Flavors Of Entanglement (2008)

Alanis Morissettes new album Flavor of Entanglement has the deeply personal songs and undeniable vocal talent that we have come to expect from Alanis, but this is not the same 20 something Alanis full of rage. This CD is very much about her personal break up with Ryan Reynolds. But this CD is so much more that your average love gone wrong songs. Alanis is older, more mature, and more introspective. She sees how the battles of the world are really not that different than the battles we have in our personal life. She is not only trying to find her place in relationships, she is trying to find her place in the world. At first listen, her lyrics are so deeply personal, it gives you that moment of oh I shouldnt be hearing this but at the same time it resonates to the universal, familiar grief we all feel with the death of a relationship. Gone is the in you face rage and it is replaced with longing and grief. Not only are Alanis lyrics reflecting her growith as a song writing, the music itself reflects Alanis growing as an artist. She skillfully mixes folk, world beats with techno dance beats. She so skillfully combines the two that you forget to be shocked that the two are combined. There are few artists that can challenge you to consider your own relationships and make you want to dance at the same time. In Citizen of the Planet, Alanis sings of seeing herself as more than just an individual. She sings of being unique but yet part of the bigger world. This theme is repeated throughout the CD. Underneath considers how our everyday conflicts are just microcosms of conflicts in the world today. Not As We is a raw testimony to the grief of losing a relationship and part of your identiy as part of a couple. Alanis sings, Day one start over again. Step one step one. Im barely making sense for now. Im faking it till Im making it. From scratch begin again but this time I as I and not as we. Torch is probably the most personal song about her break up. It is a sensitive laundry list of all the things that she will miss about Ryan. She holds nothing back as she sings, I miss your neck and your gait and your sharing what you write. Make no mistake, this albulm is not all morose. In Praise Of the Vunerable Man is Alanis ode to an emotionally available man. Moratorium is her oath to focus on herself for awhile and take a break from her quest to find a soul mate. All of the songs, regardless of topic reflect an artist that has experienced much growth and continues to growth through the good times and the bad. Overall, this is a CD full of the new and of the familiar. Alanis unmistakable voice and painfully personal song lyrics are as familiar on this cd as on all of her albums. This album reflects a personal and artistic growth. She has more depth and more understanding of herself and the music reflects it. The music itself has many more dimensions . Like different parts of her personality, Alanis is able to skillfully mix and highlight sounds that seem like complete contradictions, but the end result is pure music to my ears.
 
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"If growing up is the process of creating ideas and dreams about what life should be, then maturity is letting go again." - Mary Beth Danielson This quote really resonates with me when thinking of Alanis Morissette's new cd Flavors of Entanglement. In the mid-1990's, Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. She was a force to be reckoned with, an angry angsty voice that was going to tell it like it was with no apologies. Well, Alanis is back with what I feel is her best cd since then and she's still unafraid to put her heart out there on the sidewalk. Only, this time, I feel we are seeing a more mature artist, an artist who has let go of a lot of her pain and one with a lot more self-realization. All this, and it has a beat you can dance to. Producer Guy Sigsworth has done a great job of balancing Alanis' brilliant poetry with an edgy rock dance vibe. "Citizen of the Planet" which opens the cd rocks. I love the way the song accelerates and appreciate the drivng beat incorporating sitars and tablas giving the song an eastern feel. "Underneath", the first single from the cd, immediately takes me to a quieter place. This song is about changing yourself to eventually help change the world. "Straitjacket" has a jagged feel for me and the techno background seems to accentuate the craziness we feel when someone we care about seems to be doing things just to drive us mad. "Versions of Violence" has a bit of a sensual rock feel. I love the textures of the music and Alanis' voice has never sounded better. "Not as We" is one of my favorites. It talks about starting all over again "as I and not as we", "gunshy and quivering". I love the piano here. This song is elegant in its beauty and simplicity and reminds me of Enya. Sometimes we are strongest in our vulnerability. "In Praise of the Vulnerable Man" is simply that, a song celebrating the sexiness of a man who doesn't need all that armor. "Moratorium" - Alanis actually took a break from relationships to breathe and get her focus back. That is what this song explores. It's a way to let go, stop looking outside, stop searching, and re-find yourself, a "breather from the flavors of entanglement". "Torch" gives me chills. Alanis is so relatable in her description of missing someone. "I miss your smell, and your style and your pure abiding way." The guitar and strings are lovely and simply fit the poignancy of someone who says she "never dreamed I would have to lay down my torch for you." The list of all the little and big things we miss when we lose an important relationship is so evocative and so authentic. This is another of my favorites. "Giggling again for no reason" is a fun light dance tune. "Tapes" is all about the stories other people tell us and the voices we hear inside that aren't our own beliefs. It's actually liberating to realize these are untrue. I really like the song "Incomplete". I love its hopeful melody. It ends the cd on an uplifting note. It speaks of all the dreams we have of being complete, being healed, being enlightened. Still, at the same time, it expresses what I feel is the message of the cd. "I have been running so sweaty my whole life urgent for a finish line/I have been missing the rapture this whole time of being forever incomplete." The joy is in the imperfection, in the journey. At a time when digital track purchases are so common, it is rare for me to find a cd that I love completely but Alanis' new cd is just that. It is a solid collection -- rocking, edgy, authentic, flavorful. Alanis has gone through the seriousness of youth and she seems so much more at peace. Flavors of Entanglement explores where Alanis has been and where she is now. There is introspection, reflection, sadness and joy and the cd ultimately soars. I give it 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it.
 
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Overall, I thought this was a very good album. I was hoping for a sound more like Alanis's "Jagged Little Pill" days (I STILL listen to those songs over and over) but this was much different. Different isn't always a bad thing and this album definitely demonstrated that. I felt it was a very emotional, heartfelt album. If you weren't familiar with Alanis Morissette before, you can kind of get a feel for some of her personal conflicts & emotions here. I felt that she really expressed herself well and compiled a very good album! Alanis rocks! :)
 
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This is one of her best CDs ever! She's ever evolving and Flavors of Entanglement is beautiful.
 
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