The Collection - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
The first retrospective of the career of Alanis Morissette, The Collection spans 1995-2005 with hits and more, as a new recording, "Crazy" joins some of the most popular songs of the era, from "You Oughta Know" and "Hand in My Pocket" to "Ironic."

Customer Reviews: Read 62 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

The Best of the woman who played God November 15, 2005
78 out of 83 found this review helpful

Finally, Alanis Morissette's best songs are available all together in one convenient place. This heavenly collection from the woman who played God in the movie "Dogma" covers the period 1995 to 2005, with nineteen of her "impossible to sing along to" songs that we've come to love.

From the incredible album "Jagged Little Pill" (1995):

Head Over Feet; You Learn; You Oughta Know; Hand in My Pocket; Ironic

From "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" (1998):

Thank You; That I Would Be Good

From "Under Rug Swept" and "Feast On Scraps" (both 2002):

Hands Clean; So Unsexy; Simple Together; Sister Blister

From "So Called Chaos" (2004):

Eight Easy Steps; Everything

And those are not all - you also get "Princes Familiar" from her "MTV Unplugged" album; a cover of the Seal song "Crazy"; "Mercy" from "Prayer Circle"; "Still" from "Dogma; the haunting "Uninvited" from "City of Angels", and "Let's Do It" from "De-Lovely".

A must-have album for any fan of the often controversial, extremely talented, and sometimes foul-mouthed Canadian-American singer/songwriter/actress.

Amanda Richards, November 15, 2005.

4 out of 5 stars

Disjointed But Ultimately Satisfying Retrospective January 1, 2006
28 out of 31 found this review helpful

The career of Alanis Morissette has been long and winding, despite the fact that the average music fan cannot see past her 1995 breakthrough "Jagged Little Pill," the best-selling album ever by a female artist. Now, it is finally catalogued on "The Collection," a disc that spans the last decade of the Canadian singer/songwriter's music.

Those of the opinion that a hit package from Morissette would essentially be a repackaging of Jagged Little Pill have a point; she has released only a handful of hit singles since that juggernaut. Nevertheless, in paving the road that subsequently ensued she released records that were true to herself and did not cash in on her initial success as an "angry" young singer/songwriter. The result has yielded her a rabid fanbase and music that has affected many listeners in a positive way, which is hardly something to look down at.

Nevertheless, "The Collection" is a rather iffy collection that comes off sounding disjointed when it comes to summarizing the Morissette's last decade. Right off the bat, anyone who has even a minimal knowledge of her career will see that some notable singles are missing such as "All I Really Want," the swashbuckling "So Pure" from 1998's "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" and "Precious Illusions," a sharp radio-ready single that reached the Adult Top 40 in summer 2002 but ultimately went over everyone's heads. Also, two "personal favorites" she chose for the collection, 1999's unplugged performance of "Princes Familiar" and 2002's excruciatingly sad "Simple Together," sound completely out of their element on a retrospective. Perhaps a better idea would have been a "Hits" and "Misses" pair of releases a la fellow Canadian songstress Joni Mitchell. Still, her unforgettable staples such as "Thank U" and "Ironic" are dutifully included and have not lost their power with the passage of time.

Especially of interest are tracks making their debut on a proper Morissette record. One such is "Mercy," a selection from Jonathan Elias' 1999 project "The Prayer Cycle," an album of swirling, devotional vocals in multiple languages that featured recording artists such as James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. Morissette sings in Hungarian (her mother's native tongue) on the track alongside the vocals of famed Qawwli artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who passed away immediately before she was asked to join the project. The result is something as spine tingling as it as sophisticated. Included also is her zesty take on Cole Porter's "Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)" from the "De-Lovely" soundtrack. Morissette played a bit part in the 2004 film that told the life story of the late tunesmith.

There's also "Uninvited," a fan favorite that Morissette wrote for the soundtrack to 1998's "City of Angels" where she sings not only from the perspective of the main character but also her own in the face of overwhelming fame in "Jagged Little Pill"'s wake. An even stronger inclusion, however, is "Still," which Morissette wrote for 1999's "Dogma" soundtrack. In the film she played the small but crucial role of God, and thus chose to write the song from His perspective.

"I see you altering history/I see you abusing the land/I see you and your selective amnesia/And I love you still."

The biggest slice of ear candy on the disc, however, comes in the form of her take on "Crazy," Seal's classic 1991 hit. A song with a catchy groove and powerful lyrics, it is easy to see why it is one of Morissette's favorite songs.

"Crazy yellow people walking through my head/One of them's got a gun, shoots the other one/And yet together they were friends at school/But we're never gonna survive/Unless we get a little crazy."

The scarce but desirable limited edition of "The Collection" contains improved artwork and a loaded DVD with an hour-long documentary, photographs, overviews of past tour itineraries and three bonus performances including an unreleased track from the mid-90's entitled "King of Intimidation."

4 out of 5 stars

She Learned November 15, 2005
13 out of 23 found this review helpful

These days, there are actually few times when greatest hits packages can really make or break an artist perfectionally. Unfortunately, most of the time, it isn't the actual case. For our friends from Canada like Bryan Adams, he hasn't always had had that problem, and Celine Dion has definitely had had that with a lackluster hits package. As for our other great Alanis Morissette, she hasn't scored a package yet, that has reflected her ups and downs as a great during the Warner Brothers era. Well, that has all just recently changed into one compilation that has surely learned.

Alanis Morissette's 2005 greatest hits package The Collection, does a very good job at reflecting on Alanis and her surprising career. The collection does actually carry out very well, even for the fact that almost little to nothing is actually overshadowed on this package. The album does include her big hits like Ironic from the 1996 Grammy-winning Album Of The Year Jagged Little Pill, You Oughta Know, the somber Thank You, Hands Clean, and the down to Earth track Everything. The collection also focuses on her time with movies like the highly-acclaimed Uninvited from the Nicholas Cage 1998 flick City Of Angels, and Still from Dogma. The album also includes a new track to the mix. Her cover of Seal's breakthrough track Crazy. The song is arguably with a little more of a dance bit, but for Alanis, she does pull it off quite nicely.

Yet, Alanis is one of the very few acts to still show her music very well as a performer these past few years. As for The Collection it is a must buy for anybody who doesn't own a Alanis Morissette record, or for a die hard fan. Isn't that Ironic!

Album Cover: B+

Songs: B+

Price: B 1/2+

Enjoyment: B+

Overall: B+

5 out of 5 stars

Superb Canadian Talent Compiled! February 8, 2006
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I've followed Alanis Morissette since her first 2 commercially released albums "Alanis" in '91 and "Now is the time" in '92. I've always loved her voice and expected a come-back since the "NITT" CD...but she took a 3-year break and came back with a new image, voice and talent with "Jagged Little Pill" in '95. Since then, she's pumped out song after song, singing & voicing her own opinions, musically. I'm proud to live in a Country where we can have fantastic talent such as Alanis Morissette. Some really talented artists come from Ottawa, Canada...and I'm mighty proud to play their music. Alanis Rocks!

"The Collection" brings out Alanis' best, although, there are some songs which could've been included. There will always be compilations which don't have all the goodies of an artist on it. Forget about what this CD doesn't have and think about its good points...which are countless. The photos are lovely and the tracklist is pleasing to the ears. For one reason, Alanis' selection of songs puts the listener on a musical roller-coaster of emotions, whether it's a dark song or something really fast & happy.

My all-time favorite track has to be "Uninvited". For one, because it wasn't released on an album. Two, I like it because of the drama & the way Alanis' voice goes so well with the arrangements...starting with the organ & piano. Really nice! "Crazy" is a fine song & excellent choice for Alanis. I didn't think she would choose this song for her compilation...perhaps because I never heard it until playing this CD. The only Alanis albums I've got are her first 3 + the unofficial biography & fully-illustrated book. "Crazy" is right up there with Seal's version...and I like Alanis' version better. More emotion is put into it.

The first time I've heard "Let's do it (let's fall in love)"...I heard it sung by Eartha Kitt. Strange mix (eartha kitt & alanis morissette...huh?) Well, a true music lover will try anything once. I can't say I hate Eartha Kitt, but her music isn't anything near Alanis'. Alanis has given new life to "Let's do it..." and it's refreshing to find such a track on "The Collection".

Thank you, for not removing the F word from "You Oughta Know". Without it, the song doesn't have much meaning...'cos everyone's left waiting for her to say it, right? All the other tracks are fine & fit the tracklist well.

Tracklist:
01- Thank You
02- Head over feet
03- 8 easy steps
04- Everything
05- Crazy
06- Ironic
07- Princess Familiar (MTV Unplugged)
08- You learn
09- Simple together
10- You Oughta know
11- That I would be good
12- Sister Blister
13- Hands clean
14- Mercy (from the prayer cycle)
15- Still (from the dogma soundtrack)
16- Uninvited (from the city of angels soundtrack)
17- Let's do it (let's fall in love ) - from the de-lovely soundtrack
18- Hand in my pocket

Album Info:
- FBI Anti-Piracy Warning
- alanis.com
- maverick.com/alanis
- Distributed by Warner Bros Records Inc.
- Maverick Recording Company
- Full Song Credits in booklet
- Full Lyrics for each of the 18 tracks in booklet
- Small personal note from Alanis on inner front of booklet
- Additional info (legal & production) inside booklet
- Disc is purple with song titles written in pale purple & black
- Standard Jewel case packaging

I love all the songs & the recording quality is amazing. Alanis didn't leave anything out when she released this fine collection of her personal best. Thanks Alanis! You rock!!!

3 out of 5 stars

As one writer put it, "An Iffy Collection." November 16, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Even if you don't care much for Alanis Morissette's music, she is inarguably one of the most recognized singer/songwriters of our time. As a devoted fan for many years, I was pleased when I learned last year of a greatest hits package in the works. Instead, we have "The Collection," more of a retrospective, a reflection of sorts, an offering of half hits and half...whatever. One would automatically think that such a release would contain half of the songs from her milestone album Jagged Little Pill, and with good reason since the album produced six radio hits, so the omission of "All I Really Want" from this collection is almost unforgiveable. Morissette said in an interview that she hand-picked each song for this release, so I also question why she buried many of the included hits from JLP towards the end. Not that each song should be arranged in chronlogical order, but I think most fans would enjoy hearing many of the early hits first just for the sake of reminiscence. Also not included is "So Pure," another one of her best singles, while she only includes one other track from her second album after "Thank U," and then there's only ONE song from her third release, Under Rug Swept. So what happened to "Precious Illusions?" or "21 Things I Want in a Lover?" Other tracks that seem out of place are a cut she did for a "Prayer Circle" collaboration, in which Morissette sings in Hungarian, and an absolutely boring cover of a Cole Porter song she recorded a couple of years back titled "Let's Do It," but the majority of fans couldn't care less. If that isn't enough, included are "Sister Blister" and "Simple Together" from a 2002 release of B-sides and previously unreleased material, so why are they back in light of deleting more of her recognized material. So, again, maybe this "collection" wasn't meant to come across as a greatest hits compilation after all. This release does include two of Morissette's best tracks, "Uninvited,"(City of Angels)and "Still"(Dogma) but you can also own these songs by purchasing the soundtracks from which they originated. What you won't find elsewhere is the brilliant cover Alanis recorded of Seal's 1991 hit "Crazy," almost making it impossible on how to rate this CD with so many hits and misses all the way through, so I guess we'll go with not good, not bad, or perhaps fair to good.

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