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Alanis Morissette - Havoc and Bright Lights

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And now the time has come to review Alanis' latest album Havoc and Bright Lights. I've listened to it extensively since I bought it right after its release 3 weeks ago (24th of August 2012). The title is quite special and I must admit I had to look up the word 'Havoc', which appeared to mean 'destruction'. For Alanis this isn't anything strange, she loves using special, unfamiliar words in her songs already since Jagged Little Pill. The other part of the title 'Bright Lights' is very well chosen, cause this album is full of very bright songs. This in contrast to its predecessor Flavors of Entanglement, which was the recovering-from-breakup album and had a much more sad and introvert character. It is easy to hear that she is much happier with her life right now. Though that doesn't make it just an I-am-such-a-happy-mother album in my opinion. …

Last.FM Milestones

1st track: (03 Mar 2009)
Alanis Morissette - Hands Clean

1000th track: (27 Mar 2009)
Hall & Oates - Out Of Touch

2000th track: (08 May 2009)
Imogen Heap - Goodnight and Go

3000th track: (27 May 2009)
Sade - Turn My Back On You

4000th track: (09 Jun 2009)
The Cardigans - Junk Of The Hearts

5000th track: (23 Jun 2009)
Sinéad O'Connor - I Am Stretched On Your Grave

7000th track: (24 Jul 2009)
Evanescence - Eternal

8000th track: (06 Aug 2009)
Airlock - Awakening

9000th track: (18 Aug 2009)
Avril Lavigne - Runaway

10000th track: (28 Aug 2009)
Glasvegas - Careful What You Wish For

11000th track: (16 Sep 2009)
Kosheen - Empty Skies

12000th track: (26 Sep 2009)
Soundgarden - Flower

13000th track: (06 Oct 2009)
Prince - Little Red Corvette - LP Version

14000th track: (14 Oct 2009)
Swervedriver - Son Of Mustang Ford

15000th track: (21 Oct 2009)
Annie Lennox - Why (Unplugged Version)

…

THE PAST
1. This explains your worst mistake.
Depuis le premier jour
Expecting things from love when I was a kid. That brought a lot of trouble, indeed.

2. This explains what was going through your mind during your first kiss.
When I'm 64
Yeah, most likely expecting things from the future again. Gladly, I know better now.

3. This explain what was going through the other person's mind.
Father Lucifer
Eh. Okay. Maybe thinking about Lucifer indeed, he was a wannabe satanist so... haha. Yeah.

4. Your parents always thought you would become..
À ma façon
Yes, I suppose they left this between my hands mostly and never really expected anything specific.

5. This explains your first date.
The Constellation of the Heart
Yeah, okay, totally accurate. What an awful song though :(

6. This represents you and your first love.
Are You Happy Now ?
Accurate at the time, but now were back together and happy :3

7. This explains your first time.
Vivre en Amour
Hippie song for my first time, totally buzzed out. Legit.
…

As a kind of summary of my listening and reviewing activities of the past weeks, I would like to make a ranking list of the studio albums of Alanis Morissette. Some of the songs and albums are long time favourites, while others are just recently discovered. This list just shows how I think about them today, and may change over time.

1. Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998)
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It was hard to make a choice between this album and the number 2, because I love them both so much. At the moment, this album wins. It is a dark and experimental album with very great epic lyrics.
Best tracks: Thank U, That I Would Be Good, The Couch, I Was Hoping, So Pure, Joining You

2. Jagged Little Pill (1995)
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Her very strong international debut album, of which millions of copies were sold over the past 15 years. A pure and original album about very personal feelings and thoughts. …

Get yours here

Parklife : Blur (Score = 3)
Song 2 : Blur (Score = 3)
Common People : Pulp (Score = 3)
Waterfall : The Stone Roses (Score = 3)
Alright : Supergrass (Score = 3)
Disco 2000 : Pulp (Score = 3)
Beautiful Ones : Suede (Score = 3)
Closer : Travis (Score = 2)
Always Where I Need to Be : The Kooks (Score = 2)
Married With Children : Noel Gallagher (Score = 2)
Club Foot : Kasabian (Score = 2)
No You Girls : Franz Ferdinand (Score = 2)
I Wanna Be Adored : The Stone Roses (Score = 2)
Talk Tonight : Noel Gallagher (Score = 2)
Take Aim : Kasabian (Score = 2)
Motorcycle Emptiness : Manic Street Preachers (Score = 2)
Take Me Out : Franz Ferdinand (Score = 2)
Fake Plastic Trees : Radiohead (Score = 2)
Can't Stand Me Now : The Libertines (Score = 2)
So Long Forever : Vega 4 (Score = 2)
…

Alanis Morissette - The Collection

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As I am planning to review all of the albums I own, I see no reason to skip the compilation albums, although it is hard to compare them to the 'normal' studio albums. I bought this album in March of this year (2011) to complete my own collection (!) of Alanis, but I already knew most of the songs. The album consists of 18 songs of which 13 were released on earlier albums, 4 came from soundtracks and other albums and 1 is the cover of Seal's Crazy, which was released as a single. I think it is always difficult to compile a 'best-of' album, especially when an artist have had many hits, like Alanis. According to Alanis (in the booklet) these songs are her favourites, at that time at least. Personally I would have chosen differently, I think.

The album doesn't contain any songs of the time before Jagged Little Pill.

From the album Jagged Little Pill, it contains the following songs:
Head Over Feet
…

Alanis Morissette - Under Rug Swept

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I bought this album together with So-Called Chaos in October of last year (2010). I heard some of the songs before, but I didn't like her new style that much at that time. Although I still miss the Alanis of Jagged Little Pill, I think this is a pretty good album. It is the first album she has produced by herself. She has also written all of the songs by herself, unlike her former studio albums Jagged Little Pill and Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, which she has written together with Glen Ballard. I think this album has a nice balance between the ballads and more up-tempo song. Overall the album has a more accessible pop sound and is less experimental than her former album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Lyrically it is less strong I think, I miss the more epic lyrics as in songs like Joining You and I Was Hoping. The themes of the songs are mainly influenced with her breakup at that time, but more in an introspective way. …