Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie

Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Studio album by Alanis Morissette
Released November 3, 1998
Studio Royaltone Studios, Los Angeles
Genre
Length 71:50
Label Maverick, Reprise
Producer Glen Ballard, Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette chronology
Space Cakes
(1995)		 Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
(1998)		 MTV Unplugged
(1999)
Singles from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
  1. "Thank U"
    Released: October 13, 1998
  2. "Joining You"
    Released: January 3, 1999
  3. "Unsent"
    Released: March 18, 1999
  4. "So Pure"
    Released: June 14, 1999
  5. "That I Would Be Good"
    Released: February 8, 2000

Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie is the fourth studio album and second internationally released album by singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, released by Maverick Records in the United States on November 3, 1998.

Background

After the massive success of Jagged Little Pill (1995), Morissette was considered one of the biggest music stars in the world, and many fans anxiously awaited a follow-up album. A dark and wandering album, the mystery of Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie began on its cover, with an image of Alanis's mouth while laughing and the following text printed over that image that refers to The Eight Precepts of Buddhism.

“ We ask you to abide

by the following
moral code upon
the premiess. [sic]
Please refrain from
killing
stealing
lying
sexual misconduct
taking intoxicants
playing music, singing
please dress respectfully.

 ”

Morissette wrote "Thank U" and "Baba" after her trip to India in 1997. The protagonist of "Baba" goes on a spiritual pilgrimage to India where she encounters a guru who, like many spiritual teachers in India, is referred to as "Baba". The word "Baba" means "father" in the Hindi language. Morissette opened most of shows during the Junkie era with the song, and it was featured as an opener during her 2002 tours. It has been seldom played since then. "Baba" opened Morissette's performance on the television show MTV Unplugged in 1999, but it was excluded from the CD release Alanis Unplugged. Another live version of "Baba" was released on the No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees CD. In a 2012 interview with fans, director Kevin Smith confirmed that "Front Row" was partially inspired by a phone conversation he and Morissette once had. They were mutually attracted to each other but never actually dated. His suggestion of naming the reasons they weren't a couple became part of the lyrics.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Robert ChristgauA−[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
Slant[7]

Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie received positive reviews from music critics.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic awarded the album four stars. He labeled the album a "clear step forward". But they had concluded saying "Morissette is a weird acquired taste, due to her idiosyncratic vocals and doggedly convoluted confessionals -- but it certainly confirms that she doesn't quite sound like anyone else, either."[2]

Robert Christgau gave the album an A-. He said about Morissette, "Morissette blows up to such a scale" and concluded "Here's hoping lots of young men feel the same."[3]

Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly gave it B+, complimenting the new style. He said "I'd counter that Morissette has used her year-plus recording hiatus and newfound star status wisely, in pursuit of a way to make a vulnerable, openhearted album in the face of intense commercial expectations". He also compared some of the tracks to her previous Jagged Little Pill.[4]

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine gave it a very positive review from Morissette's career, awarding it four-and-a-half stars out of five. He complimented Morissette's emotions and writing in the album, but also said "The album is nearly 15 minutes too long (did an ode to her mother, the sweet "Heart Of The House," really need to be made public?), but not one moment of Junkie's 70-plus minutes is less than captivating."

Commercial performance

It debuted at number one on Billboard 200 with 469,000 copies sold in its first week, and the New Zealand Albums Chart, Morissette's second consecutive number one album, and was certificated 2× Platinum by RIANZ, selling over 30,000 copies. The album also debuted at number one in Switzerland, and stayed in the charts for thirty-one weeks. It was certified Platinum in that country. The album debuted at number nine in Norway, but fell out, until it re-entered at number one, staying there for three weeks. It was certificated platinum there as well. It also peaked in the top ten in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, France, Sweden and other European countries. The album has sold 2,604,000 copies in the United States as of March 2012.[8] The album sold 2.2 million copies worldwide on its first week of release and over 5.2 million copies worldwide within a month.[9]

Accolades

"Thank U" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and "So Pure" was nominated in the category of Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

The album itself won a Juno Award for Album of the Year.

Promotion

As with the previous album, Morissette did an extensive amount of touring in support for this record. In the fall of 1998, she embarked on a club tour across North America with select appearances in Europe, Asia and Australia. The North American leg of the tour included opening act Chris Whitley.

Guitarist Nick Lashley and bassist Chris Chaney remained for this album's touring from the previous years, although there were several new band members. The band now incorporated a keyboardist, Deron Johnson, and welcomed guitarist Joel Shearer (from the Jagged Little Pill recording sessions) and drummer Gary Novack. Morissette herself continued playing guitar (however more so than previous tours) and harmonica. She also started playing the flute in concerts, during the song "That I Would Be Good".

In January 1999, "The Junkie Tour" kicked off, and lasted through July, then returned in October up until the end of December. Opening acts included Garbage and Liz Phair, among others. The worldwide tour had alternating setlists for every leg, but included the usual set openers and closers. The concert introduction music was a track from DJ Shadow, entitled "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt".

During the tour, Morissette wrote the song "Still" for the Kevin Smith film, Dogma. This song was performed live for the first time in July at Morissette's VH1 Storytellers special. After that special, she performed in front of thousands during 1999's Woodstock concert festival in New York. Unlike the previous tours, Morissette focused mainly on performing songs that had been released and didn't perform any new songs, aside from a couple B-sides during the second half of the year.

In May, Morissette and Tori Amos announced the "5 1⁄2 Week Tour" which filled the touring void in August and September before "The Junkie Tour" re-commenced. The tour would be a joint venture, as they both co-headlined the bills. Toward the end of the tour, Morissette recorded her MTV Unplugged concert special. During the final weeks of "The Junkie Tour", keyboardist Deron Johnson left the band and was replaced, and Gary Novack took a temporary leave and was replaced as well.

Morissette announced a summer tour in 2000 called "The One Tour" which kicked off with two dates in North America, before continuing in places she had never toured (or rarely toured) before across Europe and parts of Asia. In each city, she selected an ambassador through a website contest on "Z.com", to show her around and teach her the culture. It was after this tour that Morissette kicked off MSN and DirecTV's concert series, Music in High Places where she performed acoustic on the Navajo Nation in Arizona, and also learned the cultures, practices, traditions and songs from the natives in the area. This was Morissette's final performance and release that tied into promotion for Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie before she started writing her follow-up, Under Rug Swept.

Singles

The first single from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, "Thank U", was released to U.S. radio in October 1998. It charted considerably high in initial airplay because of the anticipation for the album, but many critics and listeners who had pigeonholed Morissette as an angry woman were surprised by the song's calm and serene feel. Released in November, the album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 with the highest first-week sales for a female artist at the time, selling 469,054 copies in its first seven days. She held this record for two years, until being outsold in first week sales by Britney Spears' Oops!...I Did It Again which sold 1.3 million copies in 2000. It held the number-one spot for an additional week, before falling to eighth place in what is generally a busy shopping period because of the holiday season. 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, and as of September 2008 it had sold 2.6 million copies in the U.S.,[10] less than a fifth in sales of that of Jagged Little Pill.

Though not an official single release in the US, "Joining You" became a modest hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart; it was released as the album's second single in the UK and Europe. "Unsent", the second US single, peaked outside the top 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The third single "So Pure" made the top 40 in the UK as well as certain airplay charts in the US, though not the Billboard Hot 100. None of the singles revived significant interest in the album.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Alanis Morissette; all music composed by Morissette and Glen Ballard, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Front Row"  4:13
2."Baba"  4:29
3."Thank U"  4:18
4."Are You Still Mad" (Alanis Morissette)4:04
5."Sympathetic Character" (Alanis Morissette)5:13
6."That I Would Be Good"  4:16
7."The Couch"  5:24
8."Can't Not"  4:35
9."UR"  3:31
10."I Was Hoping"  3:51
11."One"  4:40
12."Would Not Come"  4:05
13."Unsent"  4:10
14."So Pure"  2:50
15."Joining You"  4:24
16."Heart of the House" (Alanis Morissette)3:46
17."Your Congratulations" (Alanis Morissette)3:54

Unreleased songs

B-sides and unreleases

There had been many songs performed live during the tour in support of Jagged Little Pill, and during festivals in between albums that did not appear on the album. It was never specified if those songs were supposed to be included or not, but one of the songs did make its way through, "Can't Not" which was first performed live on January 12, 1996 along with "King of Intimidation" & "No Pressure Over Cappuccino". This version of "Can't Not", however, was slightly more mellow—and differed from the demo version previewed on the home video, Jagged Little Pill, Live. The song "King of Intimidation" (also previewed on the video) was never released on any album until the Jagged Little Pill 2015 deluxe edition, but appeared in a live clip along with the original "Can't Not" live clip on 2005's The Collection DVD.

"No Pressure Over Cappuccino" was another song that popped up from the previous tours, but not until 1999's live album, Alanis Unplugged. This song was previewed on the above-mentioned video, but only in acoustic form. That version is mistakenly believed to be a studio demo, but it is merely an acoustic version performed with the band. The final song previewed on Jagged Little Pill, Live is "Death of Cinderella", Alanis debuted the song live on December 6, 1995, It had never been released until the Jagged Little Pill 2015 deluxe edition. Other songs include "Gorgeous", "London", "Pray for Peace" (a.k.a. "She Gave Me a Wink") which has never been released but she played it for the first time in concert on October 18, 1997, and two untitled songs that fans refer to as "The Weekend Song" (or "I Don't Know") Which debuted in concert on February 4, 1996 and "After A Year Like This One" on July 12, 1996. A live version of "London" appeared as a B-side to the "Joining You" and "Unsent" singles, The studio version was later released on the Jagged Little Pill 2015 deluxe edition with "Gorgeous" as well, both songs debuted in concert on June 8, 1997.

Aside from the songs written and performed during concerts 1995–1997, there were songs specifically written for Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. "Pollyanna Flower" was released as a B-side to "Thank U", while "These Are The Thoughts" appeared on the single to "Joining You" (and later on Alanis Unplugged). "Can't Not" was originally intended to be a B-side, but Morissette and Ballard decided to put it on the record. Another song left off the album was "Princes Familiar", whose studio version has yet to surface. It has only been released in live, acoustic form on both Alanis Unplugged and The Collection.

Demo versions

Over the past several years, demos of songs have leaked online. These demos include:

  1. "Thank U" (with additional verses and lyrics, as well as a more upbeat drum track).
  2. "Unsent" (not available in high quality, but features 2 extra verses, and different names).
  3. "That I Would Be Good" (including Morissette clearing her throat in the beginning, a slight lyric change in one of the verses and a slightly longer flute solo).
  4. "Can't Not" (30 second clip)
  5. "Uninvited" (just vocals and piano, officially released on the "Thank U" single and the Japanese and Australian releases).
  6. "These Are The Thoughts" (Features backing vocals and lyric changes, officially released on the "Jagged Little Pill" Deluxe edition release).

Personnel

  • Alanis Morissette – flute, harmonica, piano, vocals, producer, photography
  • Glen Ballard – synthesizer, guitar, piano, programming, producer, engineer, string arrangements
  • Benmont Tench – organ, chamberlin
  • David Campbell – string arrangements
  • Scott Campbell – engineer
  • Gary Novak – percussion, drums
  • Joel Shearer – guitar
  • Jolie 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

Charts

Chart (1998–99) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[11] 2
Austrian Albums Chart[12] 3
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[13] 5
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[14] 15
Canadian Albums Chart 1
Dutch Albums Chart[15] 2
Finnish Albums Chart[16] 4
French Albums Chart[17] 5
German Albums Chart[18] 1
New Zealand Albums Chart[19] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[20] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[21] 2
Swiss Albums Charts[22] 1
UK Albums Chart[23] 3
U.S. Billboard 200 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1998) Position
German Albums Chart[24] 46
Chart (1999) Position
German Albums Chart[25] 15

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[26] Gold 30,000*
Australia (ARIA)[27] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[28] Platinum 20,000*
Belgium (BEA)[29] Gold 25,000*
Brazil (ABPD)[30] Gold 100,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[31] 4× Platinum 400,000^
Chile (IFPI Chile)[26] Gold 10,000
Czech Republic (IFPI Czech Republic)[26] Gold 6,000
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[26] Platinum 50,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[32] Gold 20,846[32]
France (SNEP)[33] 2× Platinum 600,000*
Germany (BVMI)[34] Platinum 500,000^
Indonesia (RIAI)[26] Gold 10,000
Ireland (IRMA)[26] 3× Platinum 45,000^
Italy (FIMI)[26] 2× Platinum 200,000*
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[26] Platinum 30,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[26] Platinum 200,000^
Mexico (AMPROFON)[26] Gold 100,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[35] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[36] 2× Platinum 30,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[37] Platinum 50,000*
Portugal (AFP)[26] Platinum 20,000^
Singapore (RIAS)[26] 2× Platinum 20,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[26] Platinum 100,000^
Sweden (GLF)[26] Platinum 80,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[38] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[39] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[40] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[41] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie Review | Alanis Morissette | Compact Discs | Reviews @". Ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  2. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie: Allmusic". Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Alanis Morissette". RobertChristgau.com. Robert Christgau. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  4. 1 2 Tucker, Ken (November 2, 1998). "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  5. ↑ "Top Pop Albums - Page 2". Los Angeles Times. December 3, 1998. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  6. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (December 10, 1998). "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". Rolling Stone (801). Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  7. ↑ Cinquemani, Sal (November 5, 2003). "Alanis Morissette: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  8. ↑ Trust, Gary. "Ask Billboard: What Are the Billboard 200's Longest-Charting Albums Ever?". Billboard. December 24, 2012.
  9. ↑ Indestronable
  10. ↑ Caulfield, Keith. "Ask Billboard - Losing 'Flavor'". Billboard. September 8, 2008.
  11. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  12. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  13. ↑ "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  14. ↑ "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  15. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  16. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  17. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  18. ↑ "Alanis Morissette discography". officialcharts.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  19. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  20. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  21. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  22. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  23. ↑ "Alanis Morissette - Artist". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  24. ↑ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  25. ↑ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Mayfield, Geoff (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. p. 65. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  27. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1998 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  28. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Alanis Morissette in the field Interpret. Enter Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  29. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 1998". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
  30. ↑ "Brazilian album certifications – Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos.
  31. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". Music Canada.
  32. 1 2 "Alanis Morissette" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  33. ↑ "French album certifications – Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  34. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alanis Morissette; 'Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  35. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.
  36. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". Recorded Music NZ.
  37. ↑ "Norwegian album certifications – Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  38. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Alanis Morissette; 'Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  39. ↑ "British album certifications – Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  40. ↑ "American album certifications – Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  41. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1998". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
Preceded by
Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life by Jay-Z		 Billboard 200 number-one album
November 21 – December 4, 1998 		Succeeded by
Double Live by Garth Brooks
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