Monday, February 16, 2026

1995's double-whammy for Alanis


In a first for this project, and I'm going to guess that it will be the last time, too, the best-selling album of the year is also going to win the Juno for Best Album as Alanis Morrisette took over the world in 1995. The added bonus in Canada was that some actually remembered her stint as a poofy-haired pop queen from a few years prior before she jumped into the deep, angsty end of the pool with Jagged Little Pill.

It was unquestionably the right album for the moment, but it still holds up awfully well for an album that I haven't listened to in a long while. I'd forgotten how taken I'd been with Forgiven and You Learn, though (and this is probably my crustiness showing through again) I'd never bought as much into follow-up singles like Hand in My Pocket and Ironic (for the latter, I was way too on-board with the movement of old souls yelling into the wind that nothing in the lyrics indicated irony).

I understand that this was a life-changing album for many and I wouldn't try to diminish that connection, but in hindsight I can now see that it was only the first step in her transformation from pop artist to something new, and I'm personally looking forward to hearing her achieve final form with her follow-up album. 

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