Goodbye Alice in Wonderland

Jewel

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 2, 2006)
• Original Release Date: May 2, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B000ESSTMO
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,435 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The word "confessional" is frequently applied to folk of all stripes, including folk-rock and folk-pop, which is where Jewel comes in. Even within the bounds of folk, however, her music is more nakedly confessional than most. (Too nakedly, some have carped.) Along with a coterie of Nashville pros, she began her latest musical journey by laying down another introspective song cycle in the vein of 1995's Pieces of You. Dissatisfied with the results, the Texas-based artist scrapped that effort and re-recorded with Rob Cavallo (Green Day). This lends her sixth album the expected rock edge, but Jewel hasn't changed her spots. If anything, she sounds more like, well, Jewel than she did on dance-oriented departure 0304. She’s still pop star ("Fragile Heart"), sensitive folkie ("Long Slow Slide"), and scrappy country gal ("Stephenville, TX"). Her Joni Mitchell-esque soprano soars as high as ever, with more of a sardonic Dylan chaser than before. What's changed is that maturity has granted Jewel, now in her early 30s, greater perspective--"Growing up is not an absence of dreaming," she states in the title track--and a sense of humor missing from her more earnest early work. On "Satellite," for instance, written when she was 18, but revamped since, she notes that "the Pope," "rock and roll," "Valium," even "Miss Cleo" can't fix her broken heart. In her statement about the album, Jewel claims that, after years of ups and downs, she's "not broken, just more myself." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description
Jewel is about to deliver her most personal and autobiographical record so far-Goodbye Alice in Wonderland. Not content to relegate herself to a traditional music arena, or to be typecast, Jewel has established herself as a culturally significant and relevant brand. Author, songwriter, actress, poet-there are no limits to how Jewel can and will deliver her message. The underlining truth that ties it all together is the integrity of that message.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Life is much better without all those pretty lies." Jewel returns with a winning album.., May 2, 2006

By	A. G. Corwin (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Three years after the stylistic departure of her last album 0304, Jewel returns in winning style with her 6th album, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland. Weaving her introspective lyrics with fresh and exciting songwriting, Jewel produces her finest album since Pieces of You. You would think that with 25 million albums sold, a successful poetry collection, roles in several major films, and a great romance with rodeo star Ty Murray, Jewel would be happily looking to the future. Instead Jewel looks to the past, opening up her life and rise to fame with a critical and exploring eye.

Long Slow Ride is a track where Jewel's positively sensual vocals clash intriguingly with the dark lyrical themes of falling downwards and loss. This darkness slides right into the outstanding acoustic title track, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland. Here Jewel points directly at herself, noting that "I'm embarrassed to say, the rest is rock and roll cliche..I hit the bottom and reached the top." where "fame is filled with spoiled children." Harshly honest, she wraps her criticisms in comforting melodies and her gentle voice. Jewel faces the uncertainty of adult life on one of the best tracks, Stephenville, TX, as she sings of "trying to figure out who I am..now that the stardust has turned to sand..and the sand turned to stone...on the star making machine.", but she realizes that she's "got nothing to lose..i'm an entertainer." Jewel is learning that she only has to be herself to be appreciated and happy.

This themes reappear subtly throughout the remainder of the album. The incredibly catchy commercial pop of Again and Again, Only One Two, and Words Get In The Way reveal snippets of this lyrical theme in addition to highly addictive melodies. Jewel also takes some stylistic risks with tracks like Satellite, a slinky and funky critique of shallow California lifestyles, Good Day(Clean), which combines a fascinating spoken word vocal with a bouncy rhythm, and the gentle and calming acoustic Last Dance Rodeo. Closing tracks Where You Are and 1000 Miles Away cap off the album perfectly and bring to mind Jewel's earliest works.

Co-producer Rob Cavallo, who has produced hit albums with the Goo Goo Dolls and Green Day, ensures a cohesive sound, with the right amount of strings and electric guitar to balance the acoustic guitar that is Jewel's hallmark. The album offers some of the year's best pop-rock commercial tracks as well as intriguing and complex acoustic and folk-country songs. There is little filler on this album; almost each track could be a single. Goodbye Alice in Wonderland is an enjoyable, fun album that is a welcome return for the "modern day troubadour" that we love. Highly Recommended and on the short list for 2006's Top 5 albums.

A.G. Corwin
St.Louis, MO

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thumbs up, May 11, 2006

By	platonica (Sweden) - See all my reviews

I actually got this album today and it's extraordinary. As I expected.

Jewel is fascinating. Most artists today makes one great album, and then fails with the follow-up, because it sounds too much or too little like the debut album. But not Jewel. Each of her 6 albums has its very own sound that makes Jewel interesting, but still, there's something I can't quite put my finger on, that makes the listener recognize Jewel's spirit in each song. Sometimes she also displays a very strange sense of humor that's simply irresistable.

Now for Goodbye Alice in Wonderland. I love it, each and every song. The title track is very special to me, because I can relate to the "journey" she describes. Only One Too sounds like it could have been performed by one of those rude 20th-century-girl-groups. Fragile Heart was actually one of my least favourite tracks on 0304, but this version is much better.

Basically, this album is romantic, but it definitely has up-tempo songs. I'm also amazed by her voice, or should I say voices, because she has a wide range of nuances that she uses very skillfully. She has differed between these nuances earlier, but not within songs the same way that she does in this album. Again and Again is an example in which this is more obvious.

This album is worth every cent many times over, my favourite buy this year, and possibly this century.

39 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jewel's reflections shine, May 2, 2006

By	Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Quite a change from 2003’s “0304”, this sixth album from Jewel slows down the pace considerably, mixing pop, folk and a generous helping of country. There’s a lot of music here for your money, running nearly an hour, with three tracks that are more than five minutes long.

First single “Again and Again” is a standard pop ballad, but done Jewel-style with that little yodel. You’ll love the lyrics of this one, and probably play it again and again and again:

“But you, you're always on my mind.
It's like this all the time.
Say it's cause you're mine
All mine...”

Second track “Long Slow Slide” is just as the title implies, a long, slow, touching country-style ballad, and is followed by the title track, which is more folk-oriented, but with a lot of personal reflection. The chorus of “Good Day” is one you can almost hear Melissa Etheridge singing, and “Satellite” sounds more like a Shawn Mullins song.

One of the best tracks is “Only One Too”, with its excellent chorus, and then comes “Words Get in the Way”, another good song with country roots. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but “Drive To You” reminds me a lot of “I Drove All Night”, and this one is another attention-getting track.

“Last Dance Rodeo” is, as you may have guessed, a full fledged country song, and the longest on the album at just over 6 minutes – too slow and too long for my taste. If you’re in the mood for more slow music, stay tuned for “Fragile Heart” which sounds more like vintage Jewel and the folk-country auto-biographical “Stephenville, TX”.

Winding down the album are “Where You Are” and “1000 Miles Away”, and by the time you get this far you feel emotionally drained, having shared some very personal moments and a lot of angst with Jewel from various phases of her life.

Her most revealing album so far, long on the trademark poetic storytelling, and one for quiet listening moments.


Amanda Richards, May 2, 2006