Jewel
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Deep Water 2. What's Simple is True 3. Hands 4. Kiss the Flame 5. Down So Long 6. Innocence Maintained 7. Jupiter |
8. Fat Boy |
| Spirit Jewel |
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Alison Krauss got two reviews because I like her music so much -- Jewel gets two reviews because I owed her at least that much.
In the review for Jewel's first album, I praised her a great deal, but was less kind to the music itself -- an opinion that hasn't changed incidentally. She has a beautiful voice with a marvelous range, but her first album was almost boring. This album has a great deal more polish to it, which in her case is a very good thing. Small intimate music is just fine when you're singing in a coffee house or on a street corner for small change, but if you expect to get mass appeal you need more. Her first album didn't have much of it, this one does. OK, Fat Boy is a less than welcome return to Pieces of You, but most of the rest refrains from being too condesending. There is an obvious musical growth this time, as she branches of into different sounds and song styles -- introspective, jazzy, upbeat, mellow -- most of Pieces was just mellow, the change is welcome. I'm still not sure about This Little Bird though, a duet with her mother. It could be taken as a sweet tribute, or another example of self indulgence. I think I'll give her the benefit of the doubt this time.