Look Who’s Back

Round Two.

When Alanis Morissette stepped on stage at the downtown Warfield Theatre for the formal start of her first tour in nearly two years, there was so much of the anticipation and drama of a championship fight that you could almost hear the bell ring.

The opponent for the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter was the enormous creative and commercial expectations awaiting her new album, titled “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie” and due from Maverick Records on Nov. 3.

Morissette’s last album, 1995’s “Jagged Little Pill,” sold an estimated 15 million copies in the U.S. and offered hope in this age of one-hit wonders that a mainstream arrival could display the substance and craft to deserve long-term attention.

In such high-profile songs as “Perfect” and “You Oughta Know,” Morissette touched on issues of anxiety and self-esteem with the kind of boldness and insight that struck a nerve in audiences the way few artists do in each generation.

The danger of all this pressure is that it can smother artists, causing them to timidly repeat themselves or become so self-conscious about their writing that they lose the spontaneity and daring that fuels their artistry.

Morissette showed no sign of retreat or self-doubt Monday in a gutsy performance that previewed nine songs from the new album.

No one knows how close she can ever come again to the cultural and commercial synergy that causes a record to sell as many copies as “Jagged Little Pill.” But the new material, most of it co-written by Glen Ballard--producer of the first album and co-producer with Morissette of the new one--shows that she’s continuing to evolve in captivating ways.

There was a sign that Morissette was up to the challenge of the expectations three weeks ago when “Thank U,” a warmly embracing track from the upcoming album, was released to radio and quickly became one of the 10 most played records on pop formats.

The record’s musical textures have the same type of sparse but seductive feel that made the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” so hard to resist, while its theme is a celebration of life that is far from the angry, accusatory tone of “You Oughta Know.”

Still, one track does not an album make--and Morissette seems eager to showcase the new tunes on her brief tour, which includes a stop tonight at the Hollywood Palladium and will be followed early next year by an extensive arena tour.

Morissette, who was 21 when “Jagged Little Pill” was released, was never just the “angry young woman” of the media stereotype. But other emotions are easier to notice in the new material, which includes, as the album title suggests, some unexpected humor.

After an acoustic opening set by blues-rocker Chris Whitley, Morissette, who had done two club warmup dates in Santa Cruz over the weekend, came on stage and quickly got down to business. Pausing only to thank the crowd for its enthusiastic welcome, she went straight into “Baba,” a song from the new album.

The tune has a harsh, biting tone that could fuel the old angry image, but it is softened by self-deprecating lyrics. Morissette, whose message in “Thank U” and much of the album is that peace has to come from within, makes fun of her going halfway around the world in search of exotic spiritual answers. “How much does this cost guru/how much longer till you completely absolve me?” she asks.

“Are You Still Mad,” which also came early in Monday’s set, is another song that seems initially to be in the angry-young-woman mold, featuring such lines as “Are you still mad that we slept together after we had ended it?”

But again, the song has subtle edges that underscore the changes in Morissette’s outlook. Instead of pointing a finger at a former lover, Morissette is admitting her own imperfections.

Morissette is among our most autobiographical writers, and she delivers the words in an especially aggressive manner. Whether she is singing with an alt-rock intensity or with a Broadway-like purity, she often punctuates the words with dramatic vocal exclamations--just as her body shakes with emotion during some of the most forceful tunes.

There is such an emphasis on moving forward in the new tour that she and her band (which has been expanded from four to five pieces with the addition of a keyboardist) have redesigned some of the “Jagged” songs.

The original skip-along ease of “Hand in My Pocket” has given way to a more aggressive, funk-accented exercise, while the stark “Your House” has been dressed up with the kind of atmospheric touches one might expect from a Daniel Lanois production.

The most effective reinterpretation was the understated approach to the incendiary “You Oughta Know.” Morissette realizes there is no way the song--with such once provocative but now overexposed lines as the one about oral sex in a theater--can ever carry their original, show-stopping impact.

Rather than use the song as a centerpiece, she wisely slipped it in between two of her best new numbers: the mystical “Uninvited,” which she wrote for the film “City of Angels,” and “Thank U.”

It was a defining moment in the evening because it underscored that Morissette can not only come up with material as compelling as “You Oughta Know,” but also take it in a totally different direction.

By the time Morissette got to “Thank U,” she seemed thoroughly comfortable with the new material--and the fans cheered lines in the song as if it were already an old favorite.

As a performer, Morissette could bring more warmth to the evening by sharing more of herself between songs. At present, she does little other than say thank you after each number and introduce the titles of the new tunes.

As a creative force, however, Morissette enters Round Two of her remarkable career showing all the signs of being able to deliver another knockout.

* Alanis Morissette, with Chris Whitley, plays tonight at the Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., 7 p.m. Sold out. (323) 962-7600.