Alanis Morissette - Flavors Of Entanglement
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Free Music Notes for Flavors Of Entanglement
Free Music Review: [Insert semi-witty pun about bitterness and/or staleness of said flavor here]
Hit: 2 Stars
To begin, I'd like to say that I have very much enjoyed nearly everything Alanis Morissette has done up until now. I am a big big fan. As is probably evident from this preface, I was however fairly disappointed in "Flavors of Entanglement".
The focus of this album definitely seems to be the lyrics (I'll get to the music in a minute). Each of Alanis's past albums has seemed very personal, as though each one were the expression of a new catharsis. Her discography has consequently been fascinating to follow, as Alanis has shown a real arc of maturation from the angst-ridden "Jagged Little Pill" to the calmer, more reflective "Supposed Former..." through the experimental, yet tight "Under Rug Swept" and "So-Called Chaos". I was really looking forward to seeing further progression along this path. However, this latest album seems more like an effort to reconstruct the angst of "Jagged..." and it comes off as rather self-conscious and contrived, or at the very least played out already. While the poetry of the lyrics is structurally well-done, the content resembles the ravings of a bipolar narcissist. I'd be curious to do an analysis of the lyrics to determine what percentage of the lines contain the words "I", "my" or "me", because I'd be willing to wager the answer is nearly ALL of them.
Either Alanis is dredging up past feelings for the sake of songwriting, or she really needs to get over it already, whatever "it" is, because it's starting to feel like listening to your friend who's still pining after her lost boyfriend or dead dog six years later. Rather than reaching a new stage of maturity, the lyrics of this album are most evocative of the diary of a tortured, albeit well-traveled, 15-year old girl. This angst seems to be used here not as an inspiration as it was in "Jagged..." but as more of a template, and it consequently seems stale.
I'm focusing so much on the lyrics because the music itself in this album is uninteresting. I don't find anything here that Alanis has not done before which was better in its previous iterations. I will say, however, that there are a few OKAY songs. I found "Moratorium" to be fairly catchy, and I suppose "In Praise of the Vulnerable Man" will find its way on a few girl to boy mix tapes (does anyone make mix tapes anymore, or am I just old?). I'll also say I kinda dig the windup and chorus to "Incomplete". "Citizen of the Planet" at least has a bit of a hook, but comes off as so self-righteous that it makes me wish I was listening to the similarly themed but much more pleasant "Thank U" from "Supposed..." instead. The rest of the songs are problematic for various reasons, but a big one is that much of the album's self-obsessed poetry is incongruously wrapped up in electronica dance tracks. As you might guess by what I've said so far, these songs make me feel much more obliged to psychoanalyze the singer than to bust a move (do people still say that, or is that just something that oldsters do with their old mix tapes?).
I vacillated quite a bit over whether to give this album 2 or 3 stars until I listened to the bonus disc. I feel very comfortable docking a star just for the song "On the Tequila". Someone owes me something for allowing that song to violate my ear canals. The best way to summarize my thoughts after listening to "Flavors of Entanglement" is to say that I am eager to hear Alanis's NEXT album. Hopefully this was just a short detour off the path of her otherwise stellar discography.
Free Music Review: Quick, someone turn off the emo band emulator button...
Hit: 2 Stars
Preface: I'm not an Alanis Morissette fan-boy, but I've always appreciated her alternative songwriting and the very open nature of her lyrics. She's always done a great job telling the story of her own internal struggles with the various challenges of life -- friends, family, other people, her own place in the world, etc. Every new Alanis album has been another layer of insight into her own life's exploration.
Knowing that every album has to grow on you, even from your favorite artists, I gave it several listens across different days (different moods, to be fair). Truly, this album is pretty bad. It has one or two likeable tracks, a few interesting hooks, and gives due credit to her still-awesome vocal abilities. But unless you like emo bands and the kiddie pop that seems to be popular right now, skip it. I say that with all due respect to a great artist, but really, save your money. I can't even suggest 'borrowing' the MP3s from somewhere to give it a try -- it's that far removed from anything else she's done, and so close to the emo band poop that's on the radio right now, you will just end up questioning your own judgment.
Nutshell:
If you like current emo-band pop radio drivel, you'll probably like this -- a lot.
If you liked prior Alanis albums -- even mostly -- you will probably really not like this.
Free Music Review: Another miss by Alanis..
Hit: 2 Stars
If your a fan of her first work with "Jagged Little Pill" , you may be disappointed again. It sound good , it's Alanis! But the music never gets up and kicks ya ....EVER!!Free Music Review: Not herself.
Hit: 1 Stars
Having been a huge fan of her early music, I am deeply disappointed and saddened with her latest release. She seems to have surrendered to mainstream pop music, with far too many superficial influences in her new 'music'. Though angst can and does evolve and people grow and mature with time and their music will reflect their evolution, it is far different from 'changing' to be something her soul clearly does not reflect.I have always loved her rawness, her insightful lyrics, her basic instruments, WITHOUT the synthesizers and club sounding beats she has now embraced. Seeing her in interviews since this release, she even seems disconnected from who she is at her core. While she is expressing her grievance over her break-up with Ryan Reynolds, and I thoroughly embrace her expression of those feelings on a CD, I would have been much more embracing of a CD that allowed her to stay true to herself. She is either being misguided by the misconception that bigger & more is better, or she has become next in the line of pop culture sell outs. I tend to believe she is much too intelligent to be a sell out. Sometimes just simple and true and real is the absolute best. At least for Alanis. This is one CD I will not bother with because it doesn't feel like a real, Alanis Morrisette gift from the hippie chick who did not perform from her ego but from her gut & soul, a beautiful spirit with the magical ability to engage listeners because she was true to herself and that is what made her shine. May she find her way back to her core next time around. I give this 1 star, because her voice is still as beautiful as ever.Free Music Review: Club Alanis?
Hit: 1 Stars
Had I not been so happy to see Alanis finally released another album I would have been more careful to listen to the sample clips before downloading. I think this is the first time I've ever wished I could get my money back for music.
If you like what happens when a DJ gets ahold of a song and remixes it with a club beat, then you'll probably like this album. It seems like they decided not to wait for the DJs this time and just released the remixes first. Unfortunately I was under the impression that Alanis was growing in a less electronic, more introspective, more enlightened direction in recent years and expected something more along those lines. If you had that impression too, I'd advise you to keep waiting. Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll release an acoustic version in the future.
But if you're looking for something you can dance to, and you would rather have an artist's lyrics well hidden behind an overly-produced canned electronic club beat, then give it a try. You won't find anything unfamiliar here.