For many of us Olds, Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill was the soundtrack to our first broken hearts. Now, we can relive our angst with the new 25th anniversary deluxe edition of the album, a digital-only reissue that comes with a special bonus live album. Throw on some black eyeliner and stream it below.
Jagged Little Pill was first released in 1995 on Maverick Records. The record catapulted Morissette, then only 20 years old, to international fame and massive commercial success, worthy of dozens of awards. At the 38th Grammy Awards in 1996, Jagged Little Pill was nominated for nine Grammys and won five, including Best Rock Album and Album of the Year — making her the youngest woman at the time to receive the award. That year, Morissette also won those equivalents at the Canadian Juno Awards. And with a staggering 33 million copies sold, Jagged Little Pill is one of the best-selling records of all time.
It’s the album’s two biggest singles, “You Oughta Know” and “Ironic”, that have given Morissette’s third LP such immense staying power. Both songs helped define the alternative grunge sound of the mid-’90s (which was, of course, a male-dominated genre).
“You Oughta Know”, in particular, has proven to be one of the most enduring breakup anthems in rock music. The song pigeonholed Morissette as an angry young woman at the time of its release, but she ended up embracing her rage-filled public persona.
“I think anger is pretty amazing,” she recently told The Independent. “I think a lot of people when they think of anger they think of destruction, acting out of anger that’s destructive, and that’s not what I think about when I think of anger. I think about fire and the capacity to say no, and changes, and standing up for oneself, or protecting someone.”
So what makes this digital release different from the weathered cassette that you blasted in your boombox in middle school? The 25th anniversary version comes with a live acoustic version of the album, recorded earlier in 2020 at Shepard’s Bush in London. Morissette has also remastered four of the album’s original music videos for “Ironic”, “You Oughta Know”, “Hand In My Pocket”, “You Learn”, and “Head Over Feet”, in full 4K resolution, and they will premiere on her YouTube channel between June 26th and July 2nd.
Her ninth full-length album, Such Pretty Forks in the Road, was originally intended to be released on May 1st, but was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now arriving July 31st, it’s her first new material since 2012. Morissette was also set to tour North America with Garbage and Liz Phair to celebrate the anniversary of Jagged Little Pill, but that tour has been postponed until 2021. Purchase your concert tickets here.
Jagged Little Pill 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Album Art:
Jagged Little Pill 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Tracklist:
01. All I Really Want
02. You Oughta Know
03. Perfect
04. Hand in My Pocket
05. Right Through You
06. Forgiven
07. You Learn
08. Head over Feet
09. Mary Jane
10. Ironic
11. Not the Doctor
12. Wake Up
13. You Oughta Know (Jimmy the Saint Blend)
14. Your House (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
15. Right Through You (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
16. You Learn (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
17. All I Really Want (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
18. Hands Clean (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
19. Not the Doctor (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
20. Mary Jane (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
21. Forgiven (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
22. Perfect (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
23. Head Over Feet (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
24. Hand in My Pocket (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
25. Ironic (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
26. You Oughta Know (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
27. Wake Up (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
28. Uninvited (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
29. Thank U (Live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)