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Tori/Alanis question
Hmmm.
Which one will be remembered in twenty years? Both. Definitely.
I really don't think there would've been Lilith Fair if there hadn't been
"You Oughta Know." That song was a commercial explosion. Then the whole
album was. Very few albums are that successful with that many singles.
It put women artists on the popular music radar in a whole new way.
Given, sales stats shouldn't be used to measure the artistic merit of an
album. But they can be used to measure the immediate impact of an album.
(Not always true, of course. The Velvet Underground. 'nough said.)
That said, Alanis is, at the very least, growing as a musician and
writer. And she hasn't produced anything that was teeth-shattering
aweful. **Warning: disclaimer** She has had songs be **made** aweful,
on the other hand, by supermegahowlingpleasegodhelpme over-playing.
Among my personal rules: if I like a song, and I have the album, and it's
new and frequently played, and it comes on the radio, I change the
station. Non carborendum illegitimi. Or something like that. Don't let
'em kill your tunes, dude.
Anyway, I expect good things from Alanis, b/c she's heading toward a
peak, rather than falling swiftly from "You Oughta Know." (By the way,
Flea and Dave Navarro play on that song. That's part of why it kicks
butt.) (I know some of you don't think it kicks butt, and I accept you
just the way you are.)
Tori's a genius. Tori did that amazing version of "Smells Like Teen
Spirit." Tori's first album alone earns her props. She believes a lot
of things I disagree with, but, from what I've heard, which is not
enough, she makes complex, personal, moving art like nobody's business.
I'm pretty sure they'll both be on the books for a long time comin'.
Then, so will Debbi Gibson. Put her paragraph is shrinking (shoved in
next to Back Street Boys, New Kids, Marky Mark, Take That, N Sync . . .
), and Tori and Alanis both have growing sections that won't be
condescending to them.
Tori has definitely proved herself more thoroughly, at this point. But I
give Alanis ten years to make a masterpiece. She's earned that much.
Ani Difranco plays her guitar like a six string drum, and I love it.
Pax,
Fred
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