The Collection

The Collection

by Alanis Morissette
The Collection

The Collection

by Alanis Morissette

CD

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Overview

Alanis Morissette had hits after her 1995 blockbuster Jagged Little Pill -- she also hits before it, but those Canadian teen pop hits have been effectively written out of her official biography to no great loss -- but after that album's nearly three-year reign on the charts in the second half of the '90s, she never dominated radio, MTV, and popular consciousness again. She was always a presence, and each of her records received a flurry of attention upon its initial release, with both 1998's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and 2002's Under Rug Swept both debuting at number one on the Billboard charts, but once it became clear to her millions of fans that she was pursuing a weirder, introspective direction in the wake of Jagged Little Pill, they started to slowly drift away and Alanis' status faded with it. She still made good music (even if the albums themselves could be uneven), but she stopped having genuine pop hits. Of course, she kind of stopped making pop music, as the sober nature of her first hits album, 2005's The Collection, proves. This generous 18-track collection has the great majority of her charting singles and it's understandably heavy on Jagged Little Pill songs; there are five here, including "Hand in My Pocket," "Ironic," and "You Oughta Know," but not the radio hit "All I Really Want." Most of the remaining big hits are here, including the non-LP "Uninvited" from the City of Angels soundtrack, "Thank U" (here retitled "Thank You"), and "Hands Clean," but there are several charting singles from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie that were overlooked ("Joining You," "Unsent," and, most regrettably, "So Pure," the liveliest song on the LP), which suggests that Alanis now also sees that album as an awkward growing period between the angst-ridden adolescent of JPL and her self-consciously mature work of the 2000s. In their place are a hodgepodge of non-LP rarities, largely soundtrack contributions, including "Still" from Dogma and a very bad version of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" from De-Lovely; there's also "Sister Blister" from her overlooked 2002 rarities CD/DVD Feast on Scraps, plus a new cover of Seal's "Crazy" that's startlingly close to the original. All these relative rarities dilute The Collection, making it seem something less than either the hits or the best of Alanis Morissette; it doesn't help that they're clustered together in the second part of the compilation, slowing the momentum of the hit-heavy first half quite a bit. Also, the overall tenor of these songs, whether they're hits or rarities, is just a shade too self-serious; the songs crawl along under the weight of the heavy, atmospheric keyboard and guitars, which may give Alanis plenty of space to run wild lyrically but never quite amount to being as catchy or immediate as any of Jagged Little Pill. As a result, The Collection isn't nearly as a satisfying listen as it should have been, even if it functions reasonably well as a sampler of Alanis' biggest and best post-JPL work. It may have more than its fair share of dull patches, but it does have most of the big songs, which should be enough for many fans who have liked various Alanis songs they've heard on the radio since Jagged Little Pill but never bothered following her after the muddled Supposed Former. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date: 11/15/2005
Label: Maverick
UPC: 0093624949022
Rank: 5231

Tracks

  1. Thank U
  2. Head Over Feet
  3. 8 Easy Steps
  4. Everything
  5. Crazy
  6. Ironic
  7. Princes Familiar
  8. You Learn
  9. Simple Together
  10. You Oughta Know
  11. That I Would Be Good
  12. Sister Blister
  13. Hands Clean
  14. Mercy
  15. Still
  16. Uninvited
  17. Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)
  18. Hand in My Pocket

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Alanis Morissette   Primary Artist,Harmonica,Keyboards,Flute,Piano,Guitar,Vocals
John Shanks   Keyboards,Guitar (Electric)
Deron Johnson   Organ,Harmonium,Keyboards
Rudy Stein   Cello
Glen Ballard   Guitar,Keyboards
Larry Corbett   Cello
Kenny Aronoff   Drums
Brad Dutz   Percussion
Chris Bruce   Bass
Chris Chaney   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Zac Rae   Piano,Keyboards,Vibraphone
Nick Lashley   Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Paul Bushnell   Bass
Basil Fung   Guitar
English Chamber Choir   Vocals
Tim Thorney   Bass,Guitar
Richard Causon   Piano
David Levita   Guitar (Electric)
Blair Sinta   Drums
Jason Orme   Guitar (Electric)
Rob Ladd   Drums
Flea   Bass
Gary Novak   Drums,Percussion
Lance Morrison   Guitar (Bass)
Joel Shearer   Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Rob Cavallo   Guitar (Acoustic)
Spectrasonics   Loops
Richard Davis   Keyboards
Mark Stephens   Piano,Keyboards
Matt Laug   Drums
Michael Thompson   Organ
Dave Navarro   Guitar
Suzie Katayama   Conductor
Benmont Tench   Organ
Carmen Rizzo   Keyboards
Charlie Bisharat   Violin
Jamie Muhoberac   Piano,Keyboards
Salif Keita   Vocals

Technical Credits

Glen Ballard   Audio Production,Mixing,Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Lyricist,Producer,Recording
Alanis Morissette   Audio Production,Composer,Lyricist,Musician,Producer,Liner Notes,Translation,Artwork
Mark Hutchins   Engineer,Recording
Scott Gordon   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Seal   Composer
Brad Nelson   Engineer,Recording
Bryan Carrigan   Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Gary LeMel   Musician
Henry Diltz   Photography
Stephen Marcussen   Mastering
Andrew Scheps   Pro-Tools
Kevin Mills   Assistant Engineer
Chris Bellman   Mastering
Chris Haynes   Second Engineer
Cole Porter   Composer
Chris Fogel   Mixing,Engineer,Recording,Remix Engineer
Brent Clark   Mixing
Jason Wormer   Assistant Engineer
Chris Wonzer   Assistant Engineer
William Hames   Photography
Doug Frank   Musician
Oscar Gaona   Editing
Lior Goldenberg   Assistant Engineer
Errin Familia   Assistant Engineer
Allen Sides   Mixing,Engineer
Don Bartley   Mastering
Sheryl Nields   Photography
Guy Oseary   A&R
Dash Mihok   Photography
Chapman Baehler   Photography
Rick Canny   Management
Alex Scharnell   Second Engineer
Alex Uychocde   Assistant Engineer
David Campbell   Arranger
Jeremy Janeczko   Assistant Engineer
Jeff Rothchild   Assistant Engineer
Alex Shaw   Arranger
Tim Thorney   Producer
Ron Jacobs   Mixing
Carlos Cano   Mixing Engineer
Rich Tapper   Mixing Engineer
James Michael   Mixing,Producer,Producer
Francis Buckley   Mixing
Joel Shearer   Composer
Rob Cavallo   Producer
John Shanks   Producer
John Patrick Salisbury   Photography
Renato Petruzziello   Engineer,Recording
Greg Burns   Second Engineer
Michelle Laurita   Photography
Lawrence Schwartz   Orchestration
Pete Novak   Assistant Engineer
Wendy Marvel   Artwork
Michael Ehlins   Photography
Jimmy Boyelle   Mixing
Jason Brennan   Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Dave Schiffman   Recording
Bil Lane   Assistant Engineer
Richard Davis   Engineer,Pro-Tools
Lorie Hernandez   Musician
Brian Walters   Assistant Engineer
Blink Digital   Musician
Jonathan Elias   Composer,Producer
Rob Jacobs   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Mark Valentine   Engineer
Chris Clark   Second Engineer
Kevin Guarnieri   Assistant Engineer
Mike Harlow   Engineer
Guy Sigsworth   Composer
Aaron Fessel   Assistant Engineer
Stephen Endelman   Producer
Ted Blaisdell   Recording
Suzie Katayama   Arranger
Chris Lord-Alge   Mixing
Jeff Rothschild   Recording,Assistant Engineer
Joe Barresi   Engineer
Carmen Rizzo   Engineer,Pro-Tools,Programming
Rich Tosi   Assistant Engineer
Paul Pilsneniks   Assistant Engineer
Walt Vincent   Mixing,Engineer
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