By the age of 21, Ottawa, Canada native Alanis Morissette had established herself as the musical voice of the fight for strength and self-realization. Alanis's U.S. debut album Jagged Little Pill was released in early 1995 on Madonna's Maverick Records. And no one--least of all the artist herself--could've predicted that she'd sell nearly 20 million albums, making hers one of the successful debut albums ever released.
Alanis wrote all of the lyrics for this record when she was 19 years-old, and enlisted the help of veteran musical collaborator Glen Ballard, most famous previously for his work with Wilson Phillips, to pen the music. This was an interesting choice for Alanis, whose music was confrontational and revolutionary rather than pop-cute and guileless. Yet Ballard delivered--and their tunes became the battle cry for anyone who had their emotions quashed by the breakup of a love relationship or had ever tried to reassemble their own broken heart. Perhaps the most compelling reason for Alanis's phenomenal success was her knack for articulating thoughts that most people felt no one else could relate to. Alanis said what others wanted to say but couldn't think of until it was too late. Interestingly though, Alanis is the first person to admit that because of her age, a lot of the material in her songs is based on her observations and poetic prowess rather than her own misfortunes.
No biography about Alanis would be complete or fair without briefly mentioning her past life as a Canadian pop princess--in fact, she won her first Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent to our Grammys) when she was 10. However, her music in those days was so blatantly contrived by others that those records could hardly be looked upon as the genesis which led to Alanis today. Accused of being a hostile man-hater by some (men mostly), adulated by others (mainly women), Alanis Morissette has won countless awards, has had the best-selling album by a female solo artist of all time, and has accomplished her goal of trying to help young women to empower themselves. Considering the excitement surrounding her Pill follow-up Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, one of the most anticipated new releases of 1998, it's safe to say that Alanismania shows no signs of dying down any time soon.
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