After a nice month off, and part of that getting married in Maui, it's time I start catching up on some reviews. After the initial listening, I wasn't that impressed with "Under Rug Swept". I keep comparing this release to 1995's "Jagged Little Pill", but I quickly changed my tune after repeated listening to this album. It's pretty good! Maybe I could leave the review at that, but it's not always fair to expect "Jagged Little Pill" Part 2 from Alanis. I do find the Canadian singer/songwriter to be a little more mature and even a little more confident in her abilities. Her habit of finding irresitible hooks to her song is the most charming aspect of this new release.
Of all the tracks on this release, "Hands Clean" is the one that made the quickest impression on me. Alanis doesn't show any of the bitterness that made her first release so appealing. Understanding and forgiveness seems to be more of the theme on this particular song: "You're essentially an employee and I like you having to depend on me. You're kind of my prot�g� and one day you'll say you learned all you know from me. I know you depend on me like a young thing would to a guardian. I know you sexualize me like a young thing would and I think I like it." Bright guitars drives a simple, yet humable melody. The same formula works just as well on "So Unsexy". To me, it sounds like the song developed from a simple jam that flows very well. "21 Things I Want in a Lover" could possibly scare away any prospective boyfriend from Alanis! This exhausting tune kind of turned me off at first. The song did start to grow on me, seeing that the hard guitars and keyboards combine to give a very powerful sound. Alanis lists many qualities that she is searching for in "lover", including being "funny", "masculine and feminine", and doesn't believe in capital punishment. Perhaps an ad in Yahoo personals would help her find her perfect match. The cd does tend to slow down for me toward the latter half, but it's rescued quite well with the closer "Utopia". Here she still is writing about her ideal love and relationship, but the message is a little more obscure yet quite beautiful. The song is colored by beautiful and simple mandolin and percussion to great effect. Sounds like the angry and bitter young woman has started to turn the corner a little in her life.
I'm not sure if this is the release that will get Alanis Morissette back into the top of the charts, but her willingness to experiment with different sounds and songwriting structure shows that she isn't a one-hit wonder. Her insistence on writing about relationships a little too often can get somewhat tiresome at times, but perhaps this is what makes her so interesting. For anyone looking for something as powerful as her first release, don't get your hopes up too high. But in all fairness, this is a pretty solid release for her.
