"You Oughta Know"

Alanis Morissette
(Maverick/Reprise, 1995)

Want to know the difference between Alanis 1995 and Alanis 1999? It's the difference between "I have to stop taking all these antibiotics" and "I'm here to remind you/Of the mess you left when you went away." After her dark Canadian disco past was exposed, and the presence of song doctor Glen Ballard was pointed out, and it was all debated and analyzed, and her second album went thud, the song and the performance remained standing, in all their shaking rage and vulnerability and sharp, sarcastic wordplay.

-- Jon Garelick