Jagged Little Pill - Acoustic

I wasn’t sure what to think of her redoing the perfect (in my book at least) first cd as a 10th anniversary acoustic edition. It really speaks to a specific time and place in music history and in my personal life. There was such great emotion and raw energy in JLP that it’s hard to reimagine it for the masses 10 years later and have it be relevant.

Obviously I’ve grown and moved on as has Alanis. She is hardly the angry and grungy neophyte from 1995 that spit out the lines: “You took me out to wine, dine, 69 me…” and “Are you thinking of me when you fuck her…”. The Alanis of today is a much more mature and centered (zen even) woman that has learned to control her anger and desperation. This has not really kept her in the spotlight or sold records but she has a place in music history that is well deserved. Somehow I own every album she’s ever released and have seen her in concert about 10 times. Amongst those albums in my collection is the classic MTV Unplugged which offers up acoustic versions of most of JLP so why would I need this new version? Well, quite simply I wanted to see how she’s progressed and see if she’s been able to transcend the original unplugged and numerous acoustic tours.

I’m happy to say that this new Starbucks exclusive JLP:Acoustic as a whole is an incredible tribute to the original. Some of the arrangements bring new levels of sadness to what was once an angry offering. It’s almost as if by redoing the album she was able to give us an update on her feelings toward the emotions within those songs, like going back in time and mending fences that may have been broken or burned. It was surprisingly resonate and I really did find myself thoroughly enjoying the acoustic album as a whole.

If you’re a fan of her chicken like acoustic warbling and seizure-like inflections please go out and get this album when you stop by for Starbuck’s new summer drink – The Green Tea Lemonade! They almost go together like Tea & T (only Lil Jenn will get that reference).