Inspired from her trip to India over late 1996 and early 1997, the album cover contains phrases from five precepts, a basic code of ethics of the followers of Buddhism.
She experimented with more complex and unconventional songwriting, including stream of consciousness, often deviating from traditional verse-chorus structures.
This approach resulted in a richer, more textured sound that incorporated new musical ideas while still maintaining her characteristic vocal style and introspective lyrics.
In a 2012 interview with fans, director Kevin Smith confirmed that "Front Row" was partially inspired by a phone conversation he and Morissette once had.
In the fall of 1998, she embarked on a club tour across North America, with select appearances in Europe, Asia and Australia.
Guitarist Nick Lashley and bassist Chris Chaney remained for this album's touring from the previous years, although there were several new band members.
The band now incorporated a keyboardist, Deron Johnson, and welcomed guitarist Joel Shearer (from the Jagged Little Pill recording sessions) and drummer Gary Novak.
Morissette announced a summer 2000 mini-tour, called The One Tour, which saw her enlisting a different fan in each city as her own ‘local ambassador’, to guide her during the daytime and show her the best that the region has to offer (food, history, culture, music, language, and more).
In November 2023, Morissette also announced The Triple Moon Tour with 33 live dates in the United States for the summer 2024 with the Joan Jett and the Blackhearts as support act, commemorating 25th anniversary of the album.
It charted considerably high in initial airplay because of the anticipation for the album, but many critics and listeners who had pigeonholed Morissette as an angry woman were surprised by the song's calm and serene feel.
Released in November, the album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with the highest first-week sales for a female artist at the time, selling 469,054 copies in its first seven days.
She held this record for two years, until being outsold in first week sales by Britney Spears' Oops!...I Did It Again which sold 1.3 million copies in 2000.
It held the number-one spot for an additional week, before falling to eighth place in what is generally a busy shopping period because of the holiday season.
After 28 weeks, the album had fallen off the Billboard 200, and as of September 2008 it had sold 2.6 million copies in the US,[7] less than a fifth in sales of that of Jagged Little Pill.
[citation needed] "No Pressure Over Cappuccino" was another song that popped up from the previous tours, but not until 1999's live album, Alanis Unplugged.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic called it a "clear step forward" and concluded that "Morissette is a weird acquired taste, due to her idiosyncratic vocals and doggedly convoluted confessionals – but [the album] certainly confirms that she doesn't quite sound like anyone else, either.
"[11] The Village Voice's Robert Christgau commented that he felt "privileged to listen along with all the young women whose struggles Morissette blows up to such a scale.
"[12] Slant Magazine critic Sal Cinquemani complimented Morissette's songwriting and concluded that while the album "is nearly 15 minutes too long (did an ode to her mother, the sweet 'Heart of the House,' really need to be made public?)...
"[17] Despite the B+ grade from Ken Tucker in 1998, fellow Entertainment Weekly music critic David Browne was much harsher.
At least we could laugh at those, whereas the decade's foremost clunker--Alanis Morisette's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie--was corporate grunge and victim-culture whining incarnate".
[22] In the United States, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 469,000 copies sold in its first week.