0304 (Jewel)

This CD debuted at No. 2 on the charts and then fell like a 20-ton anchor. Jewel's tour to support it was abbreviated due to poor ticket sales for the first dozen or so dates. The collective market/fan verdict was clear: this album, drastically different from her first three, was a bomb - and she has ceased to be in much demand since she released it. No more live performances at much-viewed awards telecasts, and few additional invites to sing on Leno or Letterman. On 0304, she very drastically changed her sound and her vibe from those of her first 3 albums. This one is so superficial that it's like a decent literary author suddenly decided to write copy for cheap greeting cards instead. Also, previously always incredibly down to earth, pleasingly so from her small-town Alaska roots, when this CD came out, she did a Today Show in-the-street concert with a highly uncharacteristic prom-style piled-up hairdoo, wearing a cocktail dress, and acting borderline prima donna with curt responses ... Read more

People need to stop hating just because she took a pop direction for her album. Her songs are still poetic and beautiful. I LOVE, LOVE this album. I would listen to it all the time when it came out and i still do, the melodies are so harmonious and catchy! Jewel is one of the best song writers in the business so don't expect bubble-gum pop and shallow lyrics in the likes of Britney or Rihanna when listening to 0304 The songs are a great work of art. I hope she makes another pop record! She does it better than the ones who make a career out of pop music. WAAAY Better! That just shows you how talented she is. I LOVE YOU JEWEL!!! and thank you for this PHENOMENAL album. I HIGHLY Reccomend 0304

Jewel was at the very tail end of her 20s in 2003 when her fourth album "0304" was released. But the photos that adorn the CD's layout -- oh my! She is more gorgeous and youthful in them than girls 10 years her minor. She has to be one of the most beautiful women in the world in fact. She is the living definition of "young and smart and sexy," to use the catchphrase she coined for this album. OK, so I've just now been open about my admiration for Jewel's looks, but the question is, does she have the music to back it up? The answer is an unequivocal "yes." Some reviewers considered "0304" to be something of a misstep for the Alaskan born singer/songwriter, but I believe this to be one of her best albums. The opener "Stand" is a classic. It always brings me back to the first times that I heard this CD. One of her best ever. It and the other songs here demonstrate Jewel's knack for making odd references in her lyrics (see also the one to Charlie Sheen in "Intuition") that p... Read more

So, I was reading the reviews of this album and the reviews of the album Liz Phair at the same time, and a thought came to me. Is it so overly difficult for people to accept change that we have to shout sell out everytime it happens? This cd is amazing, and not anything like Britney or any other teen star. The lead track Stand has and will be one of my favorite songs of all time. When's the last time Brit metioned violence, dirty cops, or anything mildly bad? Run 2 U isn't one of my favorites but almost plays like one of her older songs, just a little more cleaned up, and without the glaring mistakes in the music. Intuition was the reason I bought this album, I loved the song at first, but soon got bored with it. It isn't her best song, but still follows her standard lyrics, just a little more upbeat. Leave the Lights on stands out as a little naughier then your average Jewel, but you know, she is an adult not a teenager, and she's entitled to be a little naughtier sometimes. It's... Read more

I've been a fan of Jewel's for many years now, I'm absolutely loving her latest album "Perfectly Clear" - it's since writing a review for it and reading reviews for it and her other albums that I thought I'll have to write one for her "0304" album. I've had the album since the week it was released and I've thoroughly enjoyed it, yeah the front cover is quite 80's and the disc is bright pink, which is different to all her albums, but Jewel said she wanted to make a Pop album and that is what she did, Avril Lavigne has been criticised for the same thing over her latest album. Why is it that if the music is Pop then automatically it must be a "sell-out"? Two things that Jewel that Jewel is on a high level with is her vocals and her songwriting, and this album is no different, "Stand," "2 Find U," "Doin' Fine," "America" and "Becoming" show some of Jewel's best lyrics, so it's not as if her unique style as an artist went missing here, when an artist stays with a similar sound they get c... Read more