R*Philippines
12-25-2006, 07:58 PM
Taken from: MusicTAP (http://www.musictap.net/Reviews/JewelGoodbyeAliceInWonderlandCD.html)
05/03/06
Reviewed by - Matt Rowe (mattrowe@musictap.net)
http://www.musictap.net/Graphics/CDCovers/JewelGoodbyeAliceCD.jpg
Jewel Goodbye Alice In Wonderland
http://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-whole.gifhttp://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-whole.gifhttp://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-whole.gifhttp://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-half.gifhttp://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-empty.gif
Sometimes you have to step aside from past experiences in order to enjoy something that seems a departure from older material. In the case of Jewel Kilcher’s latest album, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, you have a step back from her last album, 0304, to a much more homespun approach. In this album, Jewel takes chances that ordinarily are forbidden to big stars that fear the risk of straying from successful formula too much. With Jewel’s style of music, a folkish style of pop that lets Jewel’s fun voice that, at times, reminds of a higher pitched Chrissie Hynde, and at others, a uniquely qualified Kilcher product, move from various angles to produce a challenging effort. In this case, that challenging effort is also a personal work as she uses experiences as a basis for her lyrics.
Jewel’s poetics were shaped at any early age by the likes of writers, Anais Nin, Charles Bukowski, and others, who, across written pages, encouraged an honesty that elevated Jewel to the successes that she has enjoyed. Even more so, those same influences helped to form the words that are the framework of Goodbye Alice in Wonderland. Using the fantasy world of Alice in Wonderland as a metaphor for the crazy, unrealistic life of a pop star, Jewel Kilcher’s most open and revelatory look at the quality of her life, she seeks to leave the surrealism of it all for firmer ground. The album’s title cut explores the depth of confusion and discontent, and for an individual of Kilcher’s age, that’s pretty mature material.
On “Good Day,” her blend of spare music and a largely spoken beginning that segues into a fuller song musically and lyrically. Jewel melds fears and confidences into a smartly written work spelling out the complete expectations of utter confidence that accompany parental faith and care. She begs the questions, “…can you be everything I need you to be? Can you protect me like a daughter, can you love me like a father, can you drink me like water…the point of it all, is that if I should fall, it’s still your name I call…” In that, she has asked for the perfection of love. Again, the direction of the lines, the content, and the sincerity, reveals a person who is in search of the best that life should offer.
“Satellite” begins with niceties that graduate to the inner view of personas that fleck the landscape of falsehoods. “Stephenville, TX” is a look at the temporaries of life, a surety that things will change no matter your perspective and outlook. In all of these songs that fill up the expanse of aluminum, Jewel has shown off her wisdom in many, well structured lines of poetic lyrics. She has encapsulated those words in music that matches the flow of the moment. All in all, I find Goodbye Alice in Wonderland to be an album of intensities that measure the importance of life for Jewel and her listeners.
As stated before, sometimes you have to step away from past efforts to gain appreciations that might otherwise be shadowed. Goodbye Alice in Wonderland is that album. Nice work, Jewel.
05/03/06
Reviewed by - Matt Rowe (mattrowe@musictap.net)
http://www.musictap.net/Graphics/CDCovers/JewelGoodbyeAliceCD.jpg
Jewel Goodbye Alice In Wonderland
http://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-whole.gifhttp://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-whole.gifhttp://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-whole.gifhttp://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-half.gifhttp://www.musictap.net/Graphics/Stars/rating-empty.gif
Sometimes you have to step aside from past experiences in order to enjoy something that seems a departure from older material. In the case of Jewel Kilcher’s latest album, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, you have a step back from her last album, 0304, to a much more homespun approach. In this album, Jewel takes chances that ordinarily are forbidden to big stars that fear the risk of straying from successful formula too much. With Jewel’s style of music, a folkish style of pop that lets Jewel’s fun voice that, at times, reminds of a higher pitched Chrissie Hynde, and at others, a uniquely qualified Kilcher product, move from various angles to produce a challenging effort. In this case, that challenging effort is also a personal work as she uses experiences as a basis for her lyrics.
Jewel’s poetics were shaped at any early age by the likes of writers, Anais Nin, Charles Bukowski, and others, who, across written pages, encouraged an honesty that elevated Jewel to the successes that she has enjoyed. Even more so, those same influences helped to form the words that are the framework of Goodbye Alice in Wonderland. Using the fantasy world of Alice in Wonderland as a metaphor for the crazy, unrealistic life of a pop star, Jewel Kilcher’s most open and revelatory look at the quality of her life, she seeks to leave the surrealism of it all for firmer ground. The album’s title cut explores the depth of confusion and discontent, and for an individual of Kilcher’s age, that’s pretty mature material.
On “Good Day,” her blend of spare music and a largely spoken beginning that segues into a fuller song musically and lyrically. Jewel melds fears and confidences into a smartly written work spelling out the complete expectations of utter confidence that accompany parental faith and care. She begs the questions, “…can you be everything I need you to be? Can you protect me like a daughter, can you love me like a father, can you drink me like water…the point of it all, is that if I should fall, it’s still your name I call…” In that, she has asked for the perfection of love. Again, the direction of the lines, the content, and the sincerity, reveals a person who is in search of the best that life should offer.
“Satellite” begins with niceties that graduate to the inner view of personas that fleck the landscape of falsehoods. “Stephenville, TX” is a look at the temporaries of life, a surety that things will change no matter your perspective and outlook. In all of these songs that fill up the expanse of aluminum, Jewel has shown off her wisdom in many, well structured lines of poetic lyrics. She has encapsulated those words in music that matches the flow of the moment. All in all, I find Goodbye Alice in Wonderland to be an album of intensities that measure the importance of life for Jewel and her listeners.
As stated before, sometimes you have to step away from past efforts to gain appreciations that might otherwise be shadowed. Goodbye Alice in Wonderland is that album. Nice work, Jewel.