Jagged Little Pill

Upon first glance, Alanis Morissettes blockbuster 1995 album Jagged Little Pill doesnt seem like the ideal source material for a Broadway musical. Its too personal, too idiosyncratic, too tied to its time. Librettist Diablo Cody addresses these problems by setting the play in the late 2010s and spreading its songs among a dysfunctional family so it can cover any number of provocative social issues. Listening to the original cast recording of Jagged Little Pill, the additional voices are immediately apparent but its difficult to discern the story based on the song sequencing itself, and pronoun switches dont help matters, either. If the narrative is murky, the songs are clear and generally familiar. A few tracks from latter-day Morissette albums are included -- notably, the hits Thank U and Uninvited are here -- and there are a couple of new numbers, but its the Jagged Little Pill songs that stand out, sounding cleaner than the 1995 album but also more grandiose. The bolder arrangements suit the cast, who are trained and powerful vocalists in a way Morissette wasnt in 1995. All this makes the Jagged Little Pill cast recording comforting but slightly disorienting: the elements are all familiar but theyve been polished so the quirks arent as evident. Theyre still there, though, lying in Morissettes words and melodies, helping to keep this neo-jukebox musical just a little bit lively. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine