0304 [ECD] - Jewel (Pop)

Jewel’s fourth main studio album sees an extreme shift in styles for the Alaskan singer-songwriter, which in so many cases has proved disaster. This is not so however for Jewel, who clearly has fun creating a fresh, satisfying and more commercial album, while still maintaining her introspective and intelligent lyrical style. Jewel’s first album was Pieces of You, a slow burning folk album with tremendous poise and atmosphere, establishing Jewel ...
...Spirit seemed a natural progression, still largely guitar based but moving into more rockier territory with more songs recorded with a full band, and also high quality production. Things were calmed down again slightly for This Way, perhaps a combination of the two previous albums but with its own individual country feel. There are elements of all of this on 0304, but it is far more glossy and much more of a guitar pop album. But Jewel seems to ...

mattC 08.10.2003 (09.10.2003) · Read full review
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Review of 0304 [ECD] - Jewel (Pop)

Intro: When I think of Jewel, I think of mellow tunes, sinking into my duvet, covers up to my chin. Old albums would be Autumn, pale, floating, white tulip petals kissing your neck... Too far? This album is different. You could say it was Summer, a new Jewel emerging, tanned and happy. There's still the same old social-commentary, she still likes her sceptical/hopeful observations. But instead of singing about Fat Boys, Deep Water and generally ...
...charge of your feet and make you dance. I really didn't like this album at first. Expectations were high and pinned to a folk type of music. Luckily, I persevered (mainly because it was a Christmas present from my little brother and I couldn't bear to leave it there all unplayed and unloved), and now there's another little lyrical space in my brain cleared especially for her words. Content: 'Intuition' is the stand-out track, here, and if you ...

blodeuedd9 16.03.2005 · Read full review
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Review of 0304 [ECD] - Jewel (Pop)

Jewel didn't really mean to come up with a dance pop album. The songs on this album were written accordding to beats. From the beats, Jewel worked with Lester (a guy who produces Shakira's music) to make it into music and then filled in the lyrics. This is a very extraordinary way to write a song but Jewel has never been one to stick to the norm. The one thing that hasn't changed is, Jewel still sings bitter love songs, Jewel still sings about politics ...
...just voices out her opinions. The beginning track "Stand" is a song Jewel written in question to many of the world's injustice. However, it sounds too dance pop to be taken too seriously. Then there is the popular "Intuition" wherein she encourages individuality. There are also a few dark tracks like "Haunted" and "Sweet Temptation". The latter she wrote it with a bit of inspiration to The Cure. There's a controversial track "America" where Jewel ...

dessertgirl09 09.03.2005 · Read full review
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Review of 0304 [ECD] - Jewel (Pop)