Product Description

'Under Rug Swept' is the third Maverick studio album by theOttawa-born alternative pop-rock artist, Alanis Nadine Morissette. It is her follow up album to 1999's 'Unplugged' and contains the single 'Hands Clean'. Morissette wrote and produced every track on this release.

Track Listing

1. 21 Things
2. Narcissus
3. Hands Clean
4. Flinch
5. So Unsexy
6. Precious Illusions
7. That Particular Time
8. Man
9. You Owe Me Nothing
10. Surrendering
11. Utopia

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9953 in Music
• Released on: 2002-02-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Import

Amazon.co.uk Review
With all the attention Alanis Morissette's career has garnered, it's startling to think that on the release of her third studio CD, she has yet to see her 28th birthday. Under Rug Swept finds Morissette in the producer's role, a position in which she seems more comfortable at this stage than as a songwriter.

The opener "21 Things I Want in a Lover" finds Morissette ticking off her likes and dislikes before an attention-grabbing explosion of crunching guitar chords and a scratchy hip-hop beat. Swept's emotional flow is navigated by Morissette's vocal queues: her lower register accompanies confrontation and self-proclamation ("Narcissus"); the higher intimates vulnerability and reflection ("Utopia"). Every tone is enlivened by well-blended electronic and acoustic elements.

The snag is that, as with her previous two albums, Under Rug Swept is marred by unabridged stream-of-consciousness lyrics. Her awkward syntax and distorted phrasing disorients music that's melodious and compelling music. She remains acutely self-obsessed, delivering rants aimed at men who are fatally flawed and naturally, irresistibly devastating. For now, her greatest strength as a musician lies in her ear for a powerful melody. Lyrically, she'd be better off keeping her contorted lyrics In Closet Locked. --Beth Massa

Customer Reviews

A very cliched album . . . or is it?,
Alanis Morissette once again changes images with the release of her third major album, UNDER RUG SWEPT. Morissette's image on JAGGED LITTLE PILL is the angry alt-rocker, furious at men for being such pigs and lowlifes. On SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKY, she has wedded her image to a deep sense of spirituality. UNDER RUG SWEPT takes these two images and combines them in a deft move of maturity.
UNDER RUG SWEPT reads like an autobiography of Morissette's love life with a definite progression of lyrical themes, climaxing in the last track "Utopia".

On the album, you won't find anger like you did on JAGGED LITTLE PILL's most powerful tracks, though you will find pain. You won't find the SFIJ's rich spirituality save for "Utopia". Instead, UNDER RUG SWEPT gives us a very traceable narrative.

This narrative begins by Morissette defining what she wants in a lover. She hooks up with a music exec (described angrily in JAGGED LITTLE PILL's track "Right Through You") who has underage sex with her in "Hands Clean." In "Right Through You," Morissette is very angry, but "Hands Clean" is almost journalistic in approach.

Morissette explores the negative impact of this situation in the next two tracks, "Flinch" and "So Unsexy." In "Flinch," Morissette talks about how she is trying hard not to flinch at his name. In "So Unsexy," she says it's been almost a decade and still hurts, which for me definitely links this track "Hands Clean."

Eventually, Morissette finds a lover ("That Particular Time), but they need time apart. The relationship is complex, and you get the his viewpoint in the guitar-heavy track "A Man." She tells him she loves him and will do whatever it takes for him to be happy, and in the end they live in Utopia. "Utopia" sounds more like her hopes and dreams, and here the album ceases its narrative style and turns into a very hopeful and optimistic view of what the world could be like.

While novelistic songwriting is fascinating, Morissette' songs can be too easily construed as cliché-driven. Rolling Stones' review said UNDER RUG SWEPT had enough clichés to make up a whole season of Oprah.

Hearing the songs outside the album's context, Morissette has indeed turned from an original writing style to rather blah psychobabble, sounding like the Democratic Party's singing mascot. All of UNDER RUG SWEPT's songs rely on each other for context, especially "Hands Clean." She says plainly in the early part of her career, she and one of her mentors had an inappropriate relationship, and she's had to live with that. Just hearing the song without knowing the album, you think she is just trying to push the limits. The album, however, makes it quite clear the negative effects it has had.

Overall, a fascinating album that, once you understand what she is doing, proves to be a rewarding and fulfilling listening experience. Without understanding, however, UNDER RUG SWEPT appears as an artistic stumble. Once you realise what's going on, Morissette proves herself once again as a valid and intriguing musical artist.

P. S. Just a few thoughts about Glen Ballard and his relationship with Morissette.

For those who speculate that the music exec Morissette is singing about in "Hands Clean" is Glen Ballard, and I think I can very safely say this, is just flat out wrong. Glen Ballard produced her 1995 JAGGED LITTLE PILL. Morissette was 21 when PILL was released. What many Americans don't know is Morissette had a musical career in Canada, and her debut album was released in 1991. Morissette had appeared on a star finding program. When she was ten, Morissette starred as a regular cast member of the television show "You Can't Do That On TV."

Morissette, however, wanted to be in the music industry, so she used the show as a stepping stone both financially and public relation-wise. She had signed a music publishing contract the age of 14, and the video of `Hands Clean" clearly links the song with the early years of her career.

Chronologically, the conclusion that Glen Ballard is the one who had under-age sex with Morissette simply does not add up. This conclusion also ignores lyrical indicators in both PILL and UNDER RUG SWEPT as well. In "Right Through You," she sings about the exec scanning the credits and wonder why he's not there. Glen Ballard is listed and fully credited as producer. "Right Through You" also tells us this happened much earlier than her teaming with Ballard. Had it been Ballard, I don't think Morissette would have let him produce not one but two records, with three years separating the two.

UNDER RUG SWEPT makes it quite clear the situation has caused her a lot of pain. I do not think it would have been possible for her to have a professional working relationship with Ballard over the course of two records that have such a vast time-span between them. It took three years for her to deliver PILL's follow-up. With the emotional trauma she has experienced, do you really think Morissette would let him helm up two of her three records? I don't think so. Chronologically it doesn't add up either. This leads me to the conclusion whoever the music exec is, it's definitely not Glen Ballard.

Originally issued on Amazon.com March 12, 2002

surprising pop highlight
after the lukewarm reception that her second album received, morissette came storming back with this underrated collection. featuring some of her strongest melodies and sharp production, 'under rug swept' bristles with a gloss, humour and confidence not seen on previous outings.

Blooming Heck
I bought this album a few years ago and wasn't that keen on it at first; and it sort of fell to the bottom of a very large pile. However, one day a year ago I pulled it out and listened to it properly and I must say; what a voice! The music, the lyrics, her voice; she sings and writes with passion, you can see and feel it in the music and the songs can mean something to you. Without a doubt one of the best albums that I own