On THE COLLECTION, Alanis Morissette at the ripe old age of thirty-one takes a look back--not in anger, mind you--at one of rock’s most distinctive and impressive bodies of work. “I’ve always felt like acknowledging an era or a chapter of my expression is like a slate-cleaner,” says Morissette. “I really see this retrospective as a sorbet between entrees--and an opportunity for me to see where I’m coming from and indicating when I want to start out when I’m writing my next record next year. Also I’ve done a lot of far-flung things over the years--songs from movies or other projects--and I thought it would great having everything together in one place.”

Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, Alanis Morissette started making music at an early age. At ten she joined the cast of “You Can’t Do That On Television,” a popular children’s television program. She used some of the money she made on that show to start a record company with a friend and fund an independent single called “Fate Stay With Me.” Later, when her time on the show was over, Morissette signed a publishing contract and eventually a record deal with MCA Canada, releasing the album Alanis in 1991--for which she won Canada’s famed Juno Award for “Most Promising Female Artist.” The follow-up album Now Is The Time was released in 1992.

Morissette says she considered including some of her earliest recorded work here, but ultimately decided that it was when she came to America and started working with producer Glen Ballard in 1994 that she truly found her own voice as a singer-songwriter. “I could have included songs from when I was a teenager, but it was right around when I was 19 and jagged little pill where I first felt writing was a channeled experience,” Morissette explains. “That has a lot to do with where I was at then, with having met Glen Ballard, with my moving from Canada and moving away from any preconceived notions of how songs ‘should’ be written. It was the beginning of a new way to approach songwriting altogether.”

THE COLLECTION documents the seven-time Grammy Award winner’s stunning and enduring work since that key moment: from the massive worldwide success of jagged little pill--her Grammy-winning 1995 debut for Maverick Records that introduced her to the world and remains one of the most popular recordings in music history--through her eclectic and acclaimed subsequent albums, from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998), MTV Unplugged (1999), Under Rug Swept (2002), So-Called Chaos (2004) and jagged little pill acoustic (2005). She hand-picked all the material which includes songs from Alanis’ Feast On Scraps DVD/EP (2002), plus her contributions to the soundtracks for CITY OF ANGELS, DOGMA (in which she played the role of God in the Kevin Smith-directed film) and DE-LOVELY (in which she acted), as well as a song she recorded for THE PRAYER CYCLE album.

The 17 tracks on THE COLLECTION encompass a wide range of music, from the bracing rock of “You Oughta Know” and “Eight Easy Steps”; to an epic, string-laden rock ballad like “Uninvited”; to the alluring Eastern stylings of “Thank U”; to the confessional pop of “Hands Clean” and “Everything”; and to the irresistible dance rhythms of “Crazy,” Alanis’ newly recorded version of the Seal classic.

When she listens back to the work she’s collected here, the critically acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician found herself pleased with where she’s been. “I have to say--and I say this with total humility—that I love my songs,” Morissette notes with a laugh. “I feel really connected to them. Ryan, my fiancée, asked me the other night, `What is that like, just playing back your own music and actually enjoying it?’ The truth is that I do write songs that I enjoy, so I have no problem listening back to them. Seeing everything in one place is exciting on one hand, and also horrifying because of course I wanted to include every single song I’ve ever written. But I’m happy with THE COLLECTION because I think this is a really great combination of songs that are really familiar and those that are my personal favorites that some people might not know. I think it’s a nice balance of that.”

In the end, Morissette says she views sharing her songs as a sort of public yet deeply personal offering. “I have a commitment to get on tape exactly where I am at that particular time whenever I write a song,” she explains. “When I listen to this collection with some objectivity I think, ‘Wow, this is someone who is really committed to expressing themselves.’ I don’t think I would continue doing this in the public eye--and all that goes along with that life--if my purpose for doing it hadn’t adjusted along the way. When I was a teenager, I was doing it for so many different reasons. Over the last few years it’s become clear that the only reason I’d continue doing it is because it has become a social act, even an act of service, for me. I can share my personal experience and thereby support people in their personal journey--wherever they may be at. Otherwise I’d just sing songs in the shower and take up gardening.”

Gathered and displayed here from the personal garden of Alanis Morissette are some of her most beautiful and prized offerings--THE COLLECTION.