Reviewers tremble and fans form long lines as rock's newest behemoth-er unloads her snappily-titled and voluminous sequel to 'Jagged Little Pill'. Rumour has it that at the age of seven Alanis was already forming her first record company. It didn't do too well from her first two albums, but her third, 'Jagged Little Pill', sold 28 million copies so they bought a new coffee machine for the office and sent Alanis on a trip to India to plan her next move.

'S.F.I.J.' (as it will henceforth be abbreviated), has got nothing to do with Monica Lewinsky and everything to do with, well, everything. It is very long (almost 72 minutes) and very wordy (5,345! I counted) and is actually very intriguing but not nearly as immediately accessible as 'Jagged'. Alanis reunited with 'Jagged' producer Glen Ballard and filled these 17 songs with her psyche-cleansing stream of lyrics and assured grasp of a variety of rock styles. First single 'Thank You', thanks "India, frailty, terror and consequence" (among others) over a lovely, restrained backing. 'Ur' is an autobiographical folk song with Alanis blowing a sweet harmonica and singing "Precocious you are, headstrong you are, ahead of your time you are".

'Are You Still Mad' has Alanis whining the title 15 times (I counted) to her (ex?) lover. If he isn't still mad, he will be at the end of this song. But the U2-ish 'One' and the gentle love-poetry of 'So Pure' and 'Unsent' redress the spite balance. 'Front Row' and 'Joining You' are confident grunge-rock and 'Baba's guitar squall mirrors Morissette's rage directed at fake, mal-intentioned Buddhists.

'S.F.I.J' is a big, bold and demanding album that repays your attention. The NME called it "A presumptuous record that mistakes incontinence for ambition" (Isn't THAT ironic!).  If you like this lady's style then you'll love this.

Stephen "Sugar" Segerman

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