Album reviews: Jewel's 'Sweet and Wild'

Several years into the country phase of a career that's also included stints in the coffeehouse and the dance club, Jewel has gotten the hang of the Nashville sound. On "Sweet and Wild," her second album for the Valory label, the singer loosens up her formerly clenched vocals while a cast of Music City regulars cranks out polished pop-twang arrangements more or less indistinguishable from those on recent efforts by Carrie Underwood or Kellie Pickler.

Yet if Jewel the artist has internalized the sonic values of her adopted hometown, Jewel the songwriter has seemingly ignored its lessons on the art of storytelling; these 11 tunes aim for a kind of down-home romance but lack the lyrical specificity that builds believability. "Once upon a time, used to feel so fine," she sings at the top of the album's opener, "No Good in Goodbye," and "Sweet and Wild" rarely gets more memorable than that.

The exception is "Fading," a surprisingly unsentimental song about the humiliations of old age; it takes place in a Wal-Mart bathroom and includes the word "urine." That probably makes it an unlikely candidate for country-radio success. But it's the most deserving one here.

—Mikael Wood

Jewel
"Sweet and Wild"
Valory
One and a half stars (Out of four)

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Comments

[Lindsey]

Not her best but I still enjoy the album. The acoustic version in the Deluxe edition is really good. I agree about Fading...love that song. She wrote it many years ago and it is more gritty with the lyrics. She has a lot of unreleased songs that would make a few amazing albums. I can't wait to see what's next. :)

[Diego]

I rather like the album but I also rather like country-pop that is more pop than country. Some might find the song "What You Are" cheesy but I find it both well written and beautiful. I've never understood critic's criticisms of Jewel's writing...

[Rocio]

I'm totally agree with this critic. The lyrics of the songs are not good in "Sweet and wild". I would like that Jewel return to make lyrics like in the albums "Pieces of you", "Spirit" and "This way".