hot Chili Peppers) to essentially jam out a new arrangement over the existing beat and vocal.    

My favourite track "Head Over Feet" has fuzzy and acoustic guitars blending over a drum-machine beat that gives it almost a hint of the UK's 'baggy' scene.   Lyrically, Morissette covers topics from sexual guilt, predatory music industry types, hope, a little humour, and that lyrical stalwart: the ex-relationship. 

Yep, let's not even talk about "Ironic" and whether it's actually ironic (don't ya think?)

Day 0687 - Woodface

Crowded House "Woodface" (1991) - got it

For a long time this was my favourite Crowded House album, though "Together Alone" is slowly drawing me into its orbit.

Neil Finn's writing towards CH's 3rd album had met with lukewarm response from his record company.  He was concurrently working on some material with his brother Tim so invited him to join the band and put their collaborative songs towards Crowded House.

As much as I enjoy most Finn related musical activities, Split Enz has always been my favourite, so the reuniting of the two brothers and the injection of slightly more quirk and humour to the often overly earnest House mix, was welcome.

There's a nice mix of light (Chocolate Cake, Italian Plastic) and sombre (Fall at Your Feet, Four Seasons in One Day).   Tim's beautiful"All I ask" is probably my current favourite on the record, but half of these songs have held that position at some point.

The album was a big hit for the band in the UK and back home in the Antipodes, but tanked somewhat in the US after the single "Chocolate Cake" (featuring the line "the excess of fat on your American bones, will cushion the impact as you sink like a stone") failed to make an impression.  

 Despite the album's success, Tim was fired from the band during the subsequent tour.  Though they'd made beautiful music together, it didn't seem as though Tim was the right fit for Crowded House, leading to any number of 'witty' headlines about how crowded the house was yadda yadda yadda.

Day 0437 - Risqué

Chic "Risqué" (1979)

So, right off the bat the first song is essentially the basis for "Rappers delight", so that's pretty cool. The band were looking to make a fun, good-times album to counteract financial hard times that were going on at the time (kind of like the Black Eyed Peas apparently tried to do with "I've got a feeling" years later).

I still can't totally get on board with the idea that this is "disco", I guess because I have a certain set idea of what that genre is.  To me this sounds more like soft-funk with some slower jams (though, bleak slow-jams) thrown in for good measure. I prefer this album to the previous Chic album (C'est Chic) on this list.