[.ca] Pieces of You

From Amazon.com:
Jewel's debut album, Pieces of You, reveals a special voice--strong and focused on both the whispery verses and the hooky choruses. The recording also exposes an unfortunate tendency to present trite, hackneyed sentiments as if they were oracular visions from a young prophet to a jaded world. For the most part, Jewel sings to her own acoustic guitar accompaniment, but she has a lot more in common with, say, the Indigo Girls or Lisa Loeb than with Judy Collins or Nanci Griffith. Despite her soft soprano and pretty melodies, her songs have an iconoclastic edge which make her more of an unplugged alternative rocker than a folkie. Her songs too often betray their origins as written verse in their hard-to-sing meters, unmusical phrasing, and diary-like pronouncements. Nonetheless, a few numbers, such as "Morning Song" and "You Were Meant for Me," show a spark of humor about romance, and hint that Jewel may yet write songs worthy of her remarkable voice. --Geoffrey Himes

Well-Written:
This is an extremely well written début (especially regarding lyrics), and what's even better is that Jewel wrote all of the tracks, minus two that she co-wrote with Steve Poltz. The first track (and the first single to be released), "Who Will Save Your Soul?", has a good swinging riff, with lyrics about the modern way of living, a theme that is carried on to "Little Sister", about the materialistic and drug-ridden ways of the world. Meanwhile, "Amen" questions nature and religion - a theme also used in the opening track. The title song, "Pieces of You", has sad guitar music, and the lyrics centre on do we judge people in a certain way because they remind us of ourselves? And "Daddy" has a slow swinging guitar melody that suggests that something is wrong. This fits in with the lyrics, which are at times sarcastic and vengeful - one of the best tracks on the album. Two tracks tell stories through song. "Painters" is of a pair of artists who face tragedy, and "Adrian" is of a boy damaged at camp who comes home, where the townsfolk believe his life support should be turned off. Though not all tracks are focused on confronting lyrics. "I'm Sensitive" is a fun little song, while "Angel Standing By" makes the perfect lullaby. While the standard of lyric writing is high, there is something to be improved upon in the form of music writing. Although the chords and notes used are different and may be played at different paces, there are definite patterns in the music. There seems to be two different groups within the album - the first one consisting of "Who Will Save Your Soul?", "Morning Song", "You Were Meant For Me" and "Daddy"; and a smaller group with "Angel Standing By" and "Amen". Tracks on the following album, "Spirit", also carry on with these similar music styles. Overall, it's an impressive début with the emphasis clearly on lyrics. Though this trait fades as Jewel's albums progress, it is a quality that undoubtedly has made this album worthy of anyone's music collection.

Pieces of my Heart:
Who Will Save Your Soul: Nice instrumentals and a very good song. Really fun to listen to. "Another day, another dollar, another war, another tower went up where the homeless had their homes." 4/5 Pieces of You: This is really raw music. I admire that Jewel knows how to do this, though it takes a bit to get used to. "Do you hate her cause she's pieces of you?" 3/5 Little Sister: A wonderful song but rather painful to listen to. The lyrics are so powerful. "Hey little sister, I heard you went to Mr. So-and-so, knocking on his door last night, said you needed it bad." 3/5 Foolish Games: The most amazing song Jewel's ever written. Beautiful, heart-wrenching. "In case you failed to notice, in case you failed to see, this is my heart, bleeding before you." 6/5 Near You Always: Jewel is really humble in this, talking about what love can do to anyone. An enjoyable listen with a fine line. "And when you look in my eyes...my heart is in your hand." 4/5 Painters: A lovely and sad ballad-like song with a amazing tune. You get really into it. "They were painters and they were painting themselves a lovely world." 5/5 Morning Song: An interesting song. The tune is fun and cute. "Let the phone ring, let's go back to sleep." 3/5 Adrian: Really sad. Not divinely enjoyable to listen to but the lyrics are involving enough to keep the song going. "People talk, people stare, oh, Adrian come out and play." 3/5 I'm Sensitive: A drifty, fun song. Great lyrics. "I was thinking that it might do some good if we robbed the cynics and took all their food. That way what they believe will have taken place..." 4.5/5 You Were Meant for Me: A great song all around. You can't find anything wrong. "Break the yolks, make a smiley face...even after you're gone." 5/5 Don't: This is one of the less enjoyable songs, but it is alright. "Don't walk too close, don't breathe so soft." 2/5 Daddy: A very angry, frustrated song that really gets going. "Gonna make you just as vulnerable as I was, Daddy. What's that say about me?" 2.5/5 Angel Standing By: Slow, moving, and beautiful. Something you just keep listening to. "Telling you you were never anything less than beautiful...I'm your Angel standing by." 5/5 Amen: Really wise lyrics. A haunting song with whispered tones that grow and subside. "Some are being beaten, some are being born, and some can't tell the difference anymore. 5/5

Peices of You:
I found this album buried in my parents CD collection and fell in love with it as soon as I turned it on. Deffinatly a moving and in depth album. Jewel stands back and takes a look at what we are doing wrong and the positive things we can change it with. Save your soul: Nice beat deffinatly goes into the human mind and life explaing how we think and act and how we can change ourselves for our own benifit. 3/5 Peices of you: The lyrics are so simple ,yet if you think about it, are compelling. Its on how we judge people on how they look or what they do and how in the end they are not that different from us. 5/5 Little sister: More to the teen side of life on how we get addiced to like and comforment 2.5/5 Foolish games: Funny everyone seems to love this song. Its fine for me but not inspiring or anything. The melody is nice but...deffinatly I think not the best on the CD. I need moving lyrics and these just don't do it that deeply for me. 3.5/5 Near you always: Cute and simple explaining on how much she is in love and is afraid she can't let go. One of my favorites. 5/5 Painters: Not inspiring but beautifully written paired with absolutly beautiful music it make a tear jerker. One of my fav songs. Its a love story we all aspire for 5.5/5 Morning song: Fun and brings up the mood after painters. Its every lovers dream saterday morning. 5/5 Adrian: Simple and childish. It gives the illusion of that anyway. Another sad story on loves loaylty and streangth. 3/5 I'm sensitive: I personaly think this song is hilarious. I picture two 12 year old kids having a make-believe and deep conversation most adults have trouble with. 5/5 You were ment for me: Once again another popular one which is fine but not my favorite. Although I enjoy listening to it very much. Its soulful music and notes touch my heart almost physically. 4.5/5 Don't: Anxtious and shy and full of an underlying pain. I like the music more then the lyrics. 3.5/5 Daddy: No one likes this one cause its raw and emotional. I enjoy her ability to say how she feels and put pure emotion into her song and bring them to life in a way no one else can. How she sings show she is part of the song and not just singing it. 4.8/5 Angel standing by: Musicbox like, it floats above you like, well, an angel. Pure love and devotion echo in her lyrics and beautiful voice. 5/5 Amen:I like the tune and music, unfortunatly I can't understand all of the lyrics. I like parts of the song but I adore part of it as well. Its moving and deep and even though I can't understand its true meaning it still effects me. Her voice purity is shown in pure excellence here. 4/5

Fantastic Debut:
I've always been a fan of Jewel, but until last year I didn't even own this album. I had Spirit, This Way, and 0304, but I never got around to getting this CD. I had heard that the big hits from this album didn't sound the same as they did on the radio. But after listening to 0304, I wanted to hear how Jewel sounded on her first CD. I'm not saying I didn't like the direction Jewel's music had taken, but that's something for another review. I bought this album and I have loved it ever since. The production on this CD isn't top-notch. Many of the songs were recorded live, giving them a rougher feel than you'd expect. Having said that, I think it is that imperfectness that makes this such an enjoyable CD. Some of the music made today is too glossy for its own good, and it's nice to hear music that sounds like the artist is playing right there in front of you rather than making it sound perfect in the studio. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy that kind of music, but occasionally you want to hear music like this, and it doesn't get much better than this CD for acoustic music. Some critics complain that Jewel's earnestness and sincerity makes her music unenjoyable. I feel that Jewel really means what she's saying on this album, and to me, that is enjoyable. You can tell she really feels the emotion in each and every song on this album. As for the singles being remixed to appeal to a bigger audience, obviously that paid off because people continued to buy this album even after they heard that. Simply put, this is good music and it deserved to sell millions of copies. The other songs are also very good. Songs like "Painters" and "Adrian" tell stories that really move you, and others like "Little Sister", "Daddy", and the title track really make you think. Jewel sounds terrific on the hymn-like "Angel Standing By". Anyone who says she has a bad voice should listen to that song, because she sounds great and, yes, angelic on it. I highly recommend this album. Jewel would go on to perfect and refine her sound, but to me, this is her best album because this is the one I listen to the most. Jewel has so far not enjoyed the kind of success she had with this album. Sometimes great CDs sell millions of copies, and this is definitely one of those cases.

A Gem of an Album:
This album is truly a mixed bag. It has sweet 90's pop confections like "Morning Song", "Near You Always" and "I'm Sensitive", and then suddenly changes gears and moves into brutally honest and moody songs like "Pieces of You" and "Adrian". The real highlights of the album are definitely the darker ones, as they are the ones with the most substance. Some of the best are songs like "Painters", which has a subtle sadness to it, and never fails to bring a tear to your eye even after you've heard it 80 times. "Adrian" is a haunting little tale of a boy in a coma, but the song never seems to get old. I've had the album for years and this song always leaves me with a bit of a chill. The gems on this album are those songs that just irritate and disturb you a little bit. You find yourself thinking about them long after the song has ended. They make the album hypnotic, and when paired with cute fluff like "Don't", the album takes you on quite the emotional roller coaster, but a very pleasing one at that. From its gloomy material it seems like Jewel thought why not add some sickeningly sweet stuff to cool people down after an angry, gritty self-portrait like "Daddy"? There is a slight battle between the sweet and the sad, but basically in the end these songs balance each other out, making for a great album. This may be one of Jewel's best. It shows her versatility and showcases her poetic songwriting and great guitar work. She's brutally honest and morose and real, and it definitely showed that she had some amazing skill. This is the reason why I couldn't believe my eyes when in the past year she had gone from being what felt like a real musician with opinions to a sweet pop-tart. She had never been a real teen idol, and for obvious reasons, her first albums being so mature. But last year, with her pop hit "Intuition" and her new image as a sweet, cosmopolitan, pop culture icon, she had become everything we were glad she wasn't when "Pieces of You" came out in '94. Thank god her songs are preserved on this album. It truly is great.

• Who Will Save Your Soul
• Pieces of You
• Little Sister
• Foolish Games
• Near You Always
• Painters
• Morning Song
• Adrian
• I'm Sensitive
• You Were Meant for Me
• Don't
• Daddy
• Angel Standing By
• Amen