Eight Easy Steps

A GREAT SINGLE

Alanis Morissette made her welcome return to the music scene in May 2004 with her fourth proper studio album, and first in more than two years. It was called "So-Called Chaos," and in my opinion is one of the best albums of the year to date! Being the massive fan of Alanis that I am (yeah, my Amazon nick name was influenced by her as I consider myself to be a somewhat jagged teenager - not the norm!), I anticipated the release of her new album months before and practically counted down the days. I wasn't expecting anything to top "Jagged Little Pill" and "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" in terms of genius and breaking ground, but still my expectations were high. I wasn't overtly impressed when I first heard "Everything," but it did grow on me. There was one song, however, that I did like, which was called "Out Is Through." I was happy and surprised when I heard this would be the second single from the album. The second single in Europe, that is. The second song that the States received was "Eight Easy Steps," the album's opening track, which is one of the best Alanis songs ever! Eight Easy Steps opens strangely with a little whispered line from Alanis and soft percussion beats layered over an almost psychedelic hum that evokes Eastern chanting images. After eight seconds Alanis starts singing the first verse, "How to stay paralyzed by fear of abandonment. How to defer to men in solveable predicaments. How to control someone to be a carbon copy of you. How to have that not work and have them run away from you. How to keep people at arms length and never get too close. How to mistrust the ones who supposedly love the most. How to pretend you're fine and don't need help from anyone. How to feel worthless unless you're serving or helping someone." Alanis sings these lyrics at a sonic speed in what seems like a stream-of-consciousness style. This works extremely well with her voice and what is her trademark left-of-the-middle lyrical style. Alanis then sings the chorus, "I'll teach you all this in 8 easy steps. A course of a lifetime you'll never forget. I'll show you how to in 8 easy steps. I'll show you how leaderships looks when taught by the best." The chorus that has just been is an all out rocker with heavy guitars and chunky beats, and then it dies down for the second verse, where Alanis sings, "How to hate women when you're supposed to be a feminist. How to play all pious when you're really a hypocrite. How to hate God when you're a player and a spiritualist. How to sabotage your fantasies by fears of success." Alanis then repeats the chorus, before moving into the best bit of the song, "I've been doing research for years! I've been practicing my ass off! I've been training my whole life for this moment I swear to you! Culminating just to be this well-versed leader before you!" The desperation for recognition in her voice is hilarious and adds humour to the song, before Alanis sings, "How to lie to yourself and thereby to everyone else. How to keep smiling when you're thinking of killing yourself. How to numb a la holic to avoid going within. How to stay stuck in blue by blaming them for everything." Alanis then repeats the chorus a few more times as this fast-paced Alanis-classic draws to a satisfying conclusion. The video to Eight Easy Steps is quite remarkable, almost scary! I had heard a lot of positive comments over it, and was desperate to see it. I've only seen it once, but that's enough! It is so remarkable that it will stick in your mind for ages! The theme basically is a montage of all Alanis' past videos from her nine years (1995-2004), but what is interesting is that the mouths of Alanis in her old videos ("Ironic," "You Learn," "You Oughta Know") have been removed and a new voice is singing Eight Easy Steps! On paper the concept sounds corny but technology has made this a seamless production and early child footage of Alanis singing the song is just plain creepy! All in all, a fantastic song with a great video.

Just beware that this is not a 'normal' single, it's a single with a lot of mixes of the song. I didn't realise that at the time of purchase, d'oh!

This is the first official maxi single in Alanis' career with dance mixes on it. I love Alanis, and she has firmly established herself as a rock singer, so I never expected to see any dance mixes on her singles, and never have, and accepted it, as she is brilliant anyway with her original sound. And here we go, single totally made for club goers! Some artists hire remixers to expand their audience or be heard in more venues (clubs in this case), some do it because their musical style asks for it. Many agree that Alanis got softer with her last album So Called Chaos, and remixing may be part of that transition. I don't know, I don't care, I only welcome what she is doing. The mixes presented on this single sound great, offering different vibe for different kinds of dancefloors. There are other songs, including those from her previous albums, that are more remixable than this one, to my opinion, but I still give this one 5 stars for the good effort and hopefully starting a new trend for her upcoming releases.

I've been a HUUUUGE fan of Alanis for a long time and this is the first time i've ever heard remixe's of her songs, whilst they all sound good my favorite by far is the Flipper Dalton and Jez Colin mix because the other 3 sound v simular to each other whilst the Flipper mix has got so much going on in it, and i especially love the way Alanis's vocals seam to drag very slowly in the background, kinda like a wailing noise and has a real deep n dark vibe throughout. I also 'googled' the 2 of them and was pleasantly surprised to see that Flipper Dalton has also worked with some of my other fave artiste's on the planet like Dj Sasha and Darren Emerson, not to mention The Prodigy and P. Diddy...does anyone know what else he has done or where he comes from?

TOP CD Singles from Singer/Songwriters & Sometimes Dance Divas 1. White Flag - Dido 2. Forca - Nelly Furtado 3. World on Fire - Sarah McLachlin 4. Intuition - Jewel 5. Eight Easy Steps - Alanis Morrissette 6. Pavement Cracks - Annie Lennox 7. Welcome to My Truth - Anastacia 8. Voodoo - Amber (The Second Single from her fantastic "My Kind of World" CD. This track, presently being Remixed for a 2005 Release follows on the heals of the XM Radio #1 "You Move Me" (avail as a MAXI Single). Other Standout Tracks include the Pat Benatar-esque "Just Like That" and the Whitney Houston Meets Pat Benatar Power Ballad "Sacrificial Lamb")

Alanis FINALLY releases a cd maxi-single of remixes! Here are the tracks: 1. Eight Easy Steps ~ Thick Dick Filter Mix 2. Eight Easy Steps ~ Jez Colin & Flipper Dalton Remix 3. Eight Easy Steps ~ The Orange Factory Mix 4. Eight Easy Steps ~ Smitty & Gabriel D. Vine Remix Original version of "Eight Easy Steps" is available on her latest lp SO-CALLED CHAOS.

I met the Music of Alanis Until their Album Under Rug Swept, and I found very good their music style, this album for my it is the best although it is not the best in sales, later listen their previous albums and really that good music has you this girl, Eight Easy Steps is very good it Single, its rhythm, the letter, everything in general.

Llego muy en tiempo y empaquetado muy bien. El disco padrisimo! Uno más para la colección. :) Diosa Alanis! Gracias

This is not an album of her songs, this is one long and repetitive song the whole album is like that.

Los remixes son buenos. Quizá no para bailar pero sí para escuchar y moverte un poco. Lo recomiendo sólo para seguidores de Alanis