Alanis v No Doubt

A few weeks back, Wifey and I began a debate on which music entity was bigger in her/its prime: Alanis Morissette or the band No Doubt. I think the debate started when No Doubt appeared on an episode of Dawson's Creek, the same night as Alanis was performing in Atlanta.
Anywhoooo Wifey was arguing that No Doubt was bigger while I was hopping on the girl power bandwagon and saying that no doubt ALANIS was a bigger deal when she was in her prime. Then Wifey tried to back out of the argument to say that Gwen was bigger than Alanis, but the original argument was No Doubt v Alanis.
I will now state my case.......
Alanis has won 7 Grammys and has sold over 55 Million albums. Her Album Jagged Little Pill was and still is the best selling debut album by a female artist in US history (yeppers, Gwen's debut about lambs or whatever didn't pass it) and JLP is also the highest selling debut album worldwide in music history with 30M.

No Doubt has two Grammys and those took the band "reinventing" itself and getting help from some reggae artists to get those! I will give you that Tragic Kingdom was #1 for 16 straight weeks, went Diamond and 8X platinum, but it is NO Jagged Little Pill. Just saying.
No Doubt's secondary songs: Simple Kind of Life, Hella Good, Hey Baby, Underneath it all, Just a Girl and Spiderwebs
Alanis's secondary songs: Thank U, Uninvited, So Pure, Hands Clean, You Learn, Head Over Feet, Hand in my Pocket, All I Really Want. Advantage: Alanis.

Main Song that put group on the map: Alanis's Ironic v No Doubt's Don't Speak. While Don't Speak is a pretty cool song, especially since it is about the bassist guy (guitarist?) breaking up with Gwen then Gwen makes it the band's signature song. WOW, take that. Revenge served COLD. (Although if we REALLY want revenge-worthy songs, You Oughta Know, which probably put Alanis on the map with Ironic putting her over the top, is even more scathing. She completely changed the way I look at Uncle Joey Gladstone.) The thing about Ironic though is that probably EVERYBODY references it every single Saturday from March until June. Shoot, I sang it last April 19. "It's like rain, on your wedding day...." Ironic was a thinking person's song really. It wasn't really about ironic stuff, more bad luck stuff, but it got you thinking, moreso than ANY No Doubt song ever did. Also No Doubt has no answer for You Oughta Know. Just saying.....

And the final point of my argument is the cultural significance that each brought. No Doubt was a ska band. Part of the third wave of Ska bands (the first was VERY unsuccessful, the second was led by MightyMighty Bostones...No Doubt was the third). Meanwhile Alanis was one of the finest Canadian imports America has ever seen. She gave rise to an entire generation of girl power music: Meredith Brooks, Avril Lavigne, Pink. She also starred in You Can't Do That on Television AND was GOD in Dogma. Think about that. She was GOD. No Doubt was in Dawson's Creek, while Alanis was playing God. (and something for another day, but it REALLY seems that at the end of Dogma when Ben Afflick doublecrosses Matt Damon by killing him before he can be forgiven of his sins, LIFE has played the Karma card and "killed" Afflick's career while giving Damon's new found life. Daredevil v Jason Bourne. Advantage: MATT DAMON. Ocean's 11, 12, 13 v ....what has Afflick been in recently? Take that BEN!)

Bottom line Gwen may have scored Gavin due to No Doubt, but Alanis made a bigger impact and was larger in her prime than No Doubt could have ever dreamt of being.