Jewel Album: “This Way [Japan Bonus Track]”

Okay, I'll be honest. I am a Jewel fan, and would probably listen to her reading the Oxford dictionary. That said, her first two albums, Pieces of You and Spirit, were far from perfect. Pieces of You was understandly amateurish and rough-edged, while Spirit was too mellow and overproduced. Neither even compare with her excellent live repertoire, and they sadly gather dust in my CD collection.

...Which brings us to This Way. This album knocks my socks off! It's rougher-edged and more natural than Spirit; you can tell that Jewel is for the first time truly comfortable in the studio. Her vocal prowess is evident in many songs, especially "Love Me Just Leave Me Alone," in which she lets out a Janis Joplin-esque scream. No more restrained, play-it-safe stylings for our favorite folk singer.

If there's one thing Jewel consistently nails, it is the art of the love song. In "I Won't Walk Away," Jewel sings "Wrong or right / Be mine tonight / Harsh world be damned / We'll make a stand / Love can bind / But mine is blind / Others stray / But I won't walk away." Just hearing her beautiful lyrics combined with the rich tonal quality of her voice and the romance-tinged music is enough to set you into a dazed stupor.

Jewel also hasn't lost her sense of reality, leaving in a slight guitar screw-up at the beginning of live bonus track "Sometimes It Be That Way," which is evident throughout the whole album. Almost every track was recorded live with a band in the studio, unlike the numerous vocal layerings and smooth-over approaches of most recording artists. This gives an almost live atmosphere to the album.

Overall, This Way is an amazing album and is destined to be looked back as one of the highlights of Jewel's career.

Jewel has a little harder edge to her sound for her third album, This Way. That's not to say she has abandoned her elemental folk sound, it's just been kicked up with a rock edge. The first single, "Standing Still" is a great example of the new sound as is the title track. "Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone" has a 70's Faces riff and is easily the most rocking Jewel has ever gotten. But she doesn't completely change her sound as "Break Me" is classic Jewel. It is a stark ballad in the vein of a "Foolish Games" and the best song on the album, "I Won't Walk Away" is awash in strings and pianos and the lyrics are poignant and deep.

Once again Jewel has done it! She is definitely the most talented artist out there. She knows how to keep things fresh and keep the creativity going at all times to explore her music. To me, each of Jewel's albums thus far have had their own "personality". "Pieces of You"-emotional,live "Spirit"-mellow,poetic,polished and now "This Way" which I find to be edgy,rockish,country-ish, and brilliant! She has definitely created an album packed with something for everyone! I am happy to own both of her books and her albums including her Christmas one "JOY". Jewel has actual talent and writes meaningful lyrics which today's music lacks.Standouts include: the first single Standing Still,the love ballad Break Me, very different Serve The Ego (I love the drums!), Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone (Jewel screams on this one!), Do You Want To Play (cool chorus!),The New Wild West (Amazing and thoughtful lyrics about today's society), and finally I Won't Walk Away (Another beautiful love ballad). You would not be wasting your money if you picked this album up so buy it today!

I usually listen to artists on an album-by-album basis. Each new album release will either be the last I buy from a certain artist or encourage me to buy the next one. The first Jewel album I purchased (although I'd listened to friends' copies of her debut CD) was "Spirit", and I loved it enough to buy "This Way" after only hearing one track. I was not disappointed at all. It did take a few listens to grow on me though. Her style on this CD is definitely different from her other albums, but I wouldn't classify it as pop or country. It's got a little of the folk feel of her previous albums, but it's also somewhat bluesy, and (oddly enough) leans a little toward disco/dance on some tracks. I don't think it could be called mainstream or cliched, because I've never heard anything like it. There are, however, two songs that I normally skip while listening to this CD (although the others more than make up for the lack of those two). First, I don't particularly care for "Jesus Loves You". Jewel obviously has very strong opinions and can put them across sarcastically, but you almost can't tell what side she's taking on this song. The lyrics are a little worrisome, so I prefer to skip it. The other song I'm not so fond of is "Grey Matter". The song itself is not bad, but I think the lyrics are a little contrived ("I hate you/ I love you/ Leave/ Don't go away") and don't share the depth of most of her other lyrics. It's also a little slow which is kind of a let-down compared to the upbeat, emotional feel of the tracks around it. All in all though, I give this album four stars out of five, and recommend it to anyone who has liked Jewel before and to anyone looking for something new and different from other artists out there.

Although I just got this recently, I already notice a lot of the songs to be different than her older work, on a country note, on a romantic note, on a lighter note. She sounds like the Jewel never heard before, and I like it! It might take a while, though, as seen in the rating. So far I have only listened to this once, but I look forward to hearing from it again; I mean, why else would I get it?! My favorite song on here has to be "Till We Run Out of Road" because it reminds of those days when I had to make those transitions in life and just decided to ride one path for the longest time. Oh, it is my latest Jewel CD and I don't think I have made a bad choice at all. I may have fallen for it as much as my older ones and don'y even know it yet. This leaves a decent aftertaste in my mind after the nice food for thought I have been given, and on this album she just may have it right. Keep up the good work Jewel; I am right behind you!