Release Date : May 18, 2004
Reviewed By: Chauncy Jackson

Ever since the release of her debut U.S. album, Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette has offered up scorching lyrics that have touched our insides while leaving us wondering how much pain has this young woman been through? From the first time we heard "You Oughta Know" to the last time we listened to "Uninvited," Morissette hits that one note and nails it so that it goes right through you.

On her new album, So-Called Chaos, Morissette continues to lay herself bare, allowing her listeners to see life through her eyes... warts and all. "Everything" is as good a welcome back as you could expect, with a steady and somber string, Alanis's voice fits like a velvet glove. The album reveals 10 polished gems that sparkle and shine more brightly with every play. It's pop music, for sure, but intelligent, heartfelt pop music based around the guitar and Morissette's outstanding voice, which dips and soars without overdoing the vocal pyrotechnics.

After the conclusion of "Eight Easy Steps," this album takes flight. "Out Is Through", "Do I Protest Too Much’," and the beautiful slow-burning "Excuses" show what can be accomplished when a songwriter utilizes such simple things as a good tune, strong lyrics, and a haunting voice.

Ironically, the album shines greatest when Morissette sings about heartbreak. Over the years, she has sung about pain and the loss of love but on "This Grudge" she finally lets go. "Fourteen years, thirty minutes, fifteen seconds, I held this grudge, Eleven songs, four full journals, thoughts of punishments. I've expanded, I wanna be big and let go of This grudge that's grown old. All this time I've not known, How to rest this bygone, I wanna be soft and resolved clean state and released, I wanna forgive for the both of us," she sings in what are the truest and most emotional lyrics of the year.

Alanis Morissette is not your typical pop star. Though she has achieved superstar success through the years, her life (and accordingly her music) contains a veneer of gravitas that other artists often fake in the hopes of greater album sales. It is the visionary who opens herself to the world in the hopes that her openness will give her closure. On So-Called Chaos, Alanis Morissette proves to be that visionary.