Sweet and Wild
| Jewel
Sweet and Wild
Sweet and Wild is the eighth studio album by American recording artist Jewel. It was released on June 8, 2010, through Valory Music Group as her second country album with the label. The song "Stay Here Forever" was released as a single from the soundtrack of Valentine's Day and as the lead-off single to the album. It was a minor Top 30 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The album's second single, "Satisfied", was released on May 17, 2010,[3][4] and debuted at #59 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of June 19, 2010. The album debuted at number eleven on the Billboard 200, with sales of 32,000 copies. - WIKIPEDIA
Critic Reviews
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SLANT
Since that album was only somewhat successful in establishing Jewel as a country artist, the decision to make Sweet and Wild a more heavily pop-leaning album raises questions about how seriously Jewel wants to make it as a country singer. Perfectly Clear suggested that she has the potential to make a great country album, but the uneven Sweet and Wild certainly isn’t it.
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ALLMUSIC
Jewel tends to be a bit heavy-handed in her message and delivery, resorting to the throaty growl that tends to obscure her hooks and intent, but she’s saved here -- on both the produced main album and its bare-bones acoustic cousin on the deluxe version, which isn’t as different as it might initially appear -- by her essential sweetness, which shines through in her melody and mellow moods that aren’t sullied by a hint of wildness.
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billboard
The set is more sweet than it is wild, but it finds an effective middle ground between the multiplatinum troubadour and the modern country songstress.
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npr
Over the next decade she expanded her repertoire to include pop and country music. Her new album, Sweet and Wild, embraces it all.
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The L.A. Times Music Blog
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.
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Entertainment
Jewel’s second album in her cowgirl guise, following her ’90s sensitive-folkie phase and her unfortunate turn as a dance-pop diva. The pedal steel and fiddle sound like add-ons designed to get her played on country radio, and a few of the melodies could’ve been hijacked from a Nashville jingles factory. But there’s some moving midlife melancholy beneath the surface, especially on the startling ”Fading.”
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Boston Globe
Jewel offers basic country tropes both musical (twanging Telecasters, whining fiddles, banjoes bubbling underneath the surface, train-track rhythms) and lyrical (with references to both Wal-Mart and a dying soldier imparting wisdom) in the hopes of rousing the market base she first courted on 2008’s “Perfectly Clear.’
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Roughstock
Jewel may never be the huge radio star like Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift but her brand of folk-country is certainly something that fits in nicely with these two artists while also showcasing an artist whose wholly aware her place in the world and at the top of her game.
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The Scotsman
Bland and mild might be a better way of describing Jewel's second foray into the country music field, which mounts a charmless offensive from the opening No Good In Goodbye.
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Nicholas Jennings
Jewel has mastered the art of reinvention. In the ’90s, the former Alaskan folkie switched formats and became a top-selling pop artist and a Lilith Tour favorite. Now Jewel, who lives on a Texas ranch with her bull-riding superstar husband Ty Murray, has morphed into a Nashville-style singer. Her sophomore country album features such radio-friendly tracks as the banjo-fueled “Ten” and the charming “Stay Here Forever.” But Jewel can also write honest songs like “Fading,” which deals movingly with the issue of aging.
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The West Australian
Sweet and Wild is a pleasant and listenable addition to Jewel's catalogue with numerous moments that make you remember why you like her.
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