Rating: NNN
Less Jagged Little Pill than shiny happy SSRI mood-enhancer, Ms. Morissette’s newest studio album is a portrait of our girl head-over-feet in love. And while I enjoyed her stint as the poster girl for adolescent angst, this kinder, gentler Alanis is growing on me. She’s still thanking U, India, as evidenced by the sitar and worldbeat accents on tunes like Knees Of My Bees (aw… who’s got a boyfriend?) and album opener Eight Easy Steps, but thankfully appropriates South Asian culture only in moderation. The bulk of the disc is given over to what Alanis does best – guitar rockers that build into cathartic fuzzed-out choruses, and sweetly strummed pop ballads. And don’t fret, Morissette still manages to squeeze in one evisceration of a failed relationship.