"Jagged Little Pill" received generally positive reviews from music critics. "Los Angeles Times" writer Steve Hochman found that few artists explored "extreme emotional games" as "strikingly" as Morissette, whom he viewed as "a fresh talent—somewhere between, say, Sinéad O'Connor and Liz Phair—who's determined to let her feelings out, whether with a snarl or a smile." Anne Ayers of "USA Today" said that Morissette "compels with mature, assured songcraft and pointed writing", while "Philadelphia Inquirer" critic Tom Moon described her as "wise beyond her years, determined to expose the hypocrisy she encounters at every turn." "The Village Voice"s Robert Christgau wrote that Morissette is "happy to help 15 million girls of many ages stick a basic feminist truth in our faces: privileged phonies have identity problems too. Not to mention man problems." In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic highlighted the intensely personal nature of Morissette's lyrics and found it "remarkable" that the album "struck a sympathetic chord with millions of listeners, because it's so doggedly, determinedly insular." Erlewine concludes, "As slick as the music is, the lyrics are unvarnished and Morissette unflinchingly explores emotions so common, most people would be ashamed to articulate them."