Review Courtesy All About Vocals.com
| Jewel Goodbye Alice in Wonderland |Atlantic / Wea |
|
|
Reviewed By: Kathleen C. Fennessy The word "confessional" is frequently applied to folk of
all stripes, including folk-rock and folk-pop, which is where Jewel
comes in. Even within the bounds of folk, however, her music is more
nakedly confessional than most. (Too nakedly, some have carped.) Along
with a coterie of Nashville pros, she began her latest musical journey
by laying down another introspective song cycle in the vein of 1995's
Pieces of You. Dissatisfied with the results, the Texas-based artist
scrapped that effort and re-recorded with Rob Cavallo (Green Day). This
lends her sixth album the expected rock edge, but Jewel hasn't changed
her spots. If anything, she sounds more like, well, Jewel than she did
on dance-oriented departure 0304. She’s still pop star ("Fragile
Heart"), sensitive folkie ("Long Slow Slide"), and scrappy
country gal ("Stephenville, TX"). Her Joni Mitchell-esque
soprano soars as high as ever, with more of a sardonic Dylan chaser
than before. What's changed is that maturity has granted Jewel, now
in her early 30s, greater perspective--"Growing up is not an absence
of dreaming," she states in the title track--and a sense of humor
missing from her more earnest early work. On "Satellite,"
for instance, written when she was 18, but revamped since, she notes
that "the Pope," "rock and roll," "Valium,"
even "Miss Cleo" can't fix her broken heart. In her statement
about the album, Jewel claims that, after years of ups and downs, she's
"not broken, just more myself." -- |
Track Listing:
|
| |
