''Under Rug Swept'' is the fifth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
and third internationally released album by Canadian singer-songwriter
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...
. Released by
Maverick Records
Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...
in the United States on February 26, 2002, and in the United Kingdom a day earlier (see
2002 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.
Specific locations
* 2002 in British music
* 2002 in Norwegian music
* 2002 in South Korean music
Specific genres
* 2002 in classical music
* 2002 in country musi ...
), it was the first album Morissette had written and produced all on her own. It debuted at number one on charts in 12 countries, including the United States and Canada, and produced the singles "
Hands Clean
"Hands Clean" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, for her fifth studio album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). It was written, composed, and produced by Morissette and released as the album's lead single in January 2 ...
" and "
Precious Illusions
"Precious Illusions" is a song written, performed, and produced by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette for her fifth studio album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). It released as the album's second and final international single on May 20, 2002. Its lyr ...
". Sales, however, did not match those of Morissette's previous two studio albums.
Background and production
Before recording of the album began, when she had not written songs or journal entries for nine months,
[ Morissette went to ]Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
not knowing whether she was going to write songs herself or with someone else. In the first week of her stay she had written seven songs alone, and she described the writing process as "really fast and accelerated". As on her previous albums, Morissette took a stream-of-consciousness
In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First Li ...
approach to the songwriting. She wrote the music and lyrics at the same time, spending around twenty minutes or less on each song, and recorded the vocals during the writing process, in one or two takes. "I really wanted to make sure that I wrote in the studio so that, while I was writing, I could be singing it at the same time", she said.[Stringer, Jeffrey]
"She's Only Human: An Interview with Alanis Morissette"
. Borders Group. March 4, 2002. Retrieved April 5, 2007. According to Morissette, she had a "little space station" with a keyboard, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, her journal and a microphone set up, and everything was recorded onto DAT.[Vineyard, Jennifer]
"Alanis Morissette: The Silence Is Over"
MTV News
MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
. January 31, 2002. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Morissette had not planned to produce an album on her own, saying "It was just a matter of when it would happen organically". She "kept things from becoming overwhelming" by refraining from cross-connecting her producing, songwriting and performing duties.[Flick, Larry]
"Alanis Excels On Her Own"
''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''. January 19, 2002, vol. 114, iss. 3, pg. 1.
Production of the album was delayed when Morissette became involved in disputes with executives at Maverick Records after she testified at U.S. Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
hearings against artist-unfriendly record contract practices. As she put it, she had to go through lawyers to "have a dialogue with people" and take an extended period of time to "have one little thing figured out". Because she was accustomed to having the producers on her albums act as "the buffer to the outside world" during recording, she found it a challenge to handle the situation on her own. "I was trying to be isolated enough to tap into my artistry while keeping people at bay who don't know fuck all about nurturance", she said.[ Eventually, it became "too much" for Morissette and she took negotiations into her own hands, which meant she had to halt her work on the album: "I had to be willing to throw the record away and not ever release it."][
Despite the relatively low sales of Morissette's previous two albums, ''Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie'' and '' MTV Unplugged'' (1999), compared to those of her international debut album, '']Jagged Little Pill
''Jagged Little Pill'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, released on June 13, 1995, through Maverick. It was her first album to be released worldwide. It marked a stylistic departure from the dance-pop sound of her ...
'' (1995), Maverick Records considered her a strong commercial asset and were concerned that she would leave because of the disputes and release the album on another label. For a time Morissette was threatening to leave Maverick (according to ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''), until label founder Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
intervened and persuaded her to stay.[Reese, Lori]
"You Oughta Know"
''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''. June 15, 2001. Retrieved January 28, 2007. During the delay, Morissette brought in musicians such as bassists Eric Avery (formerly of Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from t ...
) and Flea
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
(of Red Hot Chili Peppers), Dean DeLeo
Dean DeLeo (born August 23, 1961) is an American guitarist known for his work with rock band Stone Temple Pilots. DeLeo is also known for his role in the short-lived bands Talk Show and Army of Anyone. He is the older brother of Robert DeLeo, ...
(guitarist for Stone Temple Pilots) and Me'shell Ndegeocello to play on the album. After this period, in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, she previewed the track "Utopia" that she wrote in January 2002 on her website.
During the making of the album, Morissette wrote 27 songs,[ which she eventually narrowed down to 17.][ When she was mixing and producing the album, every time she reached the 11th track she, as she put it, "would shut down. My brain would shut off and I just felt like it was information overload ... I didn't want to overwhelm myself or anyone else in the process of trying to cram them all onto the double CD." She planned for several of the excluded songs to be released as single B-sides or on a separate EP to be released after the album; eight of them were released on a CD/DVD package, '']Feast on Scraps
''Feast on Scraps'' is an Alanis Morissette CD/DVD package released on December 10, 2002. The DVD was filmed during a concert in Rotterdam, Netherlands and the CD contains B-sides and unreleased studio tracks left off Morissette's album ''Und ...
'', released in late 2002. "I just could not face the idea of letting all of these songs go", she had said. "They're all precious to me. It's just a matter of finding the right framework in which to share them with the world."[
]
Themes
Morissette has said that during the writing and recording of the album, she noticed a unifying theme emerging of "the desire to mend unions and bridge gaps. Whether it be between genders or between human beings, between spirits."[van der Kooy, Dan and Cook, Shanon]
"Alanis not about to be swept under the rug"
. CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
. July 5, 2002. Retrieved April 5, 2002. She said that when she began working on the album, she was at "the middle of the beginning of the end of a relationship", and that entering the studio and writing new material "would propel me to face some of the truths that were scaring me. Inevitably, we ended up breaking up, so the record kind of followed the grieving of it, then the proverbial phoenix rising and continuing to grow."[ ''Under Rug Swept'' was also influenced by the extensive travelling Morissette did between recording sessions, particularly her stay at a ]Navajo
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
reservation: "The sense of community the Navajo people
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
really focus on, there's a similar sense of community I felt when I traveled, when we toured through the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
", she explained. "It permeates what I yearn for and I try to create it as best as I can through the songs". She described the album as melodically and sonically "more structured" than her previous album, '' Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie'' (1998).
The first track, "21 Things I Want in a Lover", features Morissette listing the qualities she looks for in a partner. "There's a part of this song where I'm joking, but there's a whole part of this song where I'm dead serious", she said. "Because the palm sweating, heart palpitating beginnings of a relationship often result in a huge amount of incompatibility, so the concept of compatibility is so much more important to me as I get older."["Alanis Morissette talks about songs from 'Under Rug Swept'"]
. MSO. Retrieved April 5, 2007. "Narcissus" describes, as Morissette puts it, "that dichotomy of loving someone and really wanting it to work and wanting to bridge the gap and bridge the chasm and, yet at the same time, being totally repulsed by the qualities that are being presented and the pain that comes from it."[ She said the intention of writing "]Hands Clean
"Hands Clean" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, for her fifth studio album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). It was written, composed, and produced by Morissette and released as the album's lead single in January 2 ...
" was "to get to a place where I could be as truthful and as honest as I possibly could be about certain relationships in my past ... oftentimes I feel by not speaking the truth, by being silent, there's an element of an untruth in that ... tsometimes can feel just as horrible as a lie to me."[
" Flinch", the fourth track, was written about an experience Morissette had during which she almost ran into a man who had a profound effect on her: "I was surprised at how many years had passed but still I was responding to the situation as though I had been spending time with him two minutes earlier ... I do believe that I will be able to get to a point where hearing his name or even running into him or hearing from him won't trigger me as much as it did and still does."][ With "]So Unsexy
"So Unsexy" is a song written by Alanis Morissette, and produced by her for her fifth album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). It was released in Brazil as the seventh and final single in November 2003.
Background and theme
According to Morissette, "So ...
", Morissette said she was "really trying to get into the underbelly of some of my insecurities and why little tiny things that are innocuous and inconsequential are translated in my own mind as to be taken so personally ... as long as I have my own back, it's not as scary and it's not as horrifying."[ In "]Precious Illusions
"Precious Illusions" is a song written, performed, and produced by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette for her fifth studio album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). It released as the album's second and final international single on May 20, 2002. Its lyr ...
" she discusses "the difference between really being alive and really embracing the reason why I'm here on this earth versus my just being asleep and sleep walking and accepting the status quo and accepting somewhat of a suffering mentality to being here. It really is my responsibility to distinguish the difference between the two and choose which one I want."[
Track seven on the album, "That Particular Time", documents a breakup and "the three distinct chapters in the relationship" Morissette was going through. "]ove
Ove or OVE may refer to
*Ove (given name)
*Ové, a surname
*Ove Peak in Antarctica
*''A Man Called Ove (novel)'', a novel by Fredrik Backman
*'' A Man Called Ove'', a 2015 Swedish film based on the novel
*Danish Organisation for Renewable Energy (O ...
took many different forms, and I was beating myself up for a long time for being in a relationship that just didn't feel right", she said. "But then I realized that it was a very loving act for me to stick it out for a minute or two to really kind of see whether there was something worth continuing to explore in a romantic way."[ She said of "A Man", which is written from a male point of view as a response to "Narcissus", "For once I try to feel a bit of empathy and to imagine how it feels being a man in these confusing times ... I try to react as an honourable man to the vibes of erroneous machos who are damaging the image of my sex." "You Owe Me Nothing in Return" is, in Morissette's words, "about the real definition of what love is ... wanting for someone that you love what they want for themselves. And at the same time not sacrificing my own life and my thoughts and my own beliefs. Supporting someone in their choices and at the same time being able to express what mine are, even if they differ, is the ultimate healthy, loving interaction."][
The tenth and penultimate track, " Surrendering", was the last song Morissette wrote for the album. According to her, it is "about the gratitude that I feel for someone tapping into the courage that it takes to allow themselves to be loved and to drop the defenses and fears ... And how thrilling it is for me to be able to be let in that kind of way ... It's a very peaceful, joyful song".][ Morissette considers "Utopia" a summary of the feminine and masculine elements in the relationship chronicled in the album: "For me, it's like they're sitting together in the same car and are finally driving down the same road in the same direction and there's a meeting of both worlds."][ She said that when she wrote it, she knew it would be the last track.
Morissette wrote several political songs such as "Awakening Americans" and "Symptoms" during the making of the album, but she decided not to include such material in spite of an online petition lobbying for their release. Morissette said she doesn't "resonate" with overtly political songs because they are "removed too much" from her personal experiences: "I love sitting up at two in the morning talking religion, but when it comes to my songs, it's just rambling, soapbox, obnoxious", she said.][ "Awakening Americans" and "Symptoms" were eventually released as ]B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
s.
Promotion
''Under Rug Swept'' was closely guarded before its release: for journalists to listen to it, they had to be invited to Maverick Records headquarters and listen to a single play copy in a special listening room.["Alanis Morissette - Swept Up"]
''Chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
''. March 2002, no. 134. Retrieved April 5, 2007. In July 2001 Geoff Mayfield of ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' was quoted as saying that because of the popularity of artists such as Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
and Staind
Staind ( ) is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, and dr ...
, it was a "good year for rock ... It's not just one kind of rock that's connecting right now — the palette is varied. For an artist uch as Morissette
Uch ( pa, ;
ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ;
ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town ...
who comes from rock, this could be a fertile time."[ Other industry insiders said it may become a commercial return to form for Morissette; '']The Record
The Record may refer to:
Music
* ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear
* The Records, an English power pop band
* '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee Ge ...
'' noted Morissette's age- and gender-transcendent appeal, the "smart" lyrics on the album and the appropriateness of its "soulful introspection and spiritual awareness" in a post-9/11
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
society, and how Morissette "stands out from everyone else on radio ... there are few artists addressing relationships in a serious way, especially from a female point of view."
"Hands Clean
"Hands Clean" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, for her fifth studio album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). It was written, composed, and produced by Morissette and released as the album's lead single in January 2 ...
", the album's first single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
, began receiving radio airplay in the United States on January 8, 2002, and it debuted at number one in Canada following its physical release while also reaching number one in New Zealand. It peaked inside the top 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US, where it was most successful at Adult Top 40 and Hot AC radio; in one week more Hot AC stations added the single to their playlists than any other song in history. It was considered a comeback single for Morissette, and it was her most successful single since 1998 in most countries, reaching the top ten in Australia and the top 20 in the United Kingdom. For February, the album's month of release, Morissette was "Artist of the Month" on AOL Music
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...
and also performed at the 2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, Utah.
Critical reception
Reviews of ''Under Rug Swept'' on its release were generally positive.[ '']Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' described the album as "supreme" and "very human ... tsatisfies with moments of darkness, enlightenment, anger, bittersweet tension, and happiness ... Although 2002 is still young, consider ''Under Rug Swept'' one of the year's best." '' Q'' magazine said the album was "a smart shot across the bows ... some of the most inviting music of her career ... Morissette has fashioned a lyrical Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...
to be wheeled into unsuspecting homes for months to come."[ ]Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
wrote, "The pop-rock here lacks the faux- punk edge n ''Jagged Little Pill''
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
... But Morissette instantly demonstrates her gift for the catchy ... topping memorable verse with indelible chorus, she's a self-actualized nut who goes for what she wants, exactly as pretentious as the college girls she represents for."[ According to '']LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...
'', the album "is Alanis Morissette in top form, exercising her God-given right to vent and sound beautiful doing so."
Other critical appraisals were less favorable. ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', in a three-star review, wrote "The music is brawny and meticulous ... ut''Under Rug Swept'' just about drowns in psychobabble. While the tone of the songs, and the grain of Morissette's voice, promise intimacy, there's hardly a private detail anywhere."[ '']Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' said "the album's garbled title is also preparation for some of the clumsiest lyrics to be heard on a pop record in years ... The songs are riddled with such overwritten Psych 101 ruminations."[ '']The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' criticised the lyrics, saying "Much like even non-football fans used to be mesmerized by Cosell">owardCosell's genius for never using two words when 23 would do, you don't have to be a love-damaged 17-year-old girl to find ''Under Rug Swepts dense verbiage a trip. Words tumble forth and arrange themselves kaleidoscopically into all sorts of unusual categories ... I'm just not sure that pop music should come out of a thesaurus." ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' called it "a tedious album" with "overwrought folk-rock like 'Surrendering' and 'Hands Clean' destined for a thousand organic juice bars. Lyrically, it's often hilarious ... This record moves way beyond armchair psychology — in fact, there are armchairs that have a cannier grasp of the mind."[
''Under Rug Swept'' received a ]Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
nomination in the category of Pop Album of the Year. Morissette herself won the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year
The Juno Award for "Producer of the Year" has been awarded since 1975, as recognition each year for the best record producer in Canada. It was renamed the "Jack Richardson Producer of the Year" award in 2003, after Jack Richardson (record producer ...
award for the songs "Hands Clean" and "So Unsexy", and she was nominated in the Artist of the Year
''Artist of the Year'' is a television competition shown on the Sky Arts channel (formerly known as Artsworld and Sky Arts 1) which aims to find the best portrait and landscape painter every year.
Overview
Through several rounds of regional comp ...
category. (For more information, see Juno Awards of 2003
The Juno Awards of 2003 were presented in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on 6 April 2003. The primary awards ceremony was hosted that evening by Shania Twain at the Corel Centre (now Canadian Tire Centre) and televised on CTV television network, CTV.
...
.)
Commercial performance
''Under Rug Swept'' entered the Canadian albums chart at number one with first week sales of 35,000 copies, and the CRIA certified it platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
the following month for shipments of 100,000. In the US the album sold 215,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart during a busy sales week following the 2002 Grammy Awards
The 44th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main recipient was Alicia Keys, winning five Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for " Fallin'". U2 won four ...
ceremony; it stayed in the top spot for a week. Within a month of release it had sold 500,000 copies, and the RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
certified it platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
for shipments of over one million. ''Under Rug Swept'' debuted at number one in 12 countries,[Schneider, Mitch/Nelson, Lathum/Rondan, Marcee]
"Alanis Morissette's 2002 American Tour To Kick Off May 1 in San Diego; Ryan Adams To Open First Half; Front Row Tickets To Be Auctioned For 'Equality Now'; 'Under Rug Swept' Reaches Three Million Worldwide Sales; Alanis Shoots Video For Upcoming Single 'Precious Illusions'"
. MSO. April 24, 2002. Retrieved January 28, 2007. including Germany, Japan, and Australia.
. MSO. March 6, 2002. Retrieved December 1, 2006. It debuted at number two in France and the United Kingdom, where the BPI certified it gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
for shipping 100,000 copies.
The album stayed in the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' 200 for five weeks and on the chart for 24. A second single, "Precious Illusions
"Precious Illusions" is a song written, performed, and produced by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette for her fifth studio album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). It released as the album's second and final international single on May 20, 2002. Its lyr ...
", was released on May 20, 2002, and reached number four in Canada, but it failed to chart on the US Hot 100 or inside the top 40 in Australia or the UK. Later in 2002, Morissette embarked on a world tour, which did not pick up album sales. In August she performed at the V2002 festival in England. After the failure of "Precious Illusions", Maverick did not commercially release any more singles from the album, although "So Unsexy
"So Unsexy" is a song written by Alanis Morissette, and produced by her for her fifth album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). It was released in Brazil as the seventh and final single in November 2003.
Background and theme
According to Morissette, "So ...
" was tentatively slated as the third single at one point.[ Promotional singles were issued internationally: " Flinch" and "So Unsexy" in ]Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, "21 Things I Want in a Lover
"21 Things I Want in a Lover" (sometimes referred as just "21 Things") is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette for her fifth studio album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). "21 Things I Want in a Lover" was all written, arran ...
" in Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, " Surrendering" in Canada, and "Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
" in the US.
As of March 2012, ''Under Rug Swept'' has sold 1,020,000 copies in the US,[Trust, Gary]
"Ask Billboard: What Are the Billboard 200's Longest-Charting Albums Ever?"
''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''. December 24, 2012. less than half the amount sold by ''Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie'' by the same date. According to a Maverick Records press release, ''Under Rug Swept'' had sold 3.8 million copies worldwide by February 2004.[Schneider, Mitch/Rondan, Marcee/Nelson, Lathum]
"Alanis Morissette 'So-Called Chaos' New Studio Album Now Set For A May 18 Release; First Single And Video Is 'Everything', Song Will Go To Radio March 23"
. MSO. February 10, 2004. Retrieved January 28, 2007.
Track listing
Personnel
*Alanis Morissette – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, producer, creative director
*Rob Jacobs – recording
*Brad Nelson – recording
*Chris Fogel – mixing (tracks 1–6, 8–11)
*Rob Jacobs – mixing (track 7)
*Nick Lashley – guitar
*Joel Shearer – guitar
*Tim Thorney
Tim Thorney (February 4, 1955 – June 15, 2021) was a Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and record producer, working out of his studio Villa Sound near Collingwood, Ontario.
History
Thorney first came to prominence as a recording engineer and s ...
– guitar, bass guitar
*Dean DeLeo
Dean DeLeo (born August 23, 1961) is an American guitarist known for his work with rock band Stone Temple Pilots. DeLeo is also known for his role in the short-lived bands Talk Show and Army of Anyone. He is the older brother of Robert DeLeo, ...
– guitar (tracks 1 and 6)
* Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards
*Mark Stephens – keyboards, piano
*Richard Davis – keyboards, Pro Tools, engineer
*Carmen Rizzo – keyboards, programming, engineer
*Chris Chaney
Christopher A. Chaney (born June 14, 1970) is an American musician. He is best known as the former bassist of alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, and as a member of Alanis Morissette's touring and recording band for six years. Chaney was a ...
– bass guitar
*Flea
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
– bass guitar (track 2)
* Meshell Ndegeocello – bass guitar (tracks 5, 9)
* Eric Avery – bass guitar (track 6)
*Chris Bruce – bass guitar (track 3)
*Gary Novak
Gary Novak (born in 1969) is an American session drummer who has collaborated with numerous artists as varied as George Benson, Maynard Ferguson, Chick Corea Elektric Band, Brandon Fields, Lee Ritenour, Michael McDonald, Natalie Cole, David Sanbo ...
– drums and percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
*Richard Causon – piano (track 7)
*Andrew Scheps – additional Pro Tools editing
*Michael Harlow – engineer
*Brian Walters – assistant engineer
*Jeremy Janeczko – assistant engineer
*Lior Goldenberg – assistant engineer
*Alex Uychocde – assistant engineer
*Kevin Guarnieri – assistant engineer
*Aaron Fessel – assistant engineer
*Pete Novak – assistant engineer
*Chris Wonzer – assistant engineer
*Jeff Rothchild – assistant engineer
* Jason Brennan – mix engineer
*Bryan Carrigan
Bryan Carrigan is an American music producer, engineer, and electronic musician that has been involved in the production of studio albums and film scores. Carrigan is also known for serving multiple roles in the recording studio as music editor, ...
– mix engineer
*Rick Tapper – assistant mix engineer
*Carlos Cano – assistant mix engineer
*Vince Giannini – guitar technician
*Bruce Nelson – guitar technician
*Jeremy Janeczko – drum technician
*John Talbot – keyboards technician
*Rich Mazzetta – Dean's guitar technician
*Dave Lee – Flea's bass technician
*Shari Sutcliffe – coordinator
* Rankin – photography
*Frank Maddocks – creative director, art direction and design
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Notes
References
* Unknown (2002). In ''Under Rug Swept'' D liner notes
D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''.
History
The ...
United States: Maverick Records
Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...
.
* "Alanis Morissette - Artist Chart History" ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''. Retrieved December 5, 2006.
* "Alanis Morissette - Billboard Singles" ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' and AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
. Retrieved December 5, 2006.
External links
Review
by ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
''
*
{{Authority control
2002 albums
Alanis Morissette albums
Maverick Records albums