Alanis Morissette 2007
 MCA Records released Morissette's debut album, Alanis, in Canada only in 1991, and Morissette co-wrote every track on the album with its producer, Leslie Howe. By the time it was released, she had dropped her stage name and was credited simply as Alanis. The dance-pop album went platinum, and its first single, Too Hot, reached the top twenty on the RPM singles chart. Subsequent singles Walk Away and Feel Your Love, which was accompanied by a sexually suggestive video, reached the top forty and were played frequently on contemporary hit radio stations.[citation needed] Morissette's popularity, style of music and appearance, particularly that of her hair, led her to become known as the Debbie Gibson of Canada; comparisons to Tiffany were also common. During the same period, she was a concert opening act for rapper Vanilla Ice. Morissette was nominated for three 1992 Juno Awards: Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year (which she won), Single of the Year and Best Dance Recording (both for Too Hot).
Between the ages of fourteen to eighteen, Morissette suffered from anorexia and bulimia nervosa, which were catalysed by hardcore professional pressure and managerial demands from her work towards making her first album. She recalled returning to the studio to re-record some vocals, only to be told that the person who summoned her there wanted to discuss her weight, and that she couldn't be successful if she was fat. She lived on a diet of carrots, black coffee and Melba toast, and her weight fluctuated by fifteen to twenty pounds. She subsequently began therapy, which she called a long process to un-program [my brain]. I try to remember, whatever my body is, it's perfect the way it is.
In 1992, she released her second album, Now Is the Time, a ballad-driven record that featured less glitzy production than Alanis and contained more thoughtful lyrics. Morissette wrote the songs with the album's producer, Leslie Howe, and Serge C?t?. She said of the album, people could go, 'Boo, hiss, hiss, this girl's like another Tiffany or whatever'. But the way I look at it ... people will like your next album if it's a kick-ass one. As with Alanis, Now Is the Time was released only in Canada and produced three top forty singles — An Emotion Away, the minor adult contemporary hit No Apologies, and (Change Is) Never a Waste of Time. It sold little more than half the copies of her first album, however, and was a commercial failure. With her two-album deal with MCA Canada complete, Morissette was left without a major label contract.
During this period, Morissette dated Dave Coulier of television's Full House fame. In 1993, she appeared in the film Just One of the Girls starring Corey Haim, which she called horrible.
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