Before signing a record deal, Alaskan singer-songwriter Jewel Kilcher was performing at the Innerchange coffeehouse in San Diego. She built up a passionate fanbase by performing songs she’d written as a teenager and became renowned for her lengthy acoustic sets. In 1995 she released her debut album ‘Pieces of You’ and it was two years before the album became a hit, thanks to the singles ‘Who Will Save Your Soul’, ‘Foolish Games’ and ‘You Were Meant For Me’. ‘Pieces of You’ went on to be one of the most successful debut albums of all-time reaching Diamond status in the US.
25 years on from the album’s release, and five years after the release of ‘sequel’ album ‘Picking Up the Pieces’, Jewel is celebrating her iconic debut album with a series of releases. Fans can get their hands on a 2-disc CD, 4-disc Deluxe CD and a 4-LP vinyl reissue of the album, as well as listen to the album digitally on streaming and download platforms.
As a long-time Jewel fan, it’s near impossible to put into words the impact this album has had on my life. It changed the way I listen to music and it transformed my expectations for what to expect from art. This is the album that made me ask for a cheap guitar for Christmas as a teenager so I could learn to play every song (without the help of a tutor may I add). Such was my passion for this record that I learned it inside out, I sought out every B-side, spent hours trawling the internet for live bootlegs and read every single thing I could find on Jewel.
The 4 CD Deluxe Edition of ‘Pieces of You’ is truly a gift for fans, such as myself. The first disc is the original album – with the original versions of ‘Foolish Games’ and ‘You Were Meant For Me’ in place rather than the radio versions, which featured on the European version of the album – and it includes the radio versions as bonus tracks at the end along with B-sides ‘Angel Needs a Ride’ and ‘Everything Breaks’. The first disc is likely the one that’s least interesting to fans as they’ll have heard it all before. It’s the other three discs that are the big pull here.
Disc 2 features demo tracks for all of the songs that landed on ‘Pieces of You’ along with songs written around the same time that didn’t make it onto the final track listing. I was surprised to learn that the original ‘Foolish Games’ demo was written on guitar and was substantially longer than the album version, with additional verses too. ‘Little Sister’ was even faster-paced than the album version while the gorgeous ‘Angel Standing By’ had slightly different harmony arrangements. On ‘You Were Meant For Me’, you can clearly hear Jewel’s long-time friend and co-writer Steve Poltz.
‘His Pleasure Is My Pain’ and ‘Nicotine Love’ were songs that were popular in Jewel’s live shows at the time but they didn’t make it onto an album until 2015’s ‘Picking Up the Pieces’. It’s a real treat to hear the demos for ‘Down So Long’ and ‘Sometimes It Be That Way’ too, which ended up on 1998’s ‘Spirit’ and 2001’s ‘This Way’ respectively.
Disc 3 is a mixture of live versions, rare songs and B-sides. Some of these have been released before on singles or promos such as 1994’s ‘Save the Linoleum’. The grungy ‘My Own Private’s God’s Gift to Women’ has long been a favourite rare Jewel track of mine and it’s nice to see it getting some spotlight on this collection. Fans can also hear the alternate Juan Patiño version of ‘You Were Meant For Me’, which featured a video produced by Sean Penn, and fan favourites such as ‘Cold Song’, ‘Rocker Girl’ and ‘Emily’. The rarest tracks on this disc are the outtakes. I’d never heard ‘Walk Away’ before and ‘Flower’, a song I’ve loved since hearing a bootleg, sounds very different from the version I’ve known for the last 25 years. The real gem though is the unedited master take of ‘Who Will Save Your Soul’. That song has had some many iterations and Jewel still never plays it live the same way twice, but this version is truly special.
The fourth and final disc features live versions of every track from ‘Pieces of You’ along with live versions of ‘Quiet Warrior’ and the legendary ‘Chime Bells’, which features Jewel’s talent for yodelling. The latter is a song she’s frequently performed over the years and it’s a firm favourite with Jewel’s fans. The highlight here though is the original piano demo of ‘Foolish Games’, which clocks in at six minutes. It’s raw, it’s powerful and it shows just how much of an impact the song has regardless of how the production sounds.
‘Pieces of You’ 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is a real treat for Jewel fans. If you’re a casual fan you won’t be all that interested but if Jewel has been a part of your musical landscape for the last 25 years, you’ll find lots here to explore and enjoy. For me, I enjoyed listening to the journey of these songs that I’ve held so dear for more than half of my life. I still get the goosepimples just like I did when I first heard the record, and having all of these additional tracks is really very, very special.
Track list:
Disc 1:
1. Who Will Save Your Soul 2. Pieces Of You 3. Little Sister 4. Foolish Games 5. Near You Always 6. Painters 7. Morning Song 8. Adrian 9. I’m Sensitive 10. You Were Meant For Me 11. Don’t 12. Daddy 13. Angel Standing By 14. Amen 15. You Were Meant For Me (Album Edit) 16. Foolish Games (Radio Edit) 17. Morning Song (Radio Mix) 18. Angel Needs A Ride 19. Everything Breaks
Disc 2:
1. Who Will Save You Soul (Demo) 2. Pieces Of You (Demo) 3. Little Sister (Demo) 4. Foolish Games (Demo) 5. Adrian (Demo) 6. You Were Meant For Me (Demo) 7. Near You Always (Demo) 8. Painters (Demo) 9. Don’t (Demo) 10. Daddy (Demo) 11. Angel Standing By (Demo) 12. Amen (Demo) 13. See Sassy Wake Up (Demo) 14. His Pleasure Is My Pain (Demo) 15. Down So Long (Demo) 16. Sometimes It Be That Way (Demo) 17. Nicotine Love (Demo) 18. Tiny Love Spaces (Demo)
Disc 3:
1. 1000 Miles Away (Live) 2. She Cries (Live) 3. My Own Private God’s Gift To Women 4. Race Car Driver 5. Flower (Live) 6. I’m Sensitive (Live) 7. You Were Meant For Me (Juan Patiño Version) 8. Cold Song 9. Rocker Girl 10. Emily 11. Dance Between Two Women 12. Quiet Warrior 13. Walk Away (Outtake) 14. See Sassy Wake Up (Outtake) 15. Foolish Games (No String Overdubs) 16. Angel Needs A Ride (Outtake) 17. Flower (Outtake) 18. Race Car Driver (Outtake) 19. Who Will Save Your Soul (Unedited Master Take) 20. Sov Gott (Live)
Disc 4:
1. Who Will Save Your Soul (Live) 2. Pieces Of You (Live) 3. Little Sister (Live) 4. Near You Always (Live) 5. Painters (Live) 6. Morning Song (Live) 7. Adrian (Live) 8. I’m Sensitive (Live) 9. Don’t (Live) 10. Daddy (Live) 11. Angel Standing By (Live) 12. Amen (Live) 13. Foolish Games (Piano Demo) 14. Quiet Warrior (Live) 15. Chime Bells (aka The Yodeling Song) (Live)
Record label: Craft Recordings Release date: 20th November 2020 Buy ‘Pieces of You’ 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition now
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