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Here is another in VH-1 and Rhino’s series of DVD’s drawn from episodes of the program that allows songwriters to play their songs while discussing the inspiration behind them. Alanis Morissette would seem to be a prime candidate for this treatment, since so many of her songs sound like a transcript from a harrowing therapy session. Early on, though, she makes the point that talking about her songs is a bit redundant, since her songs are so self-revealing in the first place, and I have to agree with her. Alanis makes good sense when explaining her search for self-awareness, but it is unnecessary if you are already familiar with the material. Judging from the audience shots, though, I may be mistaken. As the DVD progresses, it becomes fairly obvious that a great deal of her fans might be living vicariously through her words, and it is that semi-sycophantic relationship that renders this disk so strangely fascinating.
Comparing Alanis’ performance with Natalie Merchant’s, I must give the edge to Alanis, because she at least offers advice to an audience that might benefit from listening. Gather a bunch of jilted women and a few masochistic men in one room, and she’s got herself a captive audience ready to absorb every breath. It takes a certain type of foolhardy bravery to write songs as Alanis Morissette does. I personally applaud her for it, but her true fans seem utterly entranced by her unabashed, unfiltered means of expression. The story introducing the song “Unsent” is particularly interesting, and it does help the listener to understand the song, but her fans seem to take it a step further and personalize it; as if they also knew the people she was singing about.
Interestingly, the Alanis concert also features a song called “Thank You” (see the Natalie Merchant review from this same series), and this one offers a bit more emotional resonance than Merchant’s, which is fairly obvious, since she is so much less reserved than her staid counterpart. I also give Alanis the edge here because she writes impressionistically instead of literally. While Natalie Merchant writes about what she sees, Alanis Morissette writes about how she feels, and I find the latter to be infinitely more compelling, especially since she seems to have had so many issues to iron out in public. That being said, if Ms. Morissette continues to grow and stabilize emotionally (as she has been of late), she runs the risk of morphing into Natalie Merchant. From an artistic perspective, I prefer emotional instability, which is why I give this DVD a…
DVD Grade: B
Thomas Ryan
 
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