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Rating: THE REVIEW
Dear Jewel,
how the hell have you transformed? How did you go from your anger to your sweetness?
You who slept in that dusty car, without a dollar to your name, with your blonde hair fluttering and two hippie parents. Then like a shooting star, among flowers and unicorns, someone managed to discover you and from darkness you came to light with your arsenal of beautiful ballads and roaring blues pieces. You picked up the guitar and sang to us about drugs, sex, even love, without ever being trite.
You allowed your breasts to be hidden by rough flannel shirts, for people to undress you with their eyes. They were all happy to see a beautiful, blonde, skinny, and sexy girl making real music who doesn't squirm shouting "yeah" and "Baby". And now? What have you become now? Are you still you, Jewel?
The girl who conquered me with her crystalline and angelic voice, the one that scratched the heart, the one that spoke of pierced hands, of fat boys who had lost hope, of broken hearts and lost souls.
You killed yourself and were reborn, but you're no longer you.
You made "0304" start like it was a generic pop album. As if you got tired of your music being for a few, as if your ballads were now so repetitive that they no longer touch anything... but trust me, it's not like that... how many times did I get lost inside "Break Me" and "Hands"! Now instead you shake your hips and dance with hip hoppers in the video for "Intuition", you get lost in arabesque rhythms and in verses like "I will love you, you will love me" filtered with electronics in "Stand", you start to feel old, to not understand anything anymore and here you start to speak in slang and in the language of the young ("U & Me=Love", "Run 2 U"), sometimes you turn mean and leave us with some bad words ("America"), but then you come back to talk about your adorable boyfriend with the bare chest, tousled hair, sleeping under your gaze ("Two Become One").
I know the record company killed you, the dropping sales of your albums, the trend of talentless girls hiding behind little smiles, I also know you miss the past: you can still give us wonderful ballads (wonderful "Two Become One", which has nothing to do with the Spice Girls) and some interesting insights. If indeed the album had been by any newcomer or people who would better leave, like t.a.t.u., it would surely deserve at least two more stars. Because it does contain, yes, crude dance pop, but also soul and sensuality.
Emotions that you can still give, but deserve to hide in your old songs.
"There's a time in life when women want to go dancing, putting on the sexiest and most revealing dress they can have," you tell us with your enchanting voice, but it's useless, you need to give us more Jewel.
Because I've already lost hope in Alanis Morissette and I don't want to lose it with you too...
I love you.
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Summary by Bot
This review explores Jewel's significant change in her 2003 album 0304, moving from soulful ballads to a more mainstream pop and dance style. The reviewer reflects fondly on her past work’s emotional depth but feels the new album lacks the same heartfelt impact. Despite the shift, the album contains moments of soul and sensuality. The critique expresses hope for Jewel’s future music to recapture her authentic voice.
Jewel
American singer-songwriter and author who rose to fame in the mid-1990s with the multi-platinum debut Pieces of You. Known for hits like Who Will Save Your Soul, You Were Meant for Me, and Foolish Games; later explored pop and country with albums such as 0304 and Perfectly Clear.05 Reviews
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