Jewel Wants to Kick in Your Teeth

Published Jan. 25, 2002, in CandidCritic.com.

Review by Matthew Webber

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the same singer/songwriter who once asked whether we all want to "kick in [the] brains" of various "pretty girls," "ugly girls," "Jews" and "faggots" in her song, "Pieces of You," because they are, well, metaphorical pieces of all of us, now makes such proclamations as the following two lines from a new song, "Jesus Loves You": "They say abortion will send you straight to a fiery hell/That is if the fanatics don’t beat Satan to the kill."

Whoa.

If you cringe upon reading or listening to that on a record, it certainly isn’t from the shock of surprise. It might stem from the shock of a total lack of subtlety, from a too-honest (too-gosh) artist who wears her ventricles on her sleeve.

Unfortunately for Jewel’s credibility, she comes across in interviews as the nicest girl you’ve ever met; the girl who, while a babe, can never be girlfriend material because her guy friends don’t want to ruin the friendship. It also doesn’t help her that she’s gorgeous like a model.

If she could just be as bitchy as even Meredith Brooks (instead of being just a lover, child and mother all the time) or maybe as righteously babe-like as Ani Difranco, critics and modern rock radio programmers might be able to take her more seriously. Despite the heralded, post-September 11th death of irony and cynicism, Jewel-haters can loathe her as much as they did before. She’s just too shiny and happy for some people – which, I guess, means American life has returned to normal.

Jewel’s new album, This Way, continues the artist’s shift from coffeehouse chic to pop superstardom. Album one, Pieces of You, sounded like one of the best demo tapes you ever heard. Album two,Spirit, upped the production values to include harmonies, more instrumentation and a de-emphasis on the acoustic guitar.

The current album, album three, is as heavily-produced as anything in contemporary country music, which also should surprise no one since Dann Huff produced it in Nashville.

If you’ve heard the first single, "Standing Still," you’ve heard the glossy results: shimmery pop tunes that burrow into your consciousness. When you hear the rest of the album, you’ll hear the gummy byproducts: gloopy strings and keyboards that suck you into their melodrama.

Whether that’s good or bad depends on how much you like (or don’t hate) Spirit, beautiful singing voices that give meaning to simple lyrics and being happy. If these things top your list of "There’s Nothing I Hate More Than…", stay away from this album like it’s covered with billions of anthrax spores.

Or, if you liked Jewel better before she was a pop star, listen to the album’s two bonus tracks, a live version of "Grey Matter" and "Sometimes It Be That Way," two songs from the time when Jewel used to live in her car. She fingerpicks her guitar here like she hasn’t done since her debut, so you’ll like them and wish she’d tour without a band.

And if you actually like Jewel because of her directness, then you’ll read these songs like your favorite poems, probably not caring if they’re a smidgen too produced. She still has that voice, she still writes good songs ("Standing Still" can easily stand with "Foolish Games" and "Who Will Save Your Soul?") and she still has the ability to make a fan happy.