Customer Reviews

This Way

5 star:		(201)
4 star:		(64)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I have been a Jewel fan since her first album, and this new album is definitely my favorite of her's thus far. The first cd had only a few tracks which stuck out to me really well and the second cd's songs, though enjoyable, all ran together in a sortof sappy soup. THIS WAY however has a myriad of different styles and each stands out on its own.
1. Standing Still: the first single, as you probably know...i like this song, it's very catchy and fun
2. Jesus Loves You: the lyrics are thought-provoking but this song doesn't do much for me..
3. Everybody Needs someone Sometime: This is just a fun song about finding love, even if you are "a drip of a man" or "no spring chicken"...one of her off-beat, story telling songs
4. Break Me: back to the slow, light song reminiscent of SPIRIT. It's light but sensual at the same time
5. Do You Want To Play?: This song is a little edgier and kindof playful (hence the title) but still has that deepness if you listen to the lyrics...and she does this interesting vocal screech in the background near the end, which is different, but fun to hear
6. Till We Run Out of Road: Jewel wrote this for her boyfriend, Ty Murray, and it's a very sweet song..a little bit country, a little bit romance..i like this one a lot
7. Serve the Ego: definitely my favorite..its got Middle Eastern flavor, but is edgy too, and makes great use of the range of her vocal talents
8. This Way: the title track is catchy, but not one of her lyrical masterpieces. I like it though, because its just light and nice, although her voice gets a little baby-like at times.
9. Cleveland: another one of my favorites..its romantic but has an edgy country flavor to it. its been criticized as being too country, but i think that having it adds a little bit of her current life (she is dating a rodeo man, for goodness sake)to what we are used to
10. I Won't Walk Away: very soft and sweet...this is a great tribute to true love
11. Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone: This one has a gritty, angst-ridden quality to it. It makes a great foil for previous song...and, of course, the scream near the end comes as a shock, but it shows that Jewel is branching out a bit.
12. The New Wild West: A great tribute to our ever-shrinking wilderness...its got a very sad undercurrent to it, but the chorus is catchy and edgy
13. Grey Matter: the first of two live bonus tracks..this is nice, but a little to slow and airy for me.
14. Sometimes It Be That Way: In the beginning of this, she forgets her lyrics and has to let the audience help her...which is hilarious! the rest of the song is nice and playful, but i mostly like listening to the beginning to get a laugh!

It's not perfect, but what album is? Overall, this cd is a joy to listen to and i highly recommend it to everyone. It shows different sides to Jewel (through the differing song styles and through a very interesting section in the insert that tells what each song is about/where it was written, etc.) Each song stands alone and shows the variety of range and style that this great singer can achieve.

Okay, I'll be honest. I am a Jewel fan, and would probably listen to her reading the Oxford dictionary. That said, her first two albums, Pieces of You and Spirit, were far from perfect. Pieces of You was understandly amateurish and rough-edged, while Spirit was too mellow and overproduced. Neither even compare with her excellent live repertoire, and they sadly gather dust in my CD collection.

...Which brings us to This Way. This album knocks my socks off! It's rougher-edged and more natural than Spirit; you can tell that Jewel is for the first time truly comfortable in the studio. Her vocal prowess is evident in many songs, especially "Love Me Just Leave Me Alone," in which she lets out a Janis Joplin-esque scream. No more restrained, play-it-safe stylings for our favorite folk singer.

If there's one thing Jewel consistently nails, it is the art of the love song. In "I Won't Walk Away," Jewel sings "Wrong or right / Be mine tonight / Harsh world be damned / We'll make a stand / Love can bind / But mine is blind / Others stray / But I won't walk away." Just hearing her beautiful lyrics combined with the rich tonal quality of her voice and the romance-tinged music is enough to set you into a dazed stupor.

Jewel also hasn't lost her sense of reality, leaving in a slight guitar screw-up at the beginning of live bonus track "Sometimes It Be That Way," which is evident throughout the whole album. Almost every track was recorded live with a band in the studio, unlike the numerous vocal layerings and smooth-over approaches of most recording artists. This gives an almost live atmosphere to the album.

Overall, This Way is an amazing album and is destined to be looked back as one of the highlights of Jewel's career.

Ever since I heard Jewel's debut album, I have been waiting for her to release something that you could put on and enjoy all the way through. After a yawn of a sophomore album, she did it.
On this album, Jewel not only lightened up (as many have already noted), she finally utilized her biggest strength - her powerful voice. Very rarely on this album do you hear her whisper over her guitar. She belts out these songs beautifully, allowing her emotion to carry the album - which, in my opinion, was the missing ingredient in her other two releases.
This album has many different sounds on it, keeping the listener interested all the way through. There is some country twang in Everybody Needs Somebody Sometime and Till We Run Out of Road, a fun pop sound to Standing Still and Serve the Ego, and her wonderful folk sound in Jesus Loves Me. All of the tracks have something to offer.
The low points come at the end of the album. New Wild West is the one track in which she forgets to lighten up, and sounds like it was a reject from her last album - and sounds very out of place on this one. While I do love to get bonus material, the two live tracks would have been better saved for a live album down the road. They just don't sound quite right here, on this up-beat album.
I still gave this five stars because, all in all, this is an excellent album with so many wonderful songs, and different styles, that I believe you would have a hard time not finding something on the album worth the price of purchase.

Jewel has a little harder edge to her sound for her third album, This Way. That's not to say she has abandoned her elemental folk sound, it's just been kicked up with a rock edge. The first single, "Standing Still" is a great example of the new sound as is the title track. "Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone" has a 70's Faces riff and is easily the most rocking Jewel has ever gotten. But she doesn't completely change her sound as "Break Me" is classic Jewel. It is a stark ballad in the vein of a "Foolish Games" and the best song on the album, "I Won't Walk Away" is awash in strings and pianos and the lyrics are poignant and deep.

Jewel's latest album is very good for many reasons. "This Way" is loaded with songs written by Jewel. Although many people complained that her cd had countryish songs but it didn't hurt me... I am very pleased with the whole album and I do not regret in purchasing it. There are beautiful pictures and the cd is enhanced where she included her music video, screen saver, wallpaper... very cool!

1) Standing Still - 1st single... This song is very different, one my favorites. It was different because there were more music and Jewel needs to show more music... This song balanced evenly with the music and lyrics... GREAT SONG... 10/10

2) Jesus Love You - Interesting song, Hmm she shouldn't have named this title but the music was good. 7/10

3) Everybody Needs Someone Sometime - One of the songs that sound like a country song, she sounds really countryish in this song, but I like it. 8/10

4) Break Me - A love song that she wrote for her boyfriend, this is the familiar side of Jewel, really soft music and deep lyrics.... If you liked her songs from her 1st album, then you will like this song. Great song. 10/10

5. Do You Want to Play? - This is the shortest song in the whole album. It sounds kiddish... The lyrics is kind of weird to me (very catchy)... I like whoooooaaa whoooa whoooa part :)... 7/10

6. Till We Run Out of Road - Good chorus, the music is different and yes it sounds kind of like a country song as well. 8/10

7. Serve the Ego - Interesting song mixed with some indian music. This is a very different and unique song. You will like it. 9/10

8. This Way - The title for the whole album, this way is a more like a pop song and I love it... There are music and deep lyrics combined... Great song. 10/10

9. Cleveland - She wrote it in Cleveland (duh!) I need to hear more of this song... so I can't give it a score...

10. I Won't Walk Away - the intro for the song is very cool and the music is interesting as well... the lyrics is EXCELLENT... Jewel sounds different in this song... the "WON'T.. WALK AWAY" part in the song reminds me of Titanic for some weird reasons.... AWESOME SONG! 10/10

11. Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone - Yup it sounds like a country song. Listen for the part where she screams :) It was really good... Country fans will love this song. 9/10

12. The New Wild West - The music wasn't wild, it was pretty soft but I haven't heard enough of this song to give it a score...

13. Grey Matter - No comments

14. Sometimes It Be That Way - Jewel used to sing this song at the cafe before she signed her contract, if you liked her two previous album, of course you will like this song. 9/10

My favorite songs are : Standing Still, Break Me, This Way, and I Won't Walk Away. The entire album is really good after all Jewel is taking some part over in arranging the album and she is also the executive producer.

BUY THE CD ALL JEWEL FANS, DON'T FORGET! (TRUST ME YOU WILL REGRET NOT BUYING IT)

Once again Jewel has done it! She is definitely the most talented artist out there. She knows how to keep things fresh and keep the creativity going at all times to explore her music. To me, each of Jewel's albums thus far have had their own "personality". "Pieces of You"-emotional,live "Spirit"-mellow,poetic,polished and now "This Way" which I find to be edgy,rockish,country-ish, and brilliant! She has definitely created an album packed with something for everyone! I am happy to own both of her books and her albums including her Christmas one "JOY". Jewel has actual talent and writes meaningful lyrics which today's music lacks.Standouts include: the first single Standing Still,the love ballad Break Me, very different Serve The Ego (I love the drums!), Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone (Jewel screams on this one!), Do You Want To Play (cool chorus!),The New Wild West (Amazing and thoughtful lyrics about today's society), and finally I Won't Walk Away (Another beautiful love ballad). You would not be wasting your money if you picked this album up so buy it today!

On this album, Jewel has basically picked out a bunch of songs and recorded them in a somewhat `rough and ready' manner, with a live band, and few production embellishments. There are some gems here, but unfortunately, many of the songs are rather bland, all with a similar soft rock/country sound, all in similar keys, that sort of merge together and leave you feeling a bit bored.

Knowing Jewels' awesome vocal talent, it's very disappointing that she doesn't use her full vocal range. I really missed hearing those incredible high notes like she used in `Amen' and `Angel Standing By'. I also felt that creativity was lacking in the music accompanying her. I don't doubt the talent of her band, but the instrumentation is sparse and repetitive... a little experimentation and adventure with the production would have brought some of these songs to life.

The songs I most disliked would have to be `Break Me' and `This Way', which are sickly sweet love songs that might only appeal to a hopeless romantic. I don't mind love songs, but these are a bit much.

The songs I like most would be `Standing Still', `Serve The Ego', and `The New Wild West' because they each have a unique sound and originality.

At the end of the day, her talent really shines through on the simple live acoustic number `Sometimes It Be That Way', with it's intricate poetry and almost spoken word delivery, this has the sort of emotion and innocence that I've missed about her songs.

I realise that this is the record Jewel wanted to make, and it's clear from the cover notes that she's very happy with it. But to be honest, I doubt it will appeal to all of her fans. Basically, I would say `don't expect too much'. It's just an album and it's nice background music.

I usually listen to artists on an album-by-album basis. Each new album release will either be the last I buy from a certain artist or encourage me to buy the next one. The first Jewel album I purchased (although I'd listened to friends' copies of her debut CD) was "Spirit", and I loved it enough to buy "This Way" after only hearing one track. I was not disappointed at all. It did take a few listens to grow on me though. Her style on this CD is definitely different from her other albums, but I wouldn't classify it as pop or country. It's got a little of the folk feel of her previous albums, but it's also somewhat bluesy, and (oddly enough) leans a little toward disco/dance on some tracks. I don't think it could be called mainstream or cliched, because I've never heard anything like it. There are, however, two songs that I normally skip while listening to this CD (although the others more than make up for the lack of those two). First, I don't particularly care for "Jesus Loves You". Jewel obviously has very strong opinions and can put them across sarcastically, but you almost can't tell what side she's taking on this song. The lyrics are a little worrisome, so I prefer to skip it. The other song I'm not so fond of is "Grey Matter". The song itself is not bad, but I think the lyrics are a little contrived ("I hate you/ I love you/ Leave/ Don't go away") and don't share the depth of most of her other lyrics. It's also a little slow which is kind of a let-down compared to the upbeat, emotional feel of the tracks around it. All in all though, I give this album four stars out of five, and recommend it to anyone who has liked Jewel before and to anyone looking for something new and different from other artists out there.

All right, I thought Jewel was something unique when her debut "Piece Of You" was released. She had a sound all her own, and I thought there was going to be some exciting future material to hear from her. But, with her second cd, "Spirit" it seemed this unique talent would have to wait. Now, with "This Way" Jewel appears to be heading in a more pop direction, less folky than her first cd. She seems to be making music for the masses, and I am not sold on her new release. I can't remember any of the tracks other than "Standing Still" and this was the same problem I had with "Spirit" which only had "Hands". Since I but a lot of music each year, I expect something more than a sing-by-numbers approach to music making. Will Jewel ever deliver the goods and make a cd that pairs her unique style with music that complements it? Not this time anyway.

Although I just got this recently, I already notice a lot of the songs to be different than her older work, on a country note, on a romantic note, on a lighter note. She sounds like the Jewel never heard before, and I like it! It might take a while, though, as seen in the rating. So far I have only listened to this once, but I look forward to hearing from it again; I mean, why else would I get it?! My favorite song on here has to be "Till We Run Out of Road" because it reminds of those days when I had to make those transitions in life and just decided to ride one path for the longest time. Oh, it is my latest Jewel CD and I don't think I have made a bad choice at all. I may have fallen for it as much as my older ones and don'y even know it yet. This leaves a decent aftertaste in my mind after the nice food for thought I have been given, and on this album she just may have it right. Keep up the good work Jewel; I am right behind you!