Alanis Morissette: So-Called Chaos : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Ever since Alanis Morissette traded dysfunctional pop rock for ponderous self-help bluster, she's lost much of what made her a mid-Nineties cultural supernova. Coming off 2002's self-produced Under Rug Swept, she has teamed up with producer John Shanks (known for his work with Michelle Branch and Jewel) for an album that attempts to reverse the sliding record sales following 1995's unbeatable Jagged Little Pill. So-Called Chaos begins with a bang that recalls Morissette's milestone album: "Eight Easy Steps" unleashes self-deprecating fury as she offers to teach listeners "How to play all pious/When you're really a hypocrite" as thrashing drums and guitars lash out a beating. But after that delicious, brain-embedding blast, her tunes and hooks get mighty slight, and when they're bogged down with overdubbed guitars, sitars and unwieldy lyrics, as they are on "Knees of My Bees," they can't support the weight of her pretensions. How can Morissette expect her introspection to be taken seriously when her songs sound like vintage Bryan Adams?