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Jewel This Way (Atlantic) 3 stars out of 5
Jewel's 1998 album, Spirit, sold 5m copies, but that was only half the sales of her 1995 debut Pieces of You. Someone has since decided that the way to rescue her career is by giving her music a ghastly, squeaky-clean FM sound. There are obvious attempts at other women's markets: Standing Still is equal parts Furtado and Morissette, while Everybody Needs Someone Sometimes foolishly attempts to out-raunch Sheryl Crow. Ms Kilcher, once a poverty-stricken busker, is much more convincing when she breaks free of her producer's straitjacket. Stripped down, the fragile Break Me and This Way are utterly lovely and unleash the best of her crystal voice. Throughout, though, kooky lyrics predominate and The New Wild West makes the hardly profound statement that, uh, America is competitive. (DS)
This review can also be found at the Guardian Unlimited Archive
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