FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/MARCEE RONDAN/LATHUM NELSON

ALANIS MORISSETTE’S ‘SO-CALLED CHAOS’

SELLS 887,000 UNITS AROUND THE WORLD IN FIRST WEEK;

#1 ON THE OVERALL EUROPEAN ALBUM CHARTS;

TOP 5 DEBUTS IN 11 COUNTRIES, INCLUDING U.S.;

CO-HEADLINING ‘AU NATURALE’ SUMMER TOUR

LAUNCHES JULY 13 WITH BARENAKED LADIES

ALANIS MORISSETTE’s new album SO-CALLED CHAOS (Maverick Records) sold 887,000 copies in its first week of release, arriving at #1 on the overall European album charts. Ushered in with critical acclaim, the May 18 release entered the charts at #1 in Germany and Holland, with Top 5 debuts in the U.S., Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Brazil, Honk Kong, Italy, France and Japan. SO-CALLED CHAOS also landed in the Top 10 in England, Portugal and Taiwan as well as entering in the Top 15 in Belgium, Spain, Japan, Australia and Ireland. The disc has already been certified gold in Brazil, Germany, Taiwan and England.

“So-Called Chaos is a work of musical and lyrical maturity, yet the Canadian songwriter has never sounded more playful and less burdened,” noted Edna Gundersen in her three-star USA Today album review (5/18/04), while George Varga of the San Diego Tribune (5/9/04) hailed the album as her “…most reflective, honest and liberating to date.”

Co-produced by ALANIS, John Shanks and Tim Thorney, SO-CALLED CHAOS features 10 new songs written by the seven-time Grammy Award winner that set her free-flowing vocals, luminescent melodies and fervent introspection in a seamless mix of rock, pop, folk, electronic and Eastern stylings. In his Blender review (4/04), Stephen Holden said the music “bluntly mixes post-punk haranguing with singer-songwriter confessionalism.  Her signature sound–voice snarling through a tangle of massed guitars–is here, but so is a softer, more vulnerable tone.  The melodies, while radio-ready, have a stomping insistence.”

SO-CALLED CHAOS has been fueled by the success of first single “Everything,” currently #1 on Radio & Records’ AAA chart (fifth straight week) and #4 on Radio & Records’ Hot AC chart. The song’s video–directed by Meiert Avis, whose credits include U2, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan–is now in heavy rotation on VH1.

ALANIS will debut material from SO-CALLED chaos on her co-headlining “AU NATURALE” summer tour with Barenaked Ladies that July 13 in Cleveland and wraps August 14 in Cincinnati.

For more information about ALANIS, SO-CALLED CHAOS and the “AU NATURALE” summer tour, visit: www.alanismorissette.com.

Here are early critical soundbites for SO-CALLED CHAOS:

“Morissette continues to hike the self-discovery trail through the familiar terrain of love, awakening and growth…Across 10 songs that neatly entwine pop, folk, rock crunch, dance beats and Middle Eastern strains, Morissette’s strong and pretty voice conveys an urgency that feels uplifting rather than melodramatic. ‘So-Called Chaos’ is a work of musical and lyrical maturity, yet the Canadian songwriter has never sounded more playful and less burdened.”

–Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY, 5/18/04

“…a more forgiving voice who takes pain to see both sides of the romantic conflicts that still bedevil her…The music still bluntly mixes post-punk haranguing with singer-songwriter confessionalism.  Her signature sound–voice snarling through a tangle of massed guitars–is here, but so is a softer, more vulnerable tone.  The melodies, while radio-ready, have a stomping insistence.  An occasional note of exoticism (sitar flavors ‘Doth I Protest Too Much?’) colors the arrangement…This brainy seeker of truth and emotional well-being remains a proudly independent spirit.  Forgiveness becomes her.”

–Stephen Holden, BLENDER, April 2004

“Musically, it runs a broad gamut from Far Eastern filigrees (‘Eight Easy Steps’) through jangly operatics (‘Excuses’) and sweeping symphonics (‘Not All Me’), to stunning centerpieces like the sitar-rooted ‘Knees Of My Bees’ and the techno-looped title track, whose chorus approximates the celebratory vibe of an Ibiza rave.  The album–co produced by Morissette, Tim Thorney and the red-hot John Shanks–manages a rare feat, edifying as it entertains.  Listeners have a choice–they can dive deep to feel the author’s pain, or bounce along on the music’s sing-song surface.”

–Tom Lanham, PASTE, April/May 2004

“…might be Morissette’s most diverse record yet.  She flexes muscular rock chops on the refrain to the opening track, ‘Eight Easy Steps’; explores looping and a variety of tempos on the trippy, slightly psychedelic title track; dabbles in the sitar on the rocking ‘Knees of My Bees’; and successfully revisits the mid-tempo pop ballad on ‘Excuses’ and the haunting ‘This Grudge.’  No matter how much Morissette wanders musically, though, there are certain signature traits that hold steady.  First and foremost is the unflinching honesty that turned ‘You Oughta Know’ into a true pop/rock anthem…”

–Steve Baltin, PERFORMING SONGWRITER, March/April  2004

“…her most enjoyable album since the monumental “Jagged Little Pill” nearly a decade ago…She still exalts the power of love (the joy of “Knees of My Bees,” the nervous conviction of “Out Is Through”) yet she’s still licking old wounds (“This Grudge”) and trying to put the past peacefully to bed (the I- care-but-I-don’t-care stance of “Doth I Protest Too Much”). Probing examinations of failed relationships, self-analysis as kind as it is cutting…it’s superbly executed, with the sort of insight that makes angst-ridden offspring seem like shallow crybabies.” Grade: A-

–Ben Wener, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 5/14/04

“’Eight Easy Steps’ starts the album with a triumphal infomercial for the inverse of a self-help course, with topics like ‘How to keep smiling when you’re thinking of killing yourself.’”

—Jon Pareles, SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES, 5/16/04

“…the album is her most reflective, honest and liberating to date.  The album also suggests Morissette is happy to poke fun at her image as a lightning rod for female rage, after eliciting acclaim and controversy with such songs as 1995’s ‘You Oughta Know’ and ‘Right Through You.’  Witness her new album’s alternately moody and hard-driving opening cut, ‘Eight Easy Steps…Alanis Morissette trades angst and anger for playfulness and optimism on her often upbeat new album. It’s a welcome transformation that strengthens both her music and her ongoing quest to achieve happiness and fulfillment in an increasingly turbulent world. More reflective and less strident than her past work, the album finds the Canadian singer-songwriter exploring many of the same themes of self-empowerment, love and longing as on her 1995 breakthrough, ‘Jagged Little Pill,’ and her subsequent releases. But from the self-deprecating ‘Eight Easy Steps,’ which opens ‘So-Called Chaos,’ to the alternately whimsical and poignant reflections of the album-concluding ‘Everything,’ she sounds older, wiser, more at peace with herself and her surroundings. Her music reflects this growth, and while Morissette can still rock with conviction, she does so more deftly and with a greater command of texture and vocal and instrumental dynamics…what makes “So-Called Chaos” notable is how well its 10 songs hang together.”

–George Varga, SAN DIEGO TRIBUNE, 5/9/04

“Alanis Morissette cuts through the morass of her ‘So Called Chaos,’ looking for cures to what ails her and us, psychologically.  Jumping out first are ‘Doth I Protest Too Much,’ Morissette’s plaint to a guy with wandering eyes.  ‘Eight Easy Steps’ is a stinging indictment of a self-serving, self-loathing soul, and there’s giddy, celebratory confession in ‘Knees of My Bees.’”

–Jonathan Takiff, PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 5/16/04

“What sets Morissette apart is her ability to write crackling melodies, putting those words in a strong pop-rock setting. ‘You Oughta Know’ worked not only because of its sentiment, but because it was a great tune. For much of this disc, she and her band are at the top of their games.  ‘Everything’ is the first single here, but ‘Eight Easy Steps,’ ‘Knees of My Bees’ and ‘Out is Thru’ are just as hit-worthy.”

–David Bauder, ASSOCIATED PRESS, 5/17/04

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