Greetings Here you will find a smattering of information on the Canadian singer and songwriter who's music has proved rather influential in the 90's.

A Brief Biography

Alanis Nadine Morissette was born on 1st June 1974 to Alan and Georgia Morissette; she has two siblings, Chad, her older brother, and Wade, her twin brother, who is the person referred to in her song 'No Pressure Over Capuccino'.

Residence

She spent her first 18 years living in Ottawa in Canada, after graduating from High School, she moved briefly to Toronto, staying there for less than a year before moving to Los Angeles. She was robbed at gunpoint shortly after moving there, but claims that the experience made her love the city all the more, attracted as she was by its 'underlying sense of danger'.

Religion

Alanis was raised in a Catholic household and attended church every Sunday, which is where the song 'Forgiven' came from. Although no longer Catholic, she is still very interested in the Spiritual side of life, as anyone who has heard her song lyrics can attest to! It's not ALL about ex-boyfriends you know!

Musical Influences

Her musical influences whilst growing up were Abba and Annie Lennox, but the principal force behind the writing of the immensely succesful semianl album 'Jagged Little Pill' came from listening to 'Little Earthquakes' by Tori Amos, with whom Alanis toured America in the latter part of 1999.

Miscellaneous

She began taking jazz and ballet classes from the age of seven.

She was a straight-A student in High-School.

Before really hitting the big time with 'Jagged Little Pill', she was already a star in Canada from a young age. She had recorded three albums before JLP came out in 1995, although they are much more of a teeny-bopper/disco style of music, and her hair had to be seen to be believed!

Recent Albums

Jagged Little Pill (1995)

Certainly one of the most influential albums of the decade, JLP seemed to sum up very effectively the zeitgeist of the time. Indeed, there was a period during the summer of 1995, that wherever you went, it would be playing. From the reflectiveness and angst of 'All I Really Want', through the anthem for the spurned 'You Oughtta Know' to the sheer poppiness of 'Ironic' and 'Hand In My Pocket', JLP managed to alter the way that the angry young woman was perceived in popular music, and spawned a dozen Alanis clones.

Alanis herself has said that the album is not intended to be angry, and that she has been misperceived, and certainly from my own point of view, that does ring true. But, regardless of perception, it did prove to be the most succesful 'Debut' ever.. (Not strictly a debut, but so different from her earlier work it may as well have been.) It was Madonna who signed Alanis to her own label, Maverick Records, and they have certainly been good for one another.

Glen Ballard has been Morissette's long time musical collaborator, and she describes him as 'Her Spiritual Brother' and 'Best Friend'. The title of this album comes from a line in the song 'You Learn', all about what life experiences can teach us.

Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998)

Released three years after the success of Jagged Little Pill, this album ploughs an altogether different furrow; Alanis went to India for a period after her enormous success, to re-evaluate a number of things in her life, and this shows through very clearly in the songs on this album. Songs like 'That I would be Good', 'I Was Hoping' and 'Your Congratulations' reveal a much more vulnerable side of the artist, and although the album lacks the fiery resonance and crowd-stomping fury of JLP, it has been tempered into a more reflective form and is in its own way, just as fulfilling. It is a flip side of the coin from JLP, but does not suffer because of that, and is, in a way, much more 'Stream of Consciousness', which is, IMHO, a good thing.

MTV Unplugged (1999)

Released in the latter part of 1999, MTV Unplugged is a live album, with the emphasis being on the magical range of Alanis's voice, backed up by some phenomenal musicians and an entire string section. This, IMHO, is the strongest of the albums she has released, featuring a selection of songs from the previous two, along with some new material, especially the spine-tingling 'Uninvited' which won her a Grammy award to add to the previous 4! It combines effortlessly her spot-on lyrics with some musicianship par excellence; Perhaps it is just me, but being a huge Tori fan, I was very pleased to get a live album of such good quality that utilised piano, strings and the female voice so well!

Web Sites

I culled much of this information from the Definitely Alanis Morissette site.

Her official site is Alanismorissette.com and is a very artistic, well designed piece of work.

If you want something a little lighter hearted, and can take a joke, try out the Alanis Morissette Lyric generator. Made me smile.

So, then, in closing, an artist who has had a great deal of influence on the music industry, who created a multi million selling debut album with her self-confessional lyrics and foot-stomping music, who continues to plumb greater depths as she matures and expands her experience.

A remarkable woman, whether you love her or hate her!