Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie was singer/songwriter
Alanis Morissette's fourth studio album. It was released on
November 2 1998 by
Maverick Records.
After the massive success of
Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette was considered one of the biggest music stars in the world. Many fans anxiously awaited a follow-up album. Alanis knew that if she composed an album along the same lines of her previous record, she'd be accused of playing it safe and pandering to mainstream tastes, despite surely extending her commercial success.
Throwing caution to the wind, Alanis decided to go in the entirely opposite direction, creating a record that was almost designed to shock and alienate her fans. Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie was the result. A dark and wandering album, it featured many songs with no hooks or choruses, confounding people who heard it. Songs like "Front Row," "The Couch," and "I Was Hoping" challenged the traditional song formula. No one knew what to make of the album.
Its first single,
Thank U, was released to radio in October of 1998. It's generally conceded that anticipation for a new album after three years would have allowed any of the songs on the album to chart considerably high in initial airplay, and many critics and listeners who had pigeonholed Alanis as an angry woman were surprised to hear the calm and serene feel of the song.
Released in November, the album debuted at #1 with the highest first-week sales for a female artist at the time, selling 469,054 copies in its first 7 days. It held at #1 for an additional week, before falling to eighth place in what is generally a busy shopping period due to the holidays. Over the next few weeks, sales for the album slowly declined, and then faltered drastically. After 28 weeks, the album had fallen off the
Billboard 200, selling 2.6 million copies. Many artists would be considered a huge success with sales of that caliber, but when spoken of in the context of the enormous-selling Jagged Little Pill, Supposed was a sales disappointment.
The label tried rescuing the album with a second single Unsent. However, it peaked at #58 and got little attention. The third single So Pure failed to chart at all. Joining You became a modest hit on the Modern Rock Chart. None of this was able to salvage the album.
At the time of its release, fans were very discontented with the album, feeling almost betrayed by its huge departure from Jagged Little Pill. Critics were also disparaging in their reviews. However, the passing of time has brought larger appreciation for the record. Many Alanis fans now consider it to be her greatest and most personal record to date.
#"Front Row" (
Glen Ballard, Morissette) â€" 4:13#"
Baba" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 4:29#"
Thank U" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 4:18#"Are You Still Mad" (Morissette) â€" 4:04#"Sympathetic Character" (Morissette) â€" 5:13#"That I Would Be Good" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 4:16#"The Couch" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 5:24#"Can't Not" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 4:35 #"UR" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 3:31#"I Was Hoping" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 3:51#"One" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 4:40#"Would Not Come" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 4:05#"
Unsent" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 4:10#"
So Pure" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 2:50#"
Joining You" (Ballard, Morissette) â€" 4:24#"Heart of the House" (Morissette) â€" 3:46#"Your Congratulations" (Morissette) â€" 3:54
The
Australian version of the album contains a
demo (piano and vocals only) of "
Uninvited" (from the
City of Angels soundtrack) as a bonus track.
VIDEOS
Thank U : Alanis appears naked through a city's streets. This was an idea she says was conceived while showering. The video had modest play on MTV but was heavily criticized and its context was taken out of what she was trying to illustrate, which was a sense of freedom and belonging.
Unsent: Featured a retrospective look at each of the men described in the song ... a la
Sex and the City.
So Pure : the video was directed by Alanis and featured her dancing with the same man throughout different eras.
Joining You: a video was never officially released but in THE COLLECTION DVD she offers a view of what was conceived to be a video of her playing basketball with bandmates.
AWARDSSFIJ Was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for
Thank U in the female pop vocal Performance gategory and
So Pure was nomiated for best female rock vocal. It was not considered for album of the year or in any major category.
SFIJ Won The Juno Award in Canada for Album of the year .
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CONTROVERSY'
The single Uninvited
was a top 10 hit garnering praise and 2 Grammy Awards for best female rock vocal performance and best rock song in 99 beating out Sheryl Crows My Favorite Mistake'' but it was not a track on SFIJ which many critics stated to be a bold and bad move .
THE ALBUM TITLE"In the past when I felt infatuated with someone I wanted to pass through that phase if not skip over it entirely because I felt out of control and overwhelmed... Relationships equated confusion and pain to me... Upon realizing why relationships exist and understanding myself more, I can now enjoy the heart-palpitating phase of infatuation once again"...FRONT ROW"A stream of consciousness recounting of three separate conversations with people or situations that inspired me in some way. The chorus allows me to express how privileged I feel to be able to be intimate with these people to provide an environment for them in which they can feel safe... Where I can see all parts of them without judgment".BABA"My direct experiences with spiritual materialism within certain communities (particularly in the west), and the idealism of eastern / exotic spiritual practices... Sensing the dissonance between the competition, elitism and judgment within some of these culturally adopted rituals / gods and compassion itself".THANK U"First song written with Glen Ballard for the record... After having stopped for what felt like the first time in my life and experiencing a deep stillness, I was left with an overwhelming sense of gratitude, inspiration and compassion... It felt natural for this to be the first song release as it encapsulates the heart-space from which all the songs on this record sprung".ARE YOU STILL MAD"On Jagged Little Pill I viscerally reacted to certain people / situations that resulted in a cathartic release... On this song I allow myself the emotional reaction (which I think is important) while also taking responsibility for my role in the relationships which resulted in a sense of closure that had not been realized by my simply reacting or solely pointing the finger".SYMPATHETIC CHARACTER"I needed to get to the root of why I was so afraid of conflict and being around anger. We live in a society that sees rage as something that is to be repressed or something that is explosive and destructive... We aren't taught how to express our rage, having it be heard and released in a non-destructive way. This song was my recounting my fears of having spent a lot of time around people who couldn't contain (their rage). The writing of this song enabled me to see anger as natural and understand it even more than I had before".THAT I WOULD BE GOOD"I was meditating in my closet and i asked myself ‘what do you want?'"THE COUCH"This song was written following a conversation I had with my dad regarding his life story. I was able to see him for who he was (outside of his role as my father) for what felt like the first time. It was very healing for both of us".CAN'T NOT"This song was written in 1995 after I had started touring for Jagged Little Pill and it reflects some of what my mindset was at the time. It was originally being recorded as a b-side but once it was recalled I wanted it on the record".UR"A brief and retrospective look at my "career" in chronological order. The first verse being about when I was 10 years old. The second verse being about my mid teens. And the third verse being about the time right after the Jagged Little Pill tour. Parts of the choruses are other people's perspective and parts are mine".I WAS HOPING"The choruses in this song are about my having been excited with the newly discovered opportunity that I saw â€" the relationship I was in â€" and what it was providing for the both of us. I had never understood the healing quality of safety and intimacy, or the consciousness that was required of me to be in that kind of relationship until that point. The verses are my recounting three separate conversations / experiences".ONE"I was safe enough with this person to show him parts of myself that I needed to express in order to change them. I hadn't been able to do so in the past because those parts of myself would have been judged. In being judged I would not have been able to move through them. I also explore and understand the concept of our interconnectedness".WOULD NOT COME"Revelations based on what happened in the past three years in particular. Fame, money, "status"... Constantly feeling that I had to look outside of myself to see who I was and to feel bliss. Having to "achieve," run, grasp or "become" something other than what I was in order to be worthy / accepted. Putting it down on paper made me realize the disservice I was doing to my true self and how transparent and unfulfilling it can be to put all my happiness in the hands of external brass rings".UNSENT"This song started with my writing the first verse and realizing that there were many more people with whom I hadn't had closure... Romantic, platonic and professional relationships. Some of the names are nicknames, some of them are variations on their names and some of them are their real names... I talked to some of the people that inspired the verses and came to realize that this song encouraged me to connect with these people directly and not rely on songwriting as a way of my avoiding direct / difficult contact".SO PURE"Both the expression of anger and the expression of joy have been equally vulnerable for me at different times in my life. I allowed myself to be inspired and infatuated with this person who is unapologetically and exuberantly themself".JOINING YOU"My reaching out to a friend who was questioning his own suffering by my saying that who we are within can manifest itself externally rather than allowing society's illusions to define who we are".HEART OF THE HOUSE"My tribute to my mother and to femininity in general. I thought in order to function in what I saw as a patriarchal society I had to adopt masculine qualities in order to be treated with the respect I deserved. In doing so I was unwittingly being chauvinistic myself and further confirming the lack of integrating both the feminine and masculine qualities in all of us. Upon finding the gray area I naturally wanted to honor my relationship with my mother and with femininity itself".YOUR CONGRATULATIONS"Feeling for so long that I had to compromise / downplay my power, intelligence or talent in order not to threaten and lose the affection of those that I loved. There being this underlying belief that somehow both people couldn't share the power, that one person had to win and that the other had to "lose." My wanting for it to have been possible for both people to "win." With being in the public eye since I was young, those that were close to me often felt as though I was being inundated with praise from so many people that they themselves (the people I was closest to) wouldn't acknowledge what I was doing".THE PRESSURE QUESTION (the song was recorded during the
Jagged Little Pill era but cannot be found on any album)
"I see every recording I've done as a snapshot of that time in my life. I feel fulfilled when I feel the songs were inspired and representative of myself in the moment. In taking the valuable time off that I did, it allowed me the freedom to write from a place of love and inspiration (even if it was about pain or confusion) rather than a place of impatience or fear. I consider my records to be "successful" the moment they're finished and I had / have no expectations for them".*
Glen Ballard -
Synthesizer,
Guitar,
Piano, Programming, Producer, Engineer, String Arrangements
*
Benmont Tench - Organ,
Chamberlin*David Campbell - String Arrangements, String Arrangements
*Scott Campbell - Engineer
*Gary Novak - Percussion,
Drums*Alanis Morissette -
Flute,
Harmonica, Piano, Vocals, Producer, Photography
*Joel Shearer - Guitar
*Jolie Jones Levine - Production Coordination
*Nick Lashley - Guitar
*Chris Bellman - Mastering
*Chris Fogel - Programming, Engineer, Mixing
*Kevin Reagan - Art Direction, Design
*Roger Sommers - Engineer, Second Engineer
*Dash Mihok - Photography, Loop
*Regina Thomas - Photography
*Chris Chaney - Bass
*
Stefan G. Bucher - Design
*Shad T. Scott - Programming
*Heather Stanley - Photography
| Billboard 200 Chart trajectory | | Week | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
|---|
| Chart position | 1 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 35 | 38 | 43 | 47 | 53 | 50 | 54 | 62 | 77 | 97 | 103 | 112 | 128 | 151 | 160 | 174 | 193 |
|---|
| Australia | 2x Platinum | | Austria | Platinum |
| Brazil | Gold |
| Canada | 4x Platinum |
| Europe | 2x Platinum |
| Finland | Gold |
| France | 2x Gold |
| Germany | Platinum |
| Netherlands | Platinum |
| New Zealand | 2x Platinum |
| Norway | Platinum |
| Switzerland | Platinum |
| UK | Platinum |
| US | 3x Platinum |
|
