Jewel: 0304

Release Date: 06/03/03
Genre(s): Pop

Jewel, shame on you. That's where I have to start. Thankfully, she later issued an apology to her fans for letting them down with 0304, as she very well should have. Her previous efforts showed depth and growth, and even her lyrics on this album show far more maturity than the heavy synth usage we hear in every track. Songs like "Stand" fall right in line with "Life Uncommon" from Spirit and "New Wild West" from This Way, but fans of her earth, acoustic, folk sound will be sorely disappointed.

When I started the first track on this album, I thought I had put the wrong disc in. Surely the folk singer from Alaska, famous for standing with her guitar in a bathroom and belting out "Who Will Save Your Soul," is not the same one masking her voice behind drums and an accordion? Even the album cover made me do a double take, With Jewel wearing some combination of scarves and a tank top. This is a far cry from the jeans that she wore in most public appearances and photo shoots.

Unfortunately, the outside matches the inside of this album. Jewel described this album as a "yearbook" for the years 2003-2004. I'll give her this: a lot of the music that came out that year was dreadful. But why did she have to add to it? She's got dozens of beautiful unreleased acoustic tracks, and instead she developed songs more in line with the moderate success of "Serve the Ego," off of This Way. She might have done better to write more like "You Were Meant For Me," off of Pieces of You. That one stayed on the charts for over a year.

And yet this one sold. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top 200. What the Billboard charts won't tell you is the number of people who turned around the next week and returned the album, or sold it to their local used music store.

Maybe this boils down to a bias. Listening to Pieces of You as a child and young adult is part of what prompted me to pick up a guitar in the first place. I might enjoy this album more as the pop debut of a new artist, but not the departure, or death, of one of my favorites. After this, we didn't see a return to Jewel's folk, down to earth roots. Her next efforts dove more into the country music scene. Alas, I think this album is the soundtrack to the funeral of a great folk singer.