There was a time back towards the beginning of Jewel Kilcher's career as a professional musician when she had things rough. Everyone knows the story by now: she lived in her van doing whatever she could to get by until she was discovered and finally made it big with her debut album Pieces of You, thanks to the simple yet emotionally resonant singles "You Were Meant For Me," "Who Will Save Your Soul?" and "Foolish Games."
Her folk-rock sound, unique vocal range and her ability to write from both her own life's experience and that of others around her proved to be a powerful combination, giving Jewel the momentum to slice through the mainstream radio waves that were, at that time, mostly occupied with the dying sounds of the grunge movement (Nirvana and others like them) and the start-up of a pop-music empire (Spice Girls anyone?) that would stay in the public spotlight for nearly a decade.
Putting Pieces of You behind her and coasting on her newfound success as an established singer and songwriter, Jewel decided to give recording a rest for a few years and refocus her talents as a poet and writer. In between the release of her final single from Pieces of You and the release of Spirit, her follow-up sophomore album, Jewel released a collection of poetry titled A Night Without Armor (a book Jewel herself even admits would not have been published without the success of Pieces of You) and would later on in her career also publish a book of stories from the road known as Chasing Down The Dawn.
A creative talent in her own right, Jewel eventually went on to release three more albums (Joy: A Holiday Collection, Spirit and This Way), all of which gave listeners a further glimpse into the life and character of Jewel Kilcher. Her emotional and sometimes gritty and raw sound along with deep lyrics helped shape an admirable artist for music lovers everywhere.
Suddenly, this stopped with the release of Jewel's next album, 0304. The first single from the album, "Intuition," introduced a new version of Jewel. Suddenly, her unique and admirable folk-rock sounds had vanished and were replaced by synthetic and electronic beats in the same vein as a record by Britney Spears. Many longtime fans of Jewel's disclaimed her and accused her of "selling out," despite her assurances that the album was meant to poke fun at the pop music phenomenon that had started fading.
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