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Only in the world of rock...

1994. Liz Phair unleashes the girl power manifesto Exile in Guyville, a brash, galvanizing song for song answer to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. Critics proceed to go potty, and while an obsessed minority of music fans embrace it, Guyville is ignored by the record buying public. The following year, Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill scales the top of charts eventually becoming the most successful female debut of all time. The press, however, slam Alanis as Liz Phair-light for the mall crowd.

2004. Alanis, now accepted as a major recording artist, has spawned a whole new generation of songwriting sirens who love to twist their tongue over an appealing lyric. In a complete role reversal, indie darling Liz Phair gets crapped on by her former champions in the music press who decry her 2003 self-titled album as a shameful, hit seeking mid life crisis. The critics' disdain stems mostly from the fact Phair collaborated with The Matrix, the songwriting team who worked with the most successful and reviled of the Alanis inspired - Avril Lavigne.

So if Liz Phair is supposedly now the new Avril who supposedly copied Alanis who supposedly copied Liz then... Oh Christ, I've frozen my brain with this cyclical mumbo jumbo! At any rate, both Alanis and Avril have recently released spankin' new albums within a week of each other. Here's how they stack up:

Alanis' So-Called Chaos combines the New Age soul searching of Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie with the more melodic commercial punch of Under Rug Swept. Unfortunately, this doesn't add up to a Jagged Little Pill, still one of the best albums of the past fifteen years. Obviously Pill pusher Glenn Ballard made for a perfect foil, but it'll take a few more albums for Alanis to risk being perceived as running back to the producer who helped jumpstart her career. Still, our girl is doing just fine on her own. "This Grudge" ,an updating of "You Oughta Know", is the prettiest song Alanis has ever done. She also steps refreshingly away from her earth mother image by spoofing herself on the title track. So-Called Chaos falters only when Alanis tries to rock out - it isn't that she can't - but "Eight Easy Steps", "Knees of Bees", and "Spineless" sound a little too close for comfort on a CD with only ten songs. Finally, no Alanis album would be complete without a funky phrased lyric à la Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie's "Anti-biiiiii-ahhtics!" on "Thank You". Here the kicker is Alanis' intonation of "Ahs-HOLE!" on the album closer and leadoff single "Everything".

Avril Lavigne, with her lame ass ties, slight grasp of rock history, and general all around Hop Topic punkyness, has been hard to take seriously (atleast for anyone over twenty) - so what a nice surprise to see her "mature" on Under My Skin. Stung by accusations that The Matrix were the real deals behind her tunes, Avril has dropped the team in favor of singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk. While she could have silenced all "who writes what" questions if she collaborated with no one but herself, the songs on Under the Skin render such problem solving wonderfully mute. From start to finish, this is a kick ass album, less poppy than Let's Go, and all the more better for it. Perhaps its because for the first time Avril sings with actual conviction rather than the "you just stole my PS2 controller" anger she mustered on Let's Go. Unlike most teen idols, Avril has beat the sophomore slump and produced an album from the heart; hopefully her audience will let her grow up.

THE VERDICT: While Alanis may write a more thought provoking lyric, Avril comes out on top with the CD you'll continually be grabbing for.

So-Called Chaos
Rating: (2 1/2 out of 4 stars)

Under My Skin
Rating: (3 out of 4 stars)