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Alanis still the 'jagged little pill 'only she can be By Zibaa Sammander Wesley Willis!! ATLANTA November 13, 1998
Artist: Alanis Morissette Album: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie Label: Maverick Tracks: 17 Genre: Soft Alternative Rock Rating: 4.5 / 5.0  After I stopped dancing in the Technique Office long enough to take the plastic off of Alanis Morissette's latest album, I listened to it. Maybe I expected too much from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. After approximately three years, a sabbatical in India, and all the hype that a major publicity company and Madonna's recording label could produce, anything short of Jimi Hendrix coming back from the dead would have been a disappointment. Or so I thought!
Then I played the album again and remembered why I liked Jagged Little Pill; it was good. Morissette has a beautiful voice, writes beautiful songs, and has a band that can play beautiful music. The 17 tracks on this album don't give me a single reason to question these facts.
"Front Row" has lyrics reminiscent of Morissette's previous album: a mixture of anger, sex, and cheese. Morissette sings, "I'm too tired to recount the unpleasantries one by one one minute I want to banish you the next I want to be on a deserted island with you along with my three favorite cd's ambivalent yet in your bed we've yet to acknowledge what really happened."
The lack of punctuation and the way she sings the sentences so that they run together in a slightly rap-like style make "Front Row" remind you of ee cummings.
Other standouts on this record are "One" and "Your Congratulations." In these, Morissette demonstrates her vocal range. That is, she hits some crazy high and low notes and it still sounds good.
Several of the tracks have a distinct Indian flavor to them. While it is not as obvious as someone playing a sitar in the background, at first glance, it seems "Baba" has received the most influence from her trip to India. "Baba" is a prayer or supplication to a religious leader.
She sees others who reach "pseudo higher levels" through the same religious experience and wants to know "how soon will I be holy/ how much will this cost guru/ how much longer 'til you/ completely absolve me." With the refrain of "Ave Maria," it sounds even more like Morissette's old rebellion against her Catholic school upbringing.
Alanis has grown, matured and discovered herself. Morissette displays this "better" self more effectively than on Jagged Little Pill. The years have been good to Alanis; she has flowered in style and in interpretation of experience but has remained true to her essence, the Jagged Little bud that she is.
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Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board
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