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''Under Rug Swept'' is the fifth album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette. Released by Maverick Records in the United States on February 26, 2002 and in the United Kingdom a day earlier (see 2002 in music), it was the first album Morissette had written and produced on her own. It debuted at number one on charts in twelve countries, including Canada, and produced the singles "Hands Clean" and "Precious Illusions". Sales, however, did not match those of Morissette's previous two studio albums. - Wikipedia

At the outset of her sixth album, Alanis Morissette doesn’t offer a lotof hope for those who might wish to court her. There are, she sings, “21Things I Want in a Lover,” and while these are “not necessarily needsbut qualities that I prefer,” it’s a formidable list of virtues upto and including being “uninhibited in bed.” But before you get inline, listen to the rest of Under Rug Swept, another of the deep foraysinto the zen and psyche of relationships that Morissette started with her 1995breakthrough, Jagged Little Pill, and continued on 1998’s SupposedFormer Infatuation Junkie.

Under Rug Swept actually has more of the former’s virtues—challenginglydirect lyrical insight cased in tight, tuneful songs (featuring contributionsfrom the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, Stone Temple Pilots’ Dean DeLeo,Me’shell Ndegeocello and others—while avoiding the kind of cerebralexpansiveness that made the latter a less satisfying endeavor. The 11 songshere range from castigations of ne’er-do-well boyfriends (“Narcissus,”“Flinch,” “Unsexy”) to proclamations of unconditional love(“You Owe Me Nothing in Return”) and her own romantic foibles (“PreciousIllusions”). And in “A Man” she demonstrates an admirable empathyfor the subject of both her ire and her affections. The best news, however,is that Under Rug Swept is perhaps Morissette’s finest musical achievement,with crunchy guitar rockers such as “21 Things” sharing space withthe piano-dominated Sarah McLachlan-esque airiness of “That ParticularTime,” while tracks such as “Precious Illusions,’’ “YouOwe Me Nothing in Return” and “Surrender” flaunt a modern popfeel that wouldn’t sound foreign coming from Britney Spears or *NSYNC—except,of course, that Morissette’s lyrics and inherent musicality make them farmeatier propositions. Morissette may make it sound like it’s hard to loveher, but it’s not at all difficult to fall for the music on Under RugSwept.