Welcome to the Gryphon Gazette! This site is run by the HCAM journalism club and is our main source for publishing our work. Everything you read was selected and created by students.
Want to feel pretty old, or super young if you don’t know what we’re talking about? Well, then you oughta know that Alanis Morissette’s highly acclaimed debut album Jagged Little Pill is now twenty years old! The album that sparked female rock-angst all around the world is still to this day the highest selling debut album of any artist with an astonishing 30+ million copies sold. Morissette’s international debut sparked several big hits such as “You Oughta Know,” “You Learn,” “Ironic,” “Head Over Feet,” and “Hand in My Pocket” throughout 1995 and 1996. Her unique voice still gets stuck in all of our heads when we listen to one of her powerful songs twenty years later. After two dance-pop albums exclusively released in Morissette’s native Canada, the then 19 year old singer decided to make a change and start fresh with her career by moving to Los Angeles, California, in 1994. There she met highly acclaimed music producer Glen Ballard who helped Morissette write and record a new album she felt could express how she really felt. Finally, a year and a half later, the album, titled Jagged Little Pill after a lyric in the track “You Learn,” was released internationally by Maverick Records. Nobody expected the album to achieve much. Alanis’ hopes were for it to just sell enough for her to buy herself out of her contract with Maverick Records. However, after the record’s first single, “You Oughta Know,” hit the airwaves, there was no stopping what she had started. By the beginning of 1997, Jagged Little Pill had sold an astonishing 12 million copies, making it one of the best selling records of the 90s. By this point, however, Morissette had already started production on her follow-up album. On November 3, 1998, Alanis Morissette’s second international album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, was released. Well-received by critics as a healthy return, the album spawned a few minorly successful singles such as “Thank U,” “So Pure,” and “That I Would Be Good.” She would go on to release four more albums in 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2012 respectively. Although she hasn’t been focused on in mainstream music coverage much anymore, Alanis Morissette’s beloved debut album still has a special place in all of our hearts. According to recent interviews, Morissette’s next record is expected to be released sometime next year, and she is currently about to publish a self-help book. A 4-disc collector’s edition of Jagged Little Pill is now available in select stores and online. Written by Logan Sherrill
Since Halloween is creeping up on us, it’s about time to get into that spooky mood! Here are some songs to do just that. My top 10 favorite Halloween songs I would like to recommend to you.
10. Dig Up Her Bones - Misfits This song comes off of the band’s 1997 album American Psycho and it is the only single off of that album. It was also the first single released after their reformed lineup after the original incarnation broke up in 1983. But the reason I decided to put it on here was mainly the horror movie vibe the lyrics give you. The music video even has old horror movie clips mixed with live shots of the band, and Graves’ graveyard scenes. This will definitely get you on your feet and singing along!
9. Somebody’s Watching Me - Rockwell With the Michael Jackson sung chorus, and Jermaine Jackson backing vocals, this song has huge star power. The electronic backing beat makes it perfect for Halloween parties, and practically everyone knows this song. Basically a 10/10 in my book.
8. A Nightmare On My Street - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince This song comes off their second studio album, He’s The DJ, I’m The Rapper, and it was briefly considered for Nightmare On Elm Street 4, and for good reason. This hilarious track will have everyone attempting the rap and dancing to the song. Definitely another Halloween classic almost everyone knows.
7. It’s Almost Halloween - Panic! At The Disco A great one for right about now, this song will get you super stoked for Halloween to come. The music video features A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out era Panic! in various costumes at a Halloween party and dancing in the woods. What more could you want out of a song and video really? I mean, Ryan Ross is dressed as a mummy wearing sunglasses. Come on.
6. This Is Halloween - Marilyn Manson I chose the slightly more creepy version of the song off of Nightmare Revisited A. because I love Manson, and B. because I feel his version can be geared more towards parties with teens instead of kids. If you are going for a more child-friendly approach, I definitely suggest the original movie version or the Panic! version. Anyway, this version is totally more spooky, which I dig quite a bit, and this is another classic with some slight tweaking.
5. Jump In The Line - Harry Belafonte This one is mainly on here for its part in the movie Beetlejuice. It is featured towards the end of the movie, when Lydia has befriended the ghost couple Barbara and Adam, and with their help, levitates and dances in the air with various household items moving with her. This song always reminds me of the movie and I believe it deserves a place on the list.
4. Addams Family Theme Everyone will sing along and snap to this tune. It's a bonafide classic and its references to the creepy and spooky make it an altogether perfect song for this time of year. This song might even be a throwback for some people that watched the original show or have seen the film. A surefire win for any Halloween event.
3. Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper This song is probably one of my absolute favorites of Alice’s. Its ghoulish and funky vibe will definitely put you in the Halloween spirit. And, again if you have anything going on with the little ones, you could play them the performance he did on the Muppets of this, which I think is pretty hardcore of him. The father of shock rock. On the Muppets.
2. I Put A Spell On You - Screamin’ Jay Hawkins I chose this as my number two, because even though Alice Cooper may be the father of shock rock, Screamin’ Jay really got it started back in the 50’s. I mean, for the performances of this song, he rose out of a coffin, wore a cape and tusks through his nose, and had a smoking skull onstage named ‘Henry’. And Hawkins didn’t even intend for it to be a creepy song, it just ended up coming out that way. And that’s why I like it.
1. Thriller - Michael Jackson Really? Did you expect anything else at number one? This song has had people dancing to it since the 80’s. Even prison inmates can get down to Thriller, as seen in the 2007 viral video of the CPDRC dancing inmates imitating the zombie dance from the John Landis-directed music video. If people don’t know this song or the dance by now, you probably need to show them. Also, check if they live under a rock perhaps. Written by Ariel Rose
|