Published on Nov 24, 1999
It’s kind of surprising that it took Jewel Kilcher this long to
release a Christmas album. She could have easily rode the coattails
of her debut smash
Pieces Of You and the hits “Who Will Save Your Soul” and
“You Were Meant For Me,” capitalizing on her new-found fame.
Ah, but that would have been too easy – and the end result
probably would have sounded half-hearted, rushed, and extremely
commercial. No, instead Jewel sat back and allowed some time to
pass – which also gave her time to carefully plan out a holiday
release.
The end result,
Joy: A Holiday Collection, has some amazing tracks that
showcase her voice in ways one might not have thought possible. And
while there are a few missteps on this project, this disc is still
a very enjoyable listen.
One added bonus is a video that can be viewed by popping this
disc in your CD-ROM drive and hopping on to the Internet. Off of
the Atlantic Web site, you can view a video for the song “Gloria”
— a video which doesn’t have much to do with Christmas (then
again, how do you portray Christmas when you’re recording in New
York City in July?), but is kind of Fellini-esque in its
beauty.
What the video accomplishes is that it sets Jewel aside from
many modern-day pop artists in that she’s not afraid to take on the
religious aspects of the holiday’s music and embrace it. Her takes
on songs like “Gloria,” “Ave Maria” and “O Holy Night” are
absolutely beautiful. I had tears in my eyes listening to “Ave
Maria,” I thought she was that good.
Of course, Jewel tackles more secular material on
Joy: A Holiday Collection, and in some instances, this works
just as well. Okay, I know that songs like “Silent Night” and “Joy
To The World” still have a religious theme to them, but they’re
more commonly-heard Christmas songs in comparison to “Ave Maria.”
Jewel keeps the more solemn aspects of these songs while putting
her own unique signature on the music. This attack only falters
once — on her version of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which
doesn’t sound like it was ever meant for a be-bop country
style.
There are only two other times that Jewel stumbles, and it’s
because I would have questioned whether the selections should have
been put on a Christmas album. One track, “Face Of Love,” is
beautiful, but it just doesn’t seem to fit the same mold as the
rest of the album. Likewise, the “Christmas” version of her single
“Hands” (originally from her more recent studio effort
Spirit) — was it really necessary for her to plug her
previous album that way?
Still, these flaws are not major, and
Joy: A Holiday Collection proves itself to be a seasonal
album worth its weight in gold — or myrrh, or snow, or whatever
you have handy. Jewel chose to wait to do such an album — and with
one or two minor exceptions, the end result is stellar.