:: This Way

Jewel

After enormous success with her first two albums, Jewel returns with a powerfully passionate album. There is a fresh originality to her songs and she uses the extra components of a band to signify her purpose. It was quite refreshing at her last live concert in Australia in seeing her “rock out” with a band at her disposal. It happens occasionally on “This Way”. A case in point is “Everybody Needs Someone Sometime” and “Do You Want To Play?” It’s much more rock-induced this time, with extra elements of country also - quite ambitious really, with even a whimsical turn at a harder sound. She also does well with the rugged “Serve The Ego”. She gets very emotional on “Break Me” and “Jesus Loves You”. “Cleveland” is an interesting track, with lots of slide guitars and keyboards. There are three bonus live tracks – with only acoustic guitar – to give her effective simplicity to the listeners and show off her gorgeous voice. The album may not serve the masses like her previous work, but it will still hold Jewel high in the value stakes.