Album Review: Jewel – Perfectly Clear

The only three songs I particularly cared for at all are the two you recommended plus “Loved By You (Cowboy Waltz),” which she wrote when she was 17. Even “Loved By You” falls into the “boring” theme of the album, but her performance stands out. Other than those, everything is exactly as you described it.

I havent heard the song “Anyone But You” but I know if Wynn wrote it, it’s country through and through. :-)

Thanks for the heads up Jim. If and when Jewel makes a totally country album I might be interested. I do want to hear the song you mention in the first paragraph at some point though……

B. Jonathan… I agree- in all the interviews I’ve heard, she is well spoken and engaging. She seems refreshingly down to earth- but then she sings. I’m just not a fan of her music and don’t think I ever will be.

Baron: Hey, thanks…but did you expect anything else? If there’s one thing you know you’ll get from me, it’s the truth as I see it. Even when it hurts. And sure, it hurt here. Pieces of You is one of my all-time favorite albums. Always will be. But the truth is that as Jewel has become more comfortable, more socially adjusted, and more versed in “the right way” to write songs, she’s lost her edge. Every record since Pieces has been progressively weaker. I wanted this to be good, you’re right, because I saw it as an opportunity to reclaim herself, to chart out some new territory. She did that on one track, and the result was great. So the album, for me, is as disappointing in what it could have been as it is for what it is not.

Katie: It depends on how you want to listen to the instruments. On one hand, sure, Johnny Boy has fluidly set the steels and fiddles into the mixes. That’s what he does. but does that mean they fit? There’s a reason we don’t hear those instruments in a lot of pop music–they are sonically and socially associated with Country. And with most of these songs, there’s just nothing country there–not the voice, not the lyrics, not the delivery. You can’t just take a pop song and “make it” country, even when the arrangement and the mix would otherwise lend itself to that classification. And so that’s why I said it feels forced.

I saw Jewel in concert last night with Brad Paisley, Julianne Hough and Chad Wicks. While Brad was really enjoyable (and the other two forgettable), Jewel alone was worth the price of admission. Not only can she really sing (which surprised me), but she was completely captivating. Her band was excellent and she easily commanded the stage and audience.

Her only two missteps however…both of the songs off of this album (”Stronger Woman” and her next single “I Do”). They were both rather dull and forgettable (and the only two that got zero audience reaction and the only two my friend turned to me and said she thought sucked without knowing they came off her recent “country” album). In attempting to be country, she took her music and songwriting to a much lower level and it didn’t work for her at all. I think she will fit in on country radio these days much better if she sticks with what worked for her best. Maybe next time.

btw…If “I Do” gets much radio play, I will be surprised.