I'll admit I'm a little tired of war/anti-war inspired albums/songs. Jewel's new album is one that is very much influenced by these troubled times, but the end product is very much different. Instead of hammering us with political ideals, Jewel insisted in these times that it was necessary to just have fun, and that is what the album is all about. However, this fun album is not devoid of substance, as even though the music has slightly shifted from guitar folk to a more upbeat rhythm, the thought provoking lyrics of Jewel are still apparent in all the songs.

The album is one of experimentation, but as I haven't purchased any of Jewel's albums, with the exceptions of Pieces of You and 0304, I can't comment much on the progression of her style. I will, however, comment on the progression of the album itself.

First off, Intuition, is not a representation of the whole album. The amount of electronic usage in that single is not duplicated as much in the rest of the album. As I stated before, the album is mostly one of experimentation. I divided the album into 3 sections: the first 1/3 being electronic experimentations, the 2nd 1/3 being pop/folksy (typical Jewel), the last 1/3 being 80's dance. However, those are merely generalizations of the songs contained within the album. The range of music is a wide one. We go from one song that has a trip hop feel (Leave The Lights On) to one that is 80's technopop (U & Me = Love) and even to one that I would consider to be Standing Still - Part 2 (2 Find U). However, just because the music has a wide range doesn't mean this album is scattered. I believe Jewel to be a master of her craft and the album, though covering a lot of genre, is mixed together well. She kicks us in the face immediately with her experimentation songs, then eases back in with her folksy pop songs (of which, Track 7 - Doin' Fine, is at the center of this entire album, not only physically but ideally), and finally takes us out with the dance songs. My only disappointment was the song America, which is an obvious anthem, but is weak at best. In the album booklet, she mentions that fear of litigation is the new censorship, and that it was not easy to get America through the labels intact. That is obvious as one lyric, "We are fucking in America" had the "fucking" censored out, so all you heard was "f...ing", which is ultimately sad. I would rather have had her just change the lyric than have it tarnished with a blank censorship in the middle of the song. I didn't care much for the song anyway though, other than for the lyric, "I wanna change it, but I wouldn't leave it if I could." Which is exactly my sentiment on that area of topic.

Regardless, as stated before, in these times of trouble, it is necessary to sometimes just have fun, and I believe Jewel has provided that. Enjoy away.