Perfectly Clear

Hate to say it, but Jewel has definitely become a sell-out. Lately she seems to throw herself into any genre that's popular at the moment (see her "0304" CD for more evidence of this). Bon Jovi did a country album, then Def Leppard does a song with Tim McGraw, and now Jewel comes out with this. Give me a break. As soon as I hear pedal steel guitar, banjo or fiddle in a song I tend to change the station as quickly as possible. Jewel should go back to her roots and the honest songwriting on "Pieces Of You", her first and by far her best work. This, on the other hand, is a weak and feeble attempt at being trendy. Big thumbs down...

Jewel is a great American voice without an identity. She seems to always want to cash in on whatever genre of music is hot at the moment and the result is bland, uninspired music, that at its source, comes more from a cold corporate soul than from the heart. Listen to her early stuff and you will see just how lost she comes off. If you have ever seen her live performances, she weighs heavily on her roots and comes off much better than her shallow, high-gloss recordings.

Jewel's latest work "perfectly clear" is another turn in genres for Jewel. There are several Good Songs on this album and overall it is pretty Good work. What my problem with jewel is that she has completely removed all other influences (except for country music) from her album. If you are not a fan of Country music you will without a doubt HATE this album. Where Jewel's previous works often incorporated several genres (eg. this way, spirit, pieces of you) all of the songs on perfectly clear have a repetitive/boring country sound (and i am a fan of country music!!). Why must jewel limit herself to 1 genre? I am a huge fan of all her previous albums and own every one but this is the first O.K. jewel album. Hopefully she will come to her senses and make a mixed genre album mixing Country, Pop, Folk, and Rock. I guess we'll have to wait until then.

I buy every record Jewel releases. It always takes me a while to warm up to them. This is probably because she is unpredictable, and that's a good thing. Her voice is always Perfectly Clear. I'll buy the next one too.

I am a fan of Jewel's. Her voice is sweet, sultry, and sexy. She has once again put out anther great album.