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Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie

Artist: Alanis Morissette
Genre: Alternative
Year: 1998
Rating: 8 / 10

When you start off your career as a musician with an album like Jagged Little Pill, the multi-platinum debut from Alanis Morissette, expectations for the follow-up album can be a little high. Morissette's initial offering, featuring hits like "Hand in My Pocket," "Ironic," and "Head Over Feet," is a blockbuster of an album, and it was embraced almost immediately by radio and the public at large. With her contributions to Dave Matthews' latest effort, Before These Crowded Streets, and the City of Angels soundtrack, anticipation grew for Morissette's second album. Now fans need wait no longer, for the album is upon us, and it is every bit as good as advertised.

Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, confusing title aside, is seventeen songs worth of the dazzling young artist. Still growing and maturing, both musically and in life, Junkie contains significantly less anger and angst, and more of the joy she has experienced of late in her life. "Thank U," the album's first radio release, speaks of Morissette's recent trip to India and the Far East, as well as the new perspective it has given her on life. While a slight departure from her usual fare, the humming bassline makes this track a surefire favorite on rock and hip-hop stations alike. But even before this breakthrough, we are greeted with "Front Row," an early contender for a cult favorite. Soon after, we see a peek at the new Alanis in "Sympathic Character," which tells of the artist coming into her own, breaking free of her fears and worries. "I have as much pain as you do/I've lived as much hell as you have."

A mellower Alanis Morissette welcomes the middle of the album, on standout tracks such as "The The Couch" and "Ur." The former tackles forgiveness, a subject in sharp contrast to the overriding bitterness present on Jagged Little Pill. "So Pure," another upbeat track, propels the album to its conclusion. The stark shift Morissette makes from nagativity towards hope is amazing to behold, to the point where she has stated publicly that she finds it difficult to sing some of the material from her debut effort. She has even gone so far as to rework the lyrics of those early songs to incorporate her newfound outlook on life.

With her latest album now out for the public to behold, we can all see the new directions Alanis Morissette has taken in her music and in her life. No one knows how this will translate into future albums, but in an era where a great many bands capitalize on current trends, it is refreshing to hear an artist who evolves with the beat of her heart, not her wallet.

Submitted 11/15/98.