So-Called Chaos

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So-Called Chaos
Studio album by Alanis Morissette
Released May 18, 2004 (U.S.)
Recorded 2003 at Groovemasters, Santa Monica; The Village Recorder, Los Angeles; Henson Studios, Los Angeles; Stage and Sound, Los Angeles
Genre Pop rock,[1] alternative rock
Length 41:05
Label Maverick
Producer Alanis Morissette, Tim Thorney, John Shanks
Alanis Morissette chronology

Feast on Scraps
(2002)		 So-Called Chaos
(2004)		 Jagged Little Pill Acoustic
(2005)
Singles from So-Called Chaos
  1. "Everything"
    Released: April 13, 2004
  2. "Out Is Through"
    Released: August 17, 2004
  3. "Eight Easy Steps"
    Released: October 19, 2004
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic (56/100)[2]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Blender [3]
Entertainment Weekly C+[4]
The Guardian [5]
PopMatters (?)[6]
Robert Christgau [7]
Rolling Stone [8]
Stylus (F)[9]
Yahoo! Music UK [10]

So-Called Chaos is the sixth studio album (fourth released internationally) by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, released in May 2004.

History

It had been two years since Morissette released her fifth studio album, Under Rug Swept. In that time she had met her then fiancé Ryan Reynolds, inspiring many of the songs she wrote for So-Called Chaos. The album found her in a more contented and relaxed state than her previous output, and her songs were brighter and happier than her more volatile works like "You Oughta Know" and "Uninvited". One reporter asked if the song "This Grudge" was based on the same person as "You Oughta Know", and Morissette replied, "Different person, same era."[11]

The first single, "Everything", was released to U.S. radio in the spring of 2004, and was met with mixed reaction. U.S. Adult Top 40 radio stations gave the song good airplay, but mainstream and top 40 stations were colder in their reception, and consequently it became Morissette's lowest peaking single on the Billboard Hot 100. "Everything" was included on the Totally Hits 2004, Vol. 2 compilation, and in 2006 it was featured in the film Clerks II.

Some reviews of So-Called Chaos were positive, with many critics calling it her most accessible and mainstream record since her debut Jagged Little Pill (1995). Still, others thought she had "sold out" for the sake of sales and radio play; Rolling Stone magazine, for example, said the album "attempts to reverse the sliding record sales following [Jagged Little Pill]."[8]

The album debuted at number two on the Canadian albums chart with first week sales of 11,200,[12] and at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 115,000 copies in its first week in the U.S. and 287,000 that same week worldwide.[13] It spent a week in the U.S. top ten before falling down the chart. As of March 2012, the album has sold 474,000 copies in the U.S.[14] The second single outside the U.S. was "Out Is Through", which had a poor showing in the UK. The second U.S. single was "Eight Easy Steps", which, despite being accompanied by an elaborate music video,[15] failed to chart on the Hot 100 or cause a significant increase in sales of the album, which had already fallen off the Billboard 200. "Excuses" was released as a radio single in Brazil, where it peaked outside the top 40.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alanis Morissette. 
No. Title Length
1. "Eight Easy Steps"   2:52
2. "Out Is Through"   3:52
3. "Excuses"   3:32
4. "Doth I Protest Too Much"   4:03
5. "Knees of My Bees"   3:38
6. "So-Called Chaos"   5:03
7. "Not All Me"   3:58
8. "This Grudge"   5:07
9. "Spineless"   4:15
10. "Everything"   4:36

Personnel

  • Alanis Morissette – vocals, producer, piano, keyboards, art direction
  • Eric Avery – bass
  • Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
  • Kenny Aronoff – drums
  • Paul Bushnell – bass
  • Scott Gordon – programming, engineer, drum programming
  • Bill Lane – assistant engineer
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Kevin Mills – assistant engineer
  • Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards
  • Tim Thorney – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, producer
  • Guy Oseary – A&R
  • Joel Shearer – acoustic guitar, bouzouki, guitar, guitar (electric)
  • Paul Livingstone – sitar
  • John Shanks – guitar, bass, keyboards, producer
  • Shari Sutcliffe – project coordinator
  • Sheryl Nields – photography
  • Errin Familia – assistant engineer
  • Mark Valentine – engineer
  • Zac Rae – piano, keyboards, vibraphone
  • David Levita – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • Jason Wormer – assistant engineer
  • Jeff Rothschild – programming, engineer
  • Rich Tosi – assistant engineer
  • Danny Strick – A&R
  • Frank Maddocks – art direction, design
  • Jason Orme – electric guitar
  • Blair Sinta – drums, programming

Charts

Album

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart 2
Austrian Albums Chart 1
Dutch Albums Chart[16] 1
European Top 100 Albums[17] 1
German Albums Chart 1
Swiss Albums Chart 2
Chart (2004) Peak
position
Italian Albums Chart 4
French Albums Chart 5
U.S. Billboard 200 5
UK Albums Chart 8
Swedish Albums Chart 10
Israeli Albums Chart[citation needed] 12
Australian Albums Chart[citation needed] 15

Singles

Year Title Chart positions
CAN U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Hot 100 Airplay U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Adult Top 40 U.S. Top 40/Pop UK AUS
2004 "Everything" 3 76 75 - 4 36 22 15
"Out Is Through" - - - - - - 56 -
"Eight Easy Steps" - - - - 27 - - -

Other charts

Single Chart (2004) Peak
position
"Everything" Italy Top 50 Singles 6
Austria Top 75 Singles 12
Norway Singles Top 20 17
Switzerland Top 100 Singles 22
Single Chart (2004) Peak
position
"Everything"
Ireland Top 50 Singles 26
Germany Top 100 Singles 29
France Singles Top 100 63
"Out Is Through" UK Top 75 Singles 56
Switzerland Top 100 Singles 67
Germany Top 100 Singles 75
"Eight Easy Steps" U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1 9

1 Remixes

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Metacritic score
  3. ↑ Blender review
  4. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  5. ↑ The Guardian review
  6. ↑ PopMatters review
  7. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived April 30, 2007)
  9. ↑ Stylus review
  10. ↑ Yahoo! Music UK review at the Wayback Machine (archived June 10, 2004)
  11. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20040427191319/http://www.icemagazine.com/stories/202/alanis.asp
  12. ↑ "Krall beats out Alanis on charts". Jam! Showbiz. May 26, 2004. Retrieved January 25, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Usher Album Remains On Top". Billboard. May 26, 2004. Retrieved January 25, 2007.
  14. ↑ Trust, Gary. "Ask Billboard: What Are the Billboard 200's Longest-Charting Albums Ever?". Billboard. December 24, 2012.
  15. ↑ Cohen, Jonathan. "Alanis 'Steps' Back Into The Past In New Video". Billboard. August 13, 2004. Retrieved January 25, 2007.
  16. ↑ Bauder, David. "Alanis Morissette's 'So-Called Chaos' Sells 887,000 Units Around the World in First Week". Associated Press. June 1, 2004. Retrieved December 1, 2006.
  17. ↑ Sexton, Paul. "Lavigne Returns To Top Of U.K. Album Chart". Billboard. May 31, 2004. Retrieved January 25, 2007.

References

External links

Alanis Morissette
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Other releases
Live releases
Concert tours
Films
Related articles
Book:Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette singles
Alanis
Now Is the Time
Jagged Little Pill
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
MTV Unplugged
Under Rug Swept
So-Called Chaos
Jagged Little Pill Acoustic
  • "Hand in My Pocket"
The Collection
  • "Crazy"
Flavors of Entanglement
Havoc and Bright Lights
Other releases
Soundtrack songs
Promotional singles
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