Alanis Morissette's To Celebrate 25 Years Of 'Jagged Little Pill' In Aus; Here's Why I Still Love It

Thinking about iconic albums of the '90s, Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill certainly makes the cut. 

The album launched the Ottawa, Canada artist worldwide as a heavy-hitter; pulling no punches with her honest and deliberate songwriting. Jagged Little Pill hits its 25th anniversary in June this year, with Morissette due to celebrate the album at this year's Byron Bay Bluesfest over Easter.

Jagged Little Pill was a huge step away from Morissette's former career as a music and TV child star. At 16, in 1991, she released her debut album, Alanis, through MCA Records. She'd follow it up the next year Now Is The Time. Soon after, having delivered her contracted two albums for MCA, she moved to Los Angeles, began working with producer Glen Ballard and picked up a deal with Maverick.  

"They didn't think I could make the change," said Morissette of her former label in an interview as part of Spotify's Landmark series in 2015. 

Any element of Morissette's youth pop star past was lost with the release of Jagged Little Pill's lead single You Oughta Know. 

Aside from its, ahem, more mature lyrical content (a theme that continued throughout the album), there was also the addition of some well-regarded musicians who joined her on the track. Stepping in for guitar was Jane's Addiction member Dave Navarro who was performing with Red Hot Chili Peppers at the time. He was joined by bandmate, bass player Flea. For a lot of people, this was also the first introduction to one Taylor Hawkins; Morissette's drummer who would eventually gain notoriety of his own when he joined Foo Fighters two years later. While he may not have played on the original recording, Hawkins did make himself known in the track's video and touring with the group.

Subsequent singles All I Really Want, Hand In Pocket, Ironic, You Learn and Head Over Feet helped Morissette sell millions upon millions of records over the past 25 years, as well as securing Grammy Awards for Album Of The Year, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album. In Australia, the album peaked at #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. 

If you say 'Alanis', there's only one person that comes to mind. By 21, she had created an album so universally recognisable. 

In 2018, Morissette played her first Australian shows in twenty years. I shared a photo from the Sydney show, saying that I thought they should give everyone a copy of Jagged Little Pill at birth (hi there, my name is Jess and I'm a long time Alanis fan). A Canadian friend wrote to me soon after sharing how much the album had meant to her growing up as well. 

I was nearly three when Jagged Little Pill came out. This album has been a pillar in my life. My parents played the CD in the car so many times that the label started peeling off. Even when exploring other styles of music as a teenager Morissette was still a mainstay; there was a weird amount of comfort in these angsty love songs and 'fuck you' tracks, even though I still don't think I was close to fully understanding the content presented to me. As an adult, I still find solace in it, more so than ever-before. Every Alanis fan that I speak with does and I think that's the album's power still, even 25 years on.

As much as it was the start for Morissette and her many adoring fans, Jagged Little Pill was also almost the end, with the artist considering opting out of music following the intense tour cycle and pressures fame presented. 

''The very thought of my creating another record and having that sort of craziness that came along with it just didn't seem worth it to me,'' she told The New York Times in 1998, ahead of follow-up album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie's release. 

''I needed to enter into what I saw as this terrorising abyss of letting go of everything that I had been taught. A lot of preconceived notions that I had about fame and status and money and joy and pain, and all of these things that I thought I knew, I didn't.' 

The album has been re-imagined for the stage, with Jagged Little Pill launching on Broadway late last year. Like its namesake, the musical doesn't shy away from heavier subject matter. 

"It might not look like the traditional musical, but let’s face it: Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill was not traditional," director Diane Paulus told the Los Angeles Times recently. 

"It’s an epic album, a ritual with real catharsis. She was way ahead of her time, and we’re all catching up now."

Alanis Morissette tours Australia in April, kicking off at Byron Bay Bluesfest over the Easter long weekend and then heading to Sydney and Melbourne. Head to theGuide for all the info. 

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