So-Called Chaos
So-Called Chaos is the sixth studio album 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."The first single, "Everything", was released to US radio in the spring of 2004, and was met with mixed reaction. US 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. 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 ."
The album debuted at number two on the Canadian albums chart with first week sales of 11,200, and at number five on the US Billboard 200, selling 115,000 copies in its first week in the US and 287,000 that same week worldwide. In the United States, So-Called Chaos became Morissette's first album to miss the number-one spot. It spent a week in the US top ten before falling down the chart. As of March 2012, the album has sold 474,000 copies in the US. The second single outside the US was "Out Is Through", which had a poor showing in the UK. The second US single was "Eight Easy Steps", which, despite being accompanied by an elaborate music video, 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
Personnel
- Alanis Morissette – vocals, producer, piano, keyboards, art direction
- Eric Avery – bass guitar
- 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
- Joel Shearer – acoustic guitar, bouzouki, guitar, guitar
- 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
- Frank Maddocks – art direction, design
- Jason Orme – electric guitar
- Blair Sinta – drums, programming
Charts
Album
Year-end charts
Singles
Other charts
Single | Chart | Peak position |
"Everything" | Italian Singles Chart | 6 |
"Everything" | Austrian Singles Chart | 12 |
"Everything" | Norwegian Singles Chart | 17 |
"Everything" | Swiss Singles Chart | 22 |
Single | Chart | Peak position |
"Everything" | - | - |
"Everything" | Irish Singles Chart | 26 |
"Everything" | German Singles Chart | 29 |
"Everything" | French Singles Chart | 63 |
"Out Is Through" | UK Singles Chart | 56 |
"Out Is Through" | Swiss Singles Chart | 67 |
"Out Is Through" | German Singles Chart | 75 |
"Eight Easy Steps" | US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play1 | 9 |
1 Remixes