Jewel 0304 CD

Everybody's favorite Alaskan pop dame apparently spent the time between 2001's THIS WAY and 0304 distancing herself from her roots and closely studying the Britney-style teenpop phenomenon. Gone is the earnest, coffehouse folkie feel, replaced by squadrons of percolating synthesizers and snappy loops. Together with new writing partner/co-producer Lester Mendez, she seems to have worked out a way to mate Max Martin-style pop hooks with her own sometimes-introspective, sometimes-philosophical lyrics.

There are plenty of songs that deal strictly with the vagaries of romance, but there's also "America," where Jewel gets overtly political, and "Stand," where she laments the failure of Woody Guthrie's visions in contemporary society. So while a casual listen might give the impression that yesterday's Jewel had become strictly a memory, there's a continuing lyrical thread on 0304 that extends like a dangling lifeline to the singer's old fans.

Recorded at Conway Studios, Hollywood, California.

Personnel: Jewel Kilcher (vocals, guitar); Mark Oakley (acoustic guitars, Rusty Anderson, Dave Levita (electric guitar); Lisa Germano (violin, background vocals); Mike Bolger (accordion, trumpet, trombone); Lester A. Mendez (keyboards, sound effects); Patrick Warren (chamberlain); Paul Bushnell (bass); Abe Laboriel Jr. (snare drums, drums, percussion, sound effects); Greg Collins (sound effects).

Producers include: Lester Mendez, Jewel Kilcher.

Personnel: Mark Oakley (acoustic guitar); Rusty Anderson, David Levita (electric guitar); Lisa Germano (violin, background vocals); Mick Bolger (accordion, trumpet, trombone); Patrick Warren (piano, chamberlin); Lester Mendez (keyboards, hand claps); Abe Laboriel, Jr. (drums, snare drum, hand claps, percussion); Greg Collins (hand claps).

Audio Mixer: Serban Ghenea.

Recording information: Conway Studios, Hollywood, CA.

Photographer: Peter Robathan.

Arranger: Lester Mendez.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.Rolling Stone (6/26/03, p.74) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Reinventing herself with sleek studio effects, plastic dance-rock hooks and pop-art irony is a major move for an icon of the unironic..."
Entertainment Weekly (6/20/03, p.71) - "...0304's dance-pop vibrancy makes it Jewel's best album..." - Rating: B-
Q (11/03, p.117) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...The singer is fully three-dimensional here....She has never sounded brighter or more infectious..."