The first retrospective of the career of Alanis Morissette, The Collection spans 1995-2005 with hits and more, as a new recording, "Crazy" joins some of the most popular songs of the era, from "You Oughta Know" and "Hand in My Pocket" to "Ironic."

The Collection by Alanis Morissette spans the singer/songwriters career. Some great tracks are here from her Jagged Little Pill, Infatuation Junkie, Under Rug Swept, and So-Called Chaos. There is a cover of the Seal classic, Crazy. If you are an Alanis nut like me, I highly recommend this gem, enjoy!!

This is a good collection of all of her music to date. No hits seem to be missing on this one.

The reason I am giving this one star is because the hit, huge hit if I might add "All I Really Want" was left off. I remember buying this in the 90's and that song was all over the radio. It's also a great song. I don't understand why in the world they left it off. It's her best song. It's funny how you can go to i-tunes and type in Jagged Little Pill and all the kids download the five singles from this album, but not "All I Really Want" showing you they weren't around at the time to see how big that song was. They only look at this collection and take the five songs from Jagged Little Pill and download them.

OK now, let's be honest. Mention Alanis Morissette and most people think of one thing: "Jagged Little Pill". I was the same way. Alright, maybe throw in "Uninvited". I was never able to get interested in any of her other music. But, sometimes things sound better years later than they did when they were new. Maybe we mature, or become more open-minded. Maybe the music itself acquires a different "aura" when experienced as a thing of the past. Whatever the reason, I believe that I respect Alanis more now than I did even at the height of the popularity of "Jagged". After re-hearing the "Jagged" tracks ("You Oughta Know", "Hand In My Pocket", "Ironic", "You Learn" and "Head Over Feet", all of which sound excellent thanks to the remastered sound) and studying the ones I hadn't paid attention to before, I've come to regard her as the iconic philosopher of Gen X. And, if anyone still harbors doubts that her music rocks, let him or her listen to this entire collection, and then we'll talk.

Since the "Jagged" tracks are pretty familiar to all, I will concentrate on those that came later. "Thank You" is a song about healing and rationality. As Alanis herself has admitted, she went through a difficult period of chaos and suffocation during the "Jagged Little Pill" frenzy. In this song, she has emerged from that trauma, and she is serenely giving thanks to every person, place and thing that helped her through the dark period back into the light. In "Eight Easy Steps", which has a rocking Eastern ("Thank you, India") vibe, she points out the common but seemingly insoluble problems we all face. Example: "How to keep smiling when you're thinking about killing yourself?" "Everything" is pure Alanis lyrically, but musically it could be a U2 ballad. Her cover of Seal's 1991 hit "Crazy" follows his pretty closely and rocks the same. In "Simple Together", Alanis sings sweetly about the difficulties and disappointments in relationships, backed by piano and beautiful strings; in a similar vein, she asks for unconditional acceptance in "That I Would Be Good". "Sister Blister" burns up the place like "Crazy" does, while Alanis sings about women who, while advocating on one hand "sisterhood", still trample each other down to please men. "Still", from the film "Dogma", reveals more Eastern influence musically while the lyrics seem to indicate that God is providing a self-description, which would make sense because Alanis plays the part of God in the film. The spiritual feeling continues in "Uninvited". This, one of my favorite tracks, is beautiful in its majestic, almost religious solemnity, one of the most successfully serious tracks I have ever heard by any artist.

The collection closes with "Hand In My Pocket", which probably touches me more personally than any other Alanis track. The video was played constantly on VH1 at the time when my father contracted an illness from which he didn't recover, so I will always associate that song, as well as Madonna's "Take A Bow" and the Stones' "Out of Tears", with that time, when I had a problem that, sadly, I could not fix.

The collecton is a good album, in fact I prefer it over "Jagged Little Pill." I will argue though with those who say that Alanis is a great or talented singer, she isn't. She can't hold a note for any length without it going sour; she can't sing a slow song without sounding shrill; she is terrible on the flute (which she does play on occasion.) I am not the only person who recognizes her limited vocal talent--which is to sing angry and make her point heartfelt. Lucky for her, her singing style mostly masks her clumsiness.

I still recommend this album, however, because Alanis is fresh and original. Her lyrics are oddly, even uncomfortably candid and yet mesmerizing, (even is she is not a poetic talent). This woman has a strange take on things and it comes across to the listener and gives them a window into to her weird world. Her talent is HER...her unpredictable and thoroughly self-centered thoughts...and her ability to capture them so nakedly in music.

And I will make another point: I do not believe that any other singer could sing these raw lyrics with the passion and honesty of Alanis. On anyone else these lyrics would seem a ridiculous joke. She is unique, not just in having such thoughts, but in boldy turning them into lyrics.