This October, Rhino Records is celebrating one of the biggest albums of the 1990s: Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill. To commemorate the album’s 20th anniversary, a newly remastered 4-CD Collector’s Edition and 2-CD Deluxe edition will be released on October 30th.
Alanis Morissette’s first two albums did not indicate the direction her music would take for her biggest smash record. Released on MCA in her native Canada, 1991’s Alanis and 1992’s Now is the Time had critics comparing her to Debbie Gibson or Tiffany. While Alanis was a hit, Now is the Time did not fare as well and MCA did not extend her two album contract. Undeterred, she graduated high school and moved to Toronto and began writing with producer Glen Ballard. The result would be Jagged Little Pill.
Morissette signed a deal with Maverick Records and on June 13th, 1995, Pill was released. Expectations may have been muted, but they were soon far exceeded. Morissette’s personal lyrics and songs about anger, love, loss and apathy struck a chord with audiences and came amid the alternative movement of the 1990s. Pill took off like a rocket and would eventually sell over 33 million copies. It was named the “Top Pop Album of the 1990s” by Billboard and hit the No. 1 spot in numerous countries around the world. Six singles were released, with the most successful being “Ironic,” which hit No. 4 in the U.S. The album also garnered much critical praise and Morissette and the album received four Grammy awards.
The new edition by Rhino Records features a fresh remastering of the original album overseen by Glen Ballard. The second disc contains ten previously unreleased demos personally chosen by Alanis Morissette. None are demos of songs from the album. While a few of those have surfaced over the years, all of these songs are cut material in consideration for the album, or songs written just after its release. Those two disc make up the Deluxe Edition. On the Collector’s Edition, you get those two discs and on the third disc, you’ll find Morissette’s 2005 acoustic re-recording of “Jagged Little Pill”. The set is rounded out by a previously unreleased 1995 show from London. B-sides from the various Pill singles and the live DVD released at the time have not been included in either edition.
If you’re a fan of Alanis and want to explore some of the unreleased material from her landmark album.
Alanis – Jagged Little Pill Deluxe
LOS ANGELES – Alanis Morissette was just a few months shy of her 20th birthday when she started recording Jagged Little Pill. This year, the legendary album has reached that same landmark. To celebrate the double-decade milestone, the multiple Grammy winning singer-songwriter has curated a special collector’s edition of her debut, an album that’s sold more than 33 million copies around the world and ranks as one of the best-selling albums of all time.
This new four-disc Jagged Little Pill: Collector’s Edition includes remastered audio of the original album plus an entire disc of 10 unreleased demos from the era handpicked by Morissette from her archives, offering a deeper and more personal look at the classic album. Also included is a previously unreleased concert from 1995 as well as 2005’s Jagged Little Pill Acoustic . Limited to 30,000 copies worldwide, Jagged Little Pill: Collector’s Edition will be available from Rhino on October 30th.
“I’m super excited to share this music with a whole new generation of peeps, as well as people who have grown along with me over the last two decades,” says Morissette. “Thankfully, these songs have stood the test of time for me, and in their timelessness, I am thrilled to honor and reflect on them as well as the last twenty years of my life and career.”
In addition to selecting music for the set, Morissette dug into her personal collection to include never-before-seen photos and other ephemera from the time. She also contributes a new essay reflecting back on this time in her life along with stories behind the 10 demos she recorded between 1994-98, all of which are making their official debut here. The track “The Bottom Line” is possibly the most historically significant-it’s the first song Morissette and album producer Glen Ballard wrote together within an hour of their very first meeting in 1994. Other early tracks from those sessions include “Superstar Wonderful Weirdos” and “Closer Than You Might Believe.” Also featured are several tracks Morissette wrote while touring the world and ascending into a global phenomenon following the album’s release including “King Of Intimidation” and “Death Of Cinderella.”
Ballard also oversaw mixing and mastering for this collector’s edition. “Twenty years has not diminished the energy and excitement we captured on these recordings from 1994,” says Ballard. “It’s been a joy to sit with these tracks after two decades and to find them in such good shape. The power of digital recording gives us this time machine and, although we are twenty years older, this music still sounds fresh!”
The third disc of Jagged Little Pill: Collector’s Edition features Jagged Little Pill Acoustic . Released in 2005 to celebrate the album’s 10th Anniversary, this collection finds Morissette delivering “unplugged” and alternate interpretations of every song from the original album.
The set concludes with an unreleased complete concert from the Jagged Little Pill tour. Recorded in London at Subterranea on September 28th, 1995, the show captures Morissette at the peak of her success as she makes her highly anticipated UK concert debut. For this powerhouse performance, she was backed by her touring band (dubbed Sexual Chocolate), which featured a stellar rhythm section with bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction) and drummer Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters).
Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill: Collector’s Edition (Rhino, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
CD 1 (Jagged Little Pill 2015 Remaster – Original album released on Maverick CD 9 45901-2, 1995)
1.All I Really Want
2.You Oughta Know
3.Perfect
4.Hand In My Pocket
5.Right Through You
6.Forgiven
7.You Learn
8.Head Over Feet
9.Mary Jane
10.Ironic
11.Not The Doctor
12.Wake Up
13.You Oughta Know (Jimmy The Saint Blend) / Your House (A Capella)
CD 2 (Demos – Previously Unreleased)
1.The Bottom Line
2.Superstar Wonderful Weirdos
3.Closer Than You Might Believe
4.No Avalon
5.Comfort
6.Gorgeous
7.King Of Intimidation
8.Death Of Cinderella
9.London
10.These Are The Thoughts
CD 3 (Jagged Little Pill Acoustic – Originally released on Maverick CD 49345-2, 2005)
1.All I Really Want
2.You Oughta Know
3.Perfect
4.Hand In My Pocket
5.Right Through You
6.Forgiven
7.You Learn
8.Head Over Feet
9.Mary Jane
10.Ironic
11.Not The Doctor
12.Wake Up / Your House
CD 4 (Live at Subterranea, London 09/28/95 – Previously Unreleased)
1.All I Really Want
2.Right Through You
3.Not The Doctor
4.Hand In My Pocket
5.Mary Jane
6.Ironic
7.You Learn
8.Forgiven
9.You Oughta Know
10.Wake Up
11.Head Over Feet
12.Perfect
The Fat Angel Sings 