Author Topic: Jewel Returns to Folk Roots on 'Picking Up the Pieces' Album (Read 87962 times)

darwin · « **Reply #40 on:** August 30, 2015, 07:22:22 PM »

Has anyone got the newly released PFF song from itunes?

Randy · « **Reply #41 on:** August 30, 2015, 08:31:39 PM »

So this is how they used to get those glowing critics' quotes for those movie posters. It's kind of fun.

Quote

Jewel's voice is in good form here!

The rest of this PUtP review is, well, not that.

http://alibi.com/music/49644/Sonic-Reducer-Jewel-Fresh-Snow-The-Expanding.html

Quote

SONIC REDUCER
By Geoffrey Plant
Jewel Picking Up the Pieces (Sugar Hill)
Jewel finds space on the front cover of her new country album to share this philosophical bombshell: “what we call reality in actuality is our perception of it”—confirming that Picking Up the Pieces is a “return to the emotional and musical territory mined on her landmark 1995 debut Pieces of You”, as her press release states, warning potential listeners of the pithy musings awaiting them. Jewel's voice is in good form here, even if she can't decide if she's Dolly Parton (who joins her on track 13), an American Idol contestant or one of the Indigo Girls. Perhaps Jewel has rearranged the pieces too many times trying to find herself in a self-constructed world where everything is imbued with symbolism, myriad interpretations, paradox and deeper meaning—a world built entirely on the cotton candy surface of the universe actual thinking people inhabit. Jewel knows we think she's shallow, too. On “Carnivore”: “I’ll never trust my pink, fleshy heart to a carnivore”—duh—“I'll take back my songs and my poetry/ and next time I won't be so easy to read.” Uh huh.

Donna Sue · « **Reply #42 on:** August 31, 2015, 03:04:25 AM »

Quote from: Randy on August 30, 2015, 08:31:39 PM

The rest of this PUtP review is, well, not that.

Oh well. They can suck it.

Just one more day folks!!!! Let's vote!!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 46.41%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 8.73%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 13.15%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 0.99%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 12.6%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 18.12%

SMP · « **Reply #43 on:** August 31, 2015, 07:18:21 AM »

Quote from: Randy on August 30, 2015, 08:31:39 PM

Quote
SONIC REDUCER
By Geoffrey Plant
Jewel Picking Up the Pieces (Sugar Hill)
Jewel finds space on the front cover of her new country album to share this philosophical bombshell: “what we call reality in actuality is our perception of it”—confirming that Picking Up the Pieces is a “return to the emotional and musical territory mined on her landmark 1995 debut Pieces of You”, as her press release states, warning potential listeners of the pithy musings awaiting them. Jewel's voice is in good form here, even if she can't decide if she's Dolly Parton (who joins her on track 13), an American Idol contestant or one of the Indigo Girls. Perhaps Jewel has rearranged the pieces too many times trying to find herself in a self-constructed world where everything is imbued with symbolism, myriad interpretations, paradox and deeper meaning—a world built entirely on the cotton candy surface of the universe actual thinking people inhabit. Jewel knows we think she's shallow, too. On “Carnivore”: “I’ll never trust my pink, fleshy heart to a carnivore”—duh—“I'll take back my songs and my poetry/ and next time I won't be so easy to read.” Uh huh.

This guy is an asshole. Well, if she wanted a bookend to POY, she sure got it - complete with miguided reviews. I need a "jerk-off" emoji. LOL

Quote from: Donna Sue on August 31, 2015, 03:04:25 AM

Quote from: Randy on August 30, 2015, 08:31:39 PM
The rest of this PUtP review is, well, not that.

Oh well. They can suck it.

Just one more day folks!!!! Let's vote!!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 46.41%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 8.73%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 13.15%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 0.99%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 12.6%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 18.12%

I'm on it! Don Henley can suck it too. Sounds like someone is twisting hhis nuts when he sings with the Eagles. Counry is going to be that much worse.

Damn, but I woke up in a foul state.

Donna Sue · « **Reply #44 on:** August 31, 2015, 07:48:14 AM »

Quote from: SMP on August 31, 2015, 07:18:21 AM

I need a "jerk-off" emoji. LOL

I found one of these when I was searching emojis the other day! lol.
It was funny, but didn't know if it would get used much on here. Little did I know...

SMP · « **Reply #45 on:** August 31, 2015, 08:00:08 AM »

:-[

I sound like Cartman, this morning.

To make it worse, I had to upgrade my computer and I swear the keyboard is messing with me. The keying is all wrong (either too light or too hard) so it looks like I can't type.

- soooo me.

The jerk off guy, is probably a bad idea and I'm probably the only one who would post him. So, I'll stick to the pole and take my rage out on Don Henley.

SMP · « **Reply #46 on:** August 31, 2015, 08:12:36 AM »

Thank you for voting!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 47.06%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 8.61%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 12.96%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 1.09%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 12.42%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 17.86%

SMP · « **Reply #47 on:** August 31, 2015, 08:18:40 AM »

How many times an hour is everyone voting? I mean, I go in - vote, close the window, clear my cache and cookies and vote again.

Anyone, anyone?

Jessica · « **Reply #48 on:** August 31, 2015, 08:30:47 AM »

I've only voted once.

That review is probably a pretty fair reflection of what most music connoisseurs will feel about this record, but whatever, music snobs suck anyway.

Quote from: Michelle on August 30, 2015, 01:35:11 PM

When do you think we will find out about the bonus versions of the album? X

I don't know! I keep checking the Target site - I even went there yesterday - but nothing yet. I say Target because every other album before this one has had a bonus addition released through Target. I'll keep checking and I'll definitely make it known if I find anything.

Quote from: darwin on August 30, 2015, 07:22:22 PM

Has anyone got the newly released PFF song from itunes?

I haven't seen it out in the wild. I didn't get it, either, because I didn't pre-order from iTunes or Amazon.

I think Matt got it.

SMP · « **Reply #49 on:** August 31, 2015, 08:53:59 AM »

Thank you for voting!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 48.02%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 8.45%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 12.73%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 1.07%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 12.19%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 17.54%

SMP · « **Reply #50 on:** August 31, 2015, 09:21:48 AM »

Thank you for voting!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 49%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 8.29%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 12.49%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 1.05%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 11.96%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 17.21% <---

HA!!! I LOVE IT!

And clearly, I have NO life. Especially when I'm on Monday morning con calls.

Jessica · « **Reply #51 on:** August 31, 2015, 09:33:43 AM »

Jewel moves forward by looking back on Picking Up The Pieces

"My goal was to try to be as undiluted and pure and emotional as I could."

Quote

Listening to Jewel’s debut Pieces of You, one of the things that really stands out is the power of her voice. A large chunk of that landmark album (which turned 20 years old earlier this year) was recorded live in an attempt to crystallize the same live energy that led to her success in the first place.

“I’ve never sung great in the studio,” Jewel admits. “It’s always been a vexing thing for me. If a person sees me live, I’m about 300 times better. I’ve always felt the audience, and I sing from my heart. I don’t sing the song the same every time. I get so much feeling and emotion from the crowd, and I really live the songs. I don’t know how to do that in a sterile studio environment where you’re looking at a wall. It’s a hard thing for me to get emotional about.”

So when the time came to make a new album, she wanted to get back to the vibe she captured on her debut and close the loop on Pieces of You with a bookend called Picking Up The Pieces. The result is a remarkably raw, bracingly honest set of folk and Americana tunes that tap into both the remarkable spirit in her voice and her incredible lyrical honesty. She recruited a lot of the same players who performed on her debut, cut the bulk of it live, and even produced the thing herself in order to get an unadulterated version of her vision.

“Originally I had Paul Worley, who is a great producer in Nashville, set to help me with the record,” Jewel says. “I knew my goal, and I thought he had a good sensibility for me and for the record. He backed out right before we were going to start the record, and I went over to his office completely flummoxed, and he said, ‘I think this is something you need to do. Anybody producing would just be a filter you get heard through, and you don’t need a filter.’ I thought it was a cop out and he just had another project, and I was really pissed. He said one day I would thank him for this, and sure enough on my liner notes, I’m like ‘Thank you, Paul.’ So my goal was to try to be as undiluted and pure and emotional as I could.”

The same idea fueled her forthcoming memoir Never Broken, which chronicles the many ups and downs of her personal life. “People are aware of a lot of my background, but they don’t really know a lot of what really happened,” she says. “The darkest of my moments were at the heights of my fame. There was an incredible betrayal that I suffered and had to keep picking myself up from that nobody ever knew about.”

Like most of her previous albums, Picking Up The Pieces contains a handful of tunes that have been lurking around the corners of Jewel’s world for years. “I have a catalogue of 500 songs probably,” she says. “So on every record, there are songs I wrote when I was 18, 20, 25.” On Picking Up, that includes a stunning cut called “Nicotine Love.” “I wrote before I was homeless, so right after I graduated from high school. I’m always amazed at what I was writing in high school and when I graduated. It’s obviously a reflection of the life I was living—I wasn’t a normal teenager writing about crushes and things going on in school. I grew up in barrooms and left home when I was 15. I wrote about what my life was. I wrote a lot of short story fiction before I began writing songs, so I kind of approached songwriting as a short story writer in the beginning because I didn’t know much about songwriting. This is short story fiction about a woman who was sexually abused as a young girl, and she decides to get revenge by seducing him and killing him. Monster came out years later, and I was like, ‘Boy, that would have been the perfect theme song for that movie!’ It’s been a fan favorite for a long time.”

Picking Up The Pieces is out Sept. 11, and Never Broken arrives Sept. 15. Jewel launches a book tour beginning Sept. 14.

SMP · « **Reply #52 on:** August 31, 2015, 09:49:53 AM »

Thank you for voting!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 50%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 8.13%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 12.24%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 1.03%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 11.73%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 16.87%

Donna Sue · « **Reply #53 on:** August 31, 2015, 10:18:06 AM »

Quote from: SMP on August 31, 2015, 08:18:40 AM

How many times an hour is everyone voting? I mean, I go in - vote, close the window, clear my cache and cookies and vote again.

Anyone, anyone?

I'm voting about 5x a day... its really all I can manage.

Thank you for voting!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 50.76%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 8%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 12.06%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 1.01%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 11.55%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 16.62%

Over 50%!

Take that, Don.....

SMP · « **Reply #54 on:** August 31, 2015, 10:20:40 AM »

Thank you for voting!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 51.01%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 7.96%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 12%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 1.01%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 11.49%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 16.53%

Quote from: Donna Sue on August 31, 2015, 10:18:06 AM

Quote from: SMP on August 31, 2015, 08:18:40 AM
How many times an hour is everyone voting? I mean, I go in - vote, close the window, clear my cache and cookies and vote again.

Anyone, anyone?

I'm voting about 5x a day... its really all I can manage.

Cool. I thought I was playing with myself.

I've been at this for hours.

SMP · « **Reply #55 on:** August 31, 2015, 10:54:33 AM »

Thank you for voting!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 52.12%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 7.78%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 11.72%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 0.99%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 11.23%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 16.16%

Mr. Joe · « **Reply #56 on:** August 31, 2015, 11:19:12 AM »

Quote from: Jessica on August 31, 2015, 09:33:43 AM

Jewel moves forward by looking back on Picking Up The Pieces

"My goal was to try to be as undiluted and pure and emotional as I could."

“Originally I had Paul Worley, who is a great producer in Nashville, set to help me with the record,” Jewel says. “I knew my goal, and I thought he had a good sensibility for me and for the record. He backed out right before we were going to start the record, and I went over to his office completely flummoxed, and he said, ‘I think this is something you need to do. Anybody producing would just be a filter you get heard through, and you don’t need a filter.’ I thought it was a cop out and he just had another project, and I was really pissed. He said one day I would thank him for this, and sure enough on my liner notes, I’m like ‘Thank you, Paul.’ So my goal was to try to be as undiluted and pure and emotional as I could.”
Quote

That explains all of the activity with Skyville Live in Nashville early this year, Paul Worley is the co-founder and works with some new talent and veterans, like the show where Jewel joined Kris Kristofferson on "Me and Bobby McGee." It is a Country venue but I like and it is just up the road in Nashville, for me.

Jessica · « **Reply #57 on:** August 31, 2015, 11:27:19 AM »

Do you live in Nashville? That seems to be the new hotbed for Jewel activity!

SMP · « **Reply #58 on:** August 31, 2015, 11:38:22 AM »

My OCD has kicked in

Thank you for voting!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 53.04%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 7.62%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 11.57%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 0.96%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 10.99%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 15.81%

SMP · « **Reply #59 on:** August 31, 2015, 12:25:44 PM »

Okay, this is all I have for today. Off to a business dinner.

Thank you for voting!

Jewel, 'Picking Up the Pieces' 54.12%
Brett Eldredge, 'Illinois' 7.4%
Alabama, 'Southern Drawl' 11.24%
Mac McAnally, 'A.K.A. Nobody' 1.03%
Thomas Rhett, 'Tangled Up' 10.67%
Don Henley, 'Cass County' 15.54%