I picked up Jewel's 6th album last week (it came out May 2) and I've been listening to it non-stop. It's called Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, and I love it. I was really skeptical at first because her last album left much to be desired. This one is great. More upbeat than her much loved first album (Pieces of You), but still containing those personal songs that we've come to expect from Jewel.I actually saw Jewel in person at the River Lounge courtsey of 101.1 the River the Friday before the album was released. She performed 3 songs, 2 from the new album (Again and again, and Goodbye Alice in Wonderland) and everyone's favorite, Foolish Games, from her first album. She has an amazing voice and is much better in person than recorded on an album. If you get a chance you should check her out!
My favorite song on the album is Goodbye Alice in Wonderland...
So goodbye Alice in Wonderland / Goodbye yellow brick road / There is a difference between dreaming and pretending / I did not find paradise / It was only a reflection of my lonely mind searching / For what was missing in my life
Dreaming is a good thing cause it brings new things to life / Pretending is an ending that perpetuates a lie / Forgetting what you are / Seeing for what you've been told / And growing up is not the absence of dreaming / It's being able to understand the difference between the ones you can hold / And the ones that you've been sold
It's funny how different Jewel is in-person than her studio persona would lead you to believe.
ReplyDeleteIn concert, she relies on singing her heart out while strumming a guitar. Yes, you think, this is the Jewel that I remember from ten years ago.
Pick up one of her CDs, though, and it's obvious that there's some filtering going on. Her previous release (I forget what it's called, Froggiegirl's the fan, not me!) sounded like her producer heard a Shakira song on the radio on the way to work and decided that's how Jewel needed to sound. The latest has some definite new country influences, which, for me, is hard to reconcile with that coffee lounge act sound of her earlier recordings. In any case, it comes off as being simply overproduced.
I seem to recall her saying at her River Lounge act that this was her last album under her current contract. Perhaps she'll sound a bit more like herself next time?