Alanis Morissette - The Collection

It’s taken long enough, but indie-pop-mainstream-grrl music wonder Alanis Morissette has finally put out a greatest hits-ish collection.

You know, it’s a tough task to review a record in this day and age that is one of those “career spanning, greatest hits” type sets. Obviously, the artist is at least somewhat popular (in this case—quite popular) enough to warrant it a worthwhile investment to even do by the label. Second, it basically comes down to if you like the artist to begin with. If it’s nothing more than older tunes from older releases, why not save twenty bucks, and just burn your own mix from your fave file sharing program, or rip what you want from older albums? If you’re bringing no new songs to the mix, it’s almost a naught effort in today’s iTunes generation of mix-burning and options.

It’s taken long enough, but indie-pop-mainstream-grrl music wonder Alanis Morissette has finally put out a greatest hits-ish collection. Not exactly landing on just the “greatest hits” side of the spectrum, The Collection includes some deeper cuts, on top of all the songs you’ve surely already heard played to death on modern pop radio. I consider myself a moderate fan of her work, being able to remember back when “Ironic” was a somewhat edgy tune to hear on mainstream radio. So, is it all worth it?

The answer is yes, and no. If you’re new to Alanis Morissette, I would greatly recommend this album as a starter piece. Spanning her full career (but not in chronological order), and including a couple of great, overlooked deeper cuts—The Collection makes a fantastic introduction into the works of Morissette. Including the hits “Ironic,” “Head Over Feet,” “You Learn,” “You Oughta Know,” “Uninvited,” “Thank You,” “Hand In My Pocket,” and “Hands Clean;” among others. As you’ve probably noticed, a lot of the tunes come from Morissette’s most known release: Jagged Little Pill, which has sold, like, a bazillion copies. This makes sense, as almost all of her hit songs originated from that release.

Some of the better, deeper cuts are “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love),” which is a jaunty little bouncy piano piece that you can’t help but bob your head to. Also listed is “Mercy,” “Still,” and “Crazy.” Obviously, if you’re already a fan of Morissette’s, you probably have everything that can be found here. Nothing new is brought to the table, so you’d be just as well off to toss some of your favorite tunes on a burn and be done with it.

But, if you’re new to the genre, and looking to take a foray into the angrier side of girl singers; you could do much, much worse than this album. The Collection is about as strong a hits release as you’re likely to find by anyone out there. I cautiously recommend it.

(Maverick Records)