Track Listing

1. Who Will Save Your Soul
2. Morning Song
3. Painters
4. Amen
5. Angel Standing By
6. Daddy
7. Don't
8. You Were Meant For Me
9. I'm Sensitive
10. Adrian
11. Pieces Of You
12. Little Sister
13. Foolish Games
14. Near You Always
15. Foolish Games (2)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21343 in Music
• Released on: 1997-10-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

CD Description
When this Alaskan decided to give up her day job and move into her Volkswagen van in 1993, she began an almost storybook ascendance to the upper echelon of singer-songwriters. Like so many other aspiring musicians with a guitar and a storyto tell, Jewel is a keen observer of human behavior. But itis her voice, a classically-trained instrument that has developed far beyond Jewel's 22 years, that makes her debut album--much of which was recorded at Neil Young's Broken Arrow Ranch with pieces of his HARVEST MOON band--such a joy.
Jewel's is a special voice, one that can portray enormous emotional range with only slight alterations in colour and texture. She sings "I'm Sensitive" with coy innocence, and givesthe title track a biting, scolding quality. "Amen", the album's finale, is perhaps Jewel's most stunning vocal display,with her gorgeous, ethereal falsetto lifting us into a world where beautiful voices can speak volumes.

Customer Reviews

Strength in Lyrics
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.

http://thenorthernsound.cjb.net

Delicate songs with a brutal honesty - a brilliant debut!
By complete chance I happened to come home after a night out to flick the TV on to a profile of Jewel. From the few snippets of music I heard I decided that I needed, not just wanted, but needed this album. I wasn't disappointed.

The songs are amazing (I have a few reservations about "Adrian") and have a superb blend of beautifully crafted lyrics that complement some great melodies and harmonies. Compound these with Jewel's unique voice that suit the songs and mood of the album so well and you have a winner.

The cover of the album has the quote "What we call human nature in actuality is human habit". I don't know where it came from but it describes the album brilliantly. The songs broach a range of themes from love ("You Were Meant For Me" and "Foolish Games") to social ills ("Daddy" and "Who Will Save Your Soul") and prejudice ("Pieces of You"). The album is, in effect, a social commentary put to music. However, unless you really listened to the lyrics you would probably miss many of the subtler topics and it is quite possible just to enjoy the album without even thinking about the message; but a lot more rewarding if you do.

Utterly inspiring
I bought this album as soon as I had seen Jewel perform 'You were meant for me' twice on British television, and I was mostly risking the expensive pay out (I was 16, with no income) for something no one had recommended or sampled for me. Man! Was I chuffed that I bought it! I must have played it non stop for a month, and still regularly over the past 3 years, and every song beats within my still. Jewel tells stories with her compositions, wonderfully arranged and performed, emotional and cognitive. If you've heard of jewel, buy this album before any other, it's the foundation by which your admiration for this angel will be strong and eternal, trust me!