Alanis Morissette: Now Is The Time

ALANIS MORISSETTE: NOW IS THE TIME (1992)

1) (Change Is) Never A Waste Of Time; 2) An Emotion Away; 3) Big Bad Love; 4) Can't Deny; 5) Give What You Got; 6) No Apologies; 7) Rain; 8) Real World; 9) The Time Of Your Life; 10) When We Meet Again.

Essentially Alanis Vol. 2 — there does exist a school of thought (if the term "school of thought" is applicable to generic Eighties-style dance-pop in the first place) that sees a teensy-weensy bit of evolution, but I am completely blind on this occasion. Same style, same marketing trends, same level of songwriting.

In terms of individual songs, there are some really ugly low points — 'Can't Deny', for instance, is the cheapest brand of pop music imaginable; you know, the one that goes 'place one finger on the keyboard and off we go', the one I thought was invented specially for East European and Rus­sian pop consumption, but apparently Canadians enjoyed crawling under that plank, too. On the other hand, 'Real World' does have a little bite to it, and it is also the first location where you will encounter the trademark Alanis Banshee Wail, guranteed to freeze you cold (and, depending on your musical tastes, make or not make your ears fall off in the process).

Sample lyric: 'I'm having dreams in the night of you baby / And Sigmund Freud would have thought I was crazy / I wonder why you've become an obsession / All I know is that I need to have your big bad love'. Personally, I think it's great — how come the Beatles never thought of namedropping intellectual celebrities to raise the bar on their early lyrics? Just think: 'Now you're mine, and Sigmund Freud still makes me cry / And in time, Arthur Janov'll understand the reason why / If I cry, it's not because I'm sad / It's just because Carl Jung's the greatest guy I've ever read / Ask me how / I'll say Gestalt therapy is always waiting for you'. Doesn't it make you want to go out immediately and buy an extra copy of Please Please Me for each of your friends and neighbours?..

Sorry, just couldn't resist. Thumbs down.