What happened to Jewel - Part DAMN!

Cafe Society
1

This is the sequel to this thread… and inspired by the release of Jewel’s new album 0304, along with the deeply mediocre single, “Intuition.” Though inspired is really too strong a word. Can one be inspired by mediocrity?

I first heard Jewel’s new single on the radio yesterday, and thanks to heavy airplay, I’ve since heard it three more times. The first time I heard it, I almost changed the channel, until I recognized that it was her voice. Then I simply listened in astonished silence.

Jewel has, officially and completely, lost it with this song. Any quality that made her music unique, gave it soul, or even made it worth listening to has been bled out of her. This new song sounds like every other pop song on the radio; over-produced, heavy drum tracks, standard R&B keyboard riffs. The lyrics are trite and meaningless. Jewel used to tell stories with her songs… now she just repeats the same overused sentiments found in every other pop song on the radio.

I’m sure fans of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Kelly Clarkson will love this new song… it’s perfectly like them. Jewel’s new image is that of the Standard Pop Diva ™, and her music has suffered for it.

With titles like “Run 2 U”, “Yes U Can”, and “U & Me = Love”, I do not have high hopes for the rest of the album either. I won’t be buying it, and I most likely won’t be listening to it either. No interest.

It’s funny, I wrote the first thread because I expected better of Jewel. Now, I find myself writing because I don’t have that expectation anymore. With this new song, Jewel has proven to me that she’s completely abandoned all the qualities thaat gave her music soul, passion, and uniqueness.

It makes me sad.

2

I am so happy the radio doesn’t play “Hands” anymore. That song almost sent my husband into a homicidal rage. He’d start ranting and raving about how such fucking stupid lyrics could be on the radio, and that he could draw random lines in shit and come up with better lyrics.
I have never heard him react so strongly to a song before or since. From your description of her newest single, I can tell that I’ll need to carefully shield him from it.

3

I too was a Jewel fan. I don’t mind the new single, but when I found out it was HERS, I couldn’t believe it - talk about a sell-out! I haven’t heard any of the other tracks - but when I saw the video I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

It looks like a parody of other pop-princesses and advertising etc … but the bubblegum sound of the song and the earnest look on her face makes me wonder if this is a sincere change of direction for her? I was hopeful it was just a marketing ploy to grab our attention, but now I’m not 100 % sure …

I haven’t read any reviews so I am the first one to admit that (a) she got my attention (albeit in a negative way) and (b) if she has created this song and video to poke fun at Britney, Christina, etc she’s done it very cleverly, and © I will withhold further judgment until I hear or see more of this incarnation of Jewel.

4

PMSL.

I think Jewel really lost it with that one. There’s a difference between simple ‘elegant’ and simple ‘stupid and trite’. That song fits the latter definition.

On the other hand having seen the video for the latest mush, she has much better legs than I would have thought.

5

All Things Considered on NPR did a story on this on Monday.

Apparently it is a deliberate marketing ploy, because Jewel is (self-admittedly) a product to be consumed. It was an interesting story, and you might want to check npr.org to see if they’ve got a clip of the story. I think it will address your concerns.

It may not give you the answer that you want, however, because it sounded like she was intentionally packaging herself for mass consumption. I can’t remember the specifics, but you get the idea…

6

So…Who will save her soul? Because it’s obvious she sold it.

7

Here is the link…

http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1284575

8

hmm. Hadn’t thought of that angle, but it turns out that it’s not the case.

Thanks for the lead, scout1222. I found the NPR commentary you mentioned (audio-format only). In it, apparently she’s admitted to deiberately pursuing a pop-star image and crafting it carefully. Everything I dislike about the new song – its sugary shallowness, its pop sensibility, its lack of soul – is there deliberately, and not as parody.

Well, Jewel can pursue her new image all she likes. I won’t be following.

9

Heh… that’s exactly what I said in my Amazon review of the single.

10

Y’know, Liz Phair is going pop too. It’s a fad.

11

Ack! No! faints

12

She has definitely gone off the deep end, but I think she was already heading that way.

Anyone who waited eagerly for the second album after being entranced by the first knows what I mean. Talk about a let down. It has been a downward spiral ever since.

13

I too absolutely loved Pieces of You. I thought it heralded the arrival of a brilliant new pop-folk artist that would rejuvenate the format. Her next album, Spirit wasn’t quite as good–it seemed a bit more slick–more produced/less raw. Her work since than has been progressively soul-less.

I think that she’s been sucked cleanly into the hit factory mentality of the music business. Now that she’s a rich, successful artist, she’s lost the ability to craft such raw, delicate songs as she did before. But, I look at an artist’s career in phases, and I haven’t given up on Miss Jewel quite yet.

She’s in the middle phase of her career, and we can expect more bland, commercial work for quite some time. But, as her music becomes more and more lifeless, her sales will begin to crash. Her career will hit a slump, and she’ll be regarded as a has-been.

BUT…I still think that she has some extraordinary talent in her, and just as her youthful poverty inspired her to craft some amazing music, I have hope that with her career crashing down around her, that her spark will reignite. I really think that once this commercial period of her career dies down, she will be capable of producing some well-crafted, thoughtful work once again. Perhaps in her late thirties and into her forties, the Jewel we once knew will re-emerge. I hope.

14

That song bugged me, too, especially how she repeats how her hands “are not yours they are my own they are not yours they are my own.” I kept thinking, OF COURSE THEY’RE YOUR HANDS, THEY’RE ATTACHED TO YOUR WRISTS!!!

15

Now if she would just admit her career is dead and make the standard last-gasp resurrection step of posing for Playboy.

:smiley:

But seriously. . . . I’ve been a casual Jewel fan since I heard “Who Will Save Your Soul,” but I haven’t heard this new song. I hope she really hasn’t lost it. It’d be disappointing to see her fall that far. I have to agree with Mr. Frink’s assessment though, and add that much the same thing has happened to Mariah Carey.

Does anyone know if Jewel has started a family? I have seen it noted that both Liz Phair and Tori Amos mellowed out quite a bit after having their first child (although Amos, at least, seems to have maintained her artistic chops, just in different form). There may be some sort of phenomenon going on here similar to how some boxers lose their drive after they get married.

16

It’s just one song.

17

First I would like to say appropos of nothing in particular that the woman on that NPR commentary is a freakin’ tool.

As for Jewell, I don’t know what to think. The action itself is pretty clever:@turn yourself (successfully, it would seem) into a pop diva, all the while winking at the audience and whispering “i know how this looks.”

The thing that bothers me about it is this:

Jewell used to be a trite, borderline parody of a serious and sensetive female singer-songwriter.

Now she is a trite, full-on parody of a sexy pop diva. The only difference is that she’s in on the joke.

I suppose I would be more impressed by the change if she had the artistic chops to back it up. That is to say if she had managed to be a good sensetive singer-songwriter before, then I could look at her new incarnation and say “I see…she’s doing this because she can.” The truth, I fear, is that she’s doing it because she can’t do anything else.

18

Amen. Never relevant. Never good. Great voice and attractive, but in the “who cares” category as an artist. Her first single had the potential to point her in a variety of directions, but her follow-up activity - next album (bad, trite), book of poetry (!!) and now this confirm how that first single was never anything more than a poor artist’s 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes have been up for a while.

19

I think Jewel’s music is much better now that she’s dancing.

20

featherlou- I concur. Actually, I thought this thread was going to be about the video to Intuition, to which my reaction was “Damn!” but in a good way G