Well, I wasn't disappointed! "Intuition" is a great song. The lyrics are typical Jewel. This isn't a Britney or X-Tina song at all, despite revirews which say such things. This is pure Jewel. Deep, introspective lyrics. And she's added a new groove to boot!

I think a lot of people want their artists to stay in a certain comfort zone forever. That's not the hallmark of a good artist; rather, it shows that the artist isn't capable of growth. Artists who cannot, or will not, grow bore me to death. Jewel took a chance here. She moved away from her comfort zone and tried something new, and it works. It's a great song, and the other songs I have heard from the album are just as good.

Tori Amos took this chance a few years back with "From the Choir Girl Hotel". She heard a few of her songs remixed, went a bit techno, and it worked. Sarah McLachlan released 2 albums with techno/dance songs..."Remixed" and "Rareties, B-Sides...". These were great albums from artists who took a chance, and Jewel is doing the same thing. I give her a lot of credit for taking a chance. If the fickle fan-base doesn't want to buy her albums anymore, so be it. At least she won't look back years from now and say that she never took the chance to expand her music. Good for her!

Once a rare Jewel, now a common stone
I absolutely love Jewel's first album, "Pieces of You." It's easily one of my favorite albums of all time, and I listen to it often. I even designed my own cover for it, a sure sign that I liked it. She had a sound all her own then, unique from anyone before her or since. As it turns out, everything that made her unique was soon to be burned out in the hot light of the modern music industry.

Since "Pieces of You," I've borne witness to Jewel's slow de-evolution from something truly unique and powerful, to something just like every other pop artist playing today. I've watched it with sadness, and disappointment. Now, I simply don't expect to ever see the rare, beautiful, unique quality I once treasured ever again.

On her new single, "Intuition," I think I've seen the final step, and her lowest point. At least, I can't imagine how much worse she could get from here. "Intuition" is a standard pop song with a strong R & B feel. I've no doubt that it will have a strong appeal to fans of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Kelly Clarkson. It's hip and happy, bland and flavorless.

Jewel's voice, while recognizable in the song, is now overshadowed by strong beats and standard pop keyboard riffs. Her acoustic guitar, once prevalent in most of her music, is now either completely absent or overpowered by the other instruments. If it's there, I can't hear it. The song itself is meaningless and trite. It's lyrics lack the subtle storytelling quality of former albums, and it comes off as little more than a generic pop song. In fact, the only thing that stopped me from changing the channel the first time I heard "Intuition" on the radio was the fact that I recognized the voice. Once I realized who it was, I could not believe the depths to which she had fallen.

If the song titles of Jewel's new album "0304" are any judge, the rest of it is likely more of the same. With names like "Run 2 U", "2 Find U", "U & Me = Love", and similar, I expect that "0304" is more examples of Jewel trying to be something she's not. As much as her handlers might like to fit her into the mold of pop diva, it's just not her, and her music suffers for it. I won't be buying it.

Other artists, like Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos, are capable of changing their image and their musical style over several albums and maintaining their integrity -- maintaining their music's soul. However, it seems that Jewel does not have this ability, and her music has lost its soul as a result. Ironic, that the singer who once sang "Who Will Save Your Soul?" with such passion and depth now seems to have lost her own soul to the music industry image.

It makes me sad to hear Jewel, once a rare and unique gem in the world of popular music, a storyteller and an artist, allow her gift to become tarnished. The passion and soul that once filled her music with richness has been worn away, and all that's left is trite repititions of what everyone else is already doing. I can still hear a hint of what once was in her voice, and it makes my heart break for what has been lost all the more.

Truly, truly sad.

THE SEXY JEWEL CAPTURES IN SONG
Jewel has aways interested me with her poems and song capabilities. I enjoyed her song Intuition when I first heard back in July/August 2003. Just before going over to Iraq for 7 months, then I saw her video on the same song and she was very sexy. When on the ship I went to music.com and heard Standing Still on air for the first time, I knew the C.D. I had brought was good. So I took it to the ship with me and played it. It was unsual of Jewel to be so blunt and forward with her songs I really enjoyed hearing Jewel sing. It made being on the ship bearable. I hope she never gives up on her passion and dreams. God Bless her and her band.

Is she trying something different? Shame on her!
Okay, okay, enough with the conspicuous bashing of Jewel. It's unnecessary and laugh-out-funny. Here we have Christina Aguilara claiming to be all "grown up" now by exposing everything in a vulgar fashion, as seen on her well-put "Dirty" video, but when Jewel decides to uphold the standard of dance music by experimenting and having FUN, she's criticized for trying to be the next Britney Spears? A lot of people seemed to really enjoy the song "Intuition" until they realized it was by Jewel and I think it's sad how everyone's claiming her as a "sell-out". What does that word mean anyway? I don't know about you but my taste in music is ever-changing so, if I were a musician, my sound and style would be altering constantly - or rather, expanding. Sometimes an artist chooses to step in a different direction, also depending heavily on the mood of their current lifestyle (family, love, ect.), and it either works or it doesn't. In this case I have mixed emotions (I've never been a huge fan of Jewel's work to begin with) but I give her props for shedding some uninhibited light on her usual seriousness and basking in the glow of her happiness. She's still writing clever, poetic lyrics, so why can't the lady be smart and sexy at the same time? She may be lost to her old conservative ways but so what! At least she's dressing in a tasteful manner and, in my opinion, the transaction to dance has been pretty successful.

If your able to embrace the change than good for you! But if not, well, let her be and move on with your life.

a newer draft of my previous review
Ok so I know I completely bashed Jewel's new single in my previous review, but I guess this song just takes a while getting used to.It's still no masterpiece, but it's a well-written piece of pop with a driving beat and electrifying chorus.I wasn't some big fan of Jewel back when she was still an artist, so it's not that big of a deal for me that she went from artist to pop tart.Anyways, it's not like she'll ever write another song that even compares to Foolish Games (and I mean the album acoustic version, not the poppy single version of it).Anyway, it's a fun song, nothing more.But I have to say, it really grew on me.