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MUSIC  ALBUM REVIEW

Jewel Perfectly Clear ***

by Jonathan Keefe on June 1, 2008 Jump to Comments (0) or Add Your Own

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It ultimately says less about Jewel than it does about the way mainstream country music has adopted the adult contemporary of the '80s and '90s as its stylistic template that most of the songs on Perfectly Clear, the singer-songwriter's ostensible country debut, sound indistinguishable from those on Pieces of You and Spirit. The album's production—courtesy of overexposed blowhard John Rich, the more grating half of Big & Rich and currently Jewel's fellow judge on the NBC revival of Nashville Star—throws in the occasional flourish of steel guitar and banjo, but "Two Become One," "I Do" and the title track recall her singles "You Were Meant for Me" and "Hands" more than hits by the Dixie Chicks.

Questions of genre authenticity notwithstanding (though it's worth mentioning that, out of the many fading pop stars—including Bon Jovi, Joan Osborne, Darius Rucker and Jessica Simpson—dabbling in country music in an attempt to revitalize their careers, Jewel is by far the best fit as a would-be country star, given her long-term relationship with a for-real cowboy and her first-rate yodel), Perfectly Clear works pretty well both as a Jewel album and an example of contemporary country. What's most striking is the way that Jewel has attempted to tailor her songwriting to the genre's standards, resulting in some of the cleanest, least precious writing of her career. "Love Is a Garden" still lapses into some of her trademark bad poetry, but "Till It Feels Like Cheating" follows a straightforward narrative and the standout "Anyone But You" recalls the economy of language of many of country's best songwriters. It's the deceptive simplicity of the songwriting that grounds the album in country and makes it arguably the best-written record in Jewel's catalogue.

Even if it doesn't sound more like a country album than any of her previous work, the best songs on Perfectly Clear do show an awareness of genre form that gives Jewel a more distinctive presence than many of her contemporaries on country radio—where, if more than three women (Jennifer Nettles, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift) regularly scored major airplay, lead single "Stronger Woman" might have peaked higher than #13. If she continues to refine her craft and works with a producer with better taste than Rich, there's reason to think that Jewel might actually record a legitimately excellent country record one day.

  • Label: Valory
  • Release Date: 2008

Soundtrack Features New Music from Taylor Swift, Jewel

Taylor Swift’s “Today Was A Fairytale” Single Available Exclusively on iTunes and Leaps to #1, Achieving Her Highest First-Day Sales to Date

Taylor Swift World Premiere Performance of “Today Was A Fairytale” at the 52nd Annual Grammy® Awards January 31 on CBS

BURBANK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WaterTower Music, in conjunction with Big Machine Records, will release the official soundtrack album from the New Line Cinema film Valentine’s Day on CD and online on February 9, 2010. The eclectic soundtrack lineup consists of 18 songs and features several acclaimed artists. The movie Valentine’s Day opens nationwide on February 12, 2010.

Anchoring the soundtrack are brand new songs from 2009’s best-selling artist Taylor Swift, who also makes her feature film acting debut in the film, and multi-platinum singer-songwriter Jewel.

In advance of the soundtrack’s release, fans will have several opportunities to hear new music from both of these artists. Taylor Swift’s new song “Today Was A Fairytale,” which is the end title theme of the movie, is available now at iTunes for purchase. The song skyrocketed to #1 on iTunes hours after its release. In addition, January 31 will bring the world premiere performance of “Today Was A Fairytale” when Swift performs the song at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards (where she is nominated for eight awards).

The Valentine’s Day soundtrack also includes Jewel’s brand new single, “Stay Here Forever,” which can be heard now on Country radio. Starting on January 27, fans who purchase Valentine’s Day movie tickets through www.fandango.com or www.movietickets.com will get a special free download of the original demo version of the single through iTunes. Jewel will also perform the song on Lopez Tonight and on Live with Regis and Kelly.

Other soundtrack highlights include Maroon 5’s rare take on Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight”; the new Top 25 hit single from CMT’s Can You Duet? season 2 winners Steel Magnolia; Amy Winehouse; Joss Stone; the bird and the bee; and Anju Ramapriyam’s Bollywood version of the classic “Signed Sealed Delivered I’m Yours,” among many others. The full track listing is as follows:

ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT

Taylor Swift (the CMA and AP’s reigning Entertainer of the Year and the American Music Awards’ 2009 Artist of the Year) is the top-selling digital artist in music history. She was the best-selling artist of 2009, repeating her 2008 achievement. Her current album, the quintuple-platinum Fearless, has spent 11 weeks at #1 atop Billboard’s 2009 all-genre Top 200 Albums chart, more than any other album this century.

In 2009, she topped People magazine’s Most Intriguing People list, was named a Person Who Mattered by the editors of Time magazine, a Person of the Year by NBC, and was featured as one of Rolling Stone’s 100 People Changing America. People also named her one of 2009’s 10 Best Dressed Celebrities and also one of the year’s Most Beautiful People.

Swift is nominated for eight awards at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

ABOUT JEWEL

Jewel is an acclaimed American singer, songwriter, actress, poet, painter, philanthropist and daughter to an Alaskan cowboy singer-songwriter. Growing up on a remote ranch in Alaska, Jewel endured poverty and teen homelessness on the road to the triumph of international stardom. The three-time Grammy Award nominee has enjoyed career longevity rare among her generation of artists and has sold 27 million albums worldwide. Her debut album, Pieces of You, became one of the best-selling debut albums of all time. In 2008, Jewel released her first country record, Perfectly Clear, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. She is currently working on a country follow-up to Perfectly Clear. Jewel lives on a working ranch in Stephenville, Texas with her husband, World Champion bull-riding superstar Ty Murray.

ABOUT VALENTINE’S DAY

An all-star ensemble cast comes together in Valentine’s Day, following the intertwining storylines of a group of Los Angelinos as they find their way through romance over the course of one Valentine’s Day.

Directed by veteran filmmaker Garry Marshall, the film stars Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts and Taylor Swift.

Marshall directed Valentine’s Day from a screenplay by Katherine Fugate, story by Fugate and Abby Kohn & Marc Silverstein. The film is produced by Mike Karz and Wayne Rice, with Toby Emmerich, Samuel J. Brown, Michael Disco and Diana Pokorny serving as executive producers.

The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Charles Minsky, production designer Albert Brenner, editor Bruce Green, costume designer Gary Jones, and composer John Debney.

New Line Cinema presents, a Wayne Rice/Karz Entertainment Production, a Garry Marshall Film, Valentine’s Day, to be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

www.valentinesdaymovie.com

ABOUT WATERTOWER MUSIC

WATERTOWER MUSIC (formerly New Line Records) a division of New Line Productions Inc., has been releasing recorded music since 2002. Distributed through Warner Music Group’s independent arm ADA, WTM has released over 60 titles, including the film soundtracks to Hairspray, Sex and the City, Elf, The Notebook, He’s Just Not That Into You, The Departed, Love & Basketball and Wedding Crashers, among others. Its 2009 schedule included The Hangover, ROCK OF AGES Broadway Cast Recording, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Invictus, and Sherlock Holmes.

ABOUT BIG MACHINE RECORDS

Scott Borchetta founded independent label Big Machine Records in September 2005 and serves as its President/CEO. In its first year Big Machine scored its first #1 single (Jack Ingram’s “Wherever You Are”), placed five singles in the Country Top 30, received a nomination for Record Label of the Year, and placed all three of the label’s three new artist releases in the Top 10 Most-Played New Artists of 2006 (as monitored by Mediabase and reported by USA Today and Country Aircheck).

Big Machine Records was Billboard’s #1 Top Country Album Imprint of 2009, decorating it as the highest-selling record label group on Music Row. In 4 short years, Big Machine Records has grown into the Big Machine Label Group, which includes sister labels The Valory Music Co. and Republic Nashville. The Big Machine Label Group’s current artist roster includes Taylor Swift, Reba McEntire, Jewel, Billboard’s “New Country Artist of 2009” Justin Moore, Trisha Yearwood, Jack Ingram, Jimmy Wayne, Steel Magnolia, The Band Perry, Fast Ryde and Sunny Sweeney.

In 4 years, Big Machine Records artists have received 6 Country Music Association Awards, 6 American Music Awards, 4 Academy of Country Music Awards, 4 CMT Music Awards, 3 Teen Choice Awards, 1 MTV Video Music Award, and 1 People’s Choice Award, as well as 13 Grammy Award nominations and 5 People’s Choice Award nominations.