GRAMMY®-nominated singer-songwriter, New York Times best-selling author, actress, poet, philanthropist, and mental health expert, Jewel, today announced the release of a special reissue of her landmark, 12x platinum-selling debut album, Pieces of You, in celebration of its 25th anniversary. The collection tells the complete story of the album and this time in Jewel’s career, documenting both her studio work and riveting live performances that led to her breakthrough. Together, it reveals the full process of an artist honing her work into one of the biggest, most definitive albums of its time.
The Pieces of You 25th anniversary package will be available on Friday, November 20 via Craft Recordings. A limited-edition box set comes housed in a 7” by 10” hardback portfolio book, offering expansive new liner notes by music journalist, Alan Light—with new insights from Jewel herself—plus lyrics, poetry, rare photographs, and never before seen content. Across four compact discs, the box set will include the newly remastered original album, a disc of rarities, B-sides and outtakes, a disc of demos, as well as live recordings captured at Jewel’s formative Inner Change coffeehouse sessions from 1994. Also available will be Deluxe 2-CD and 4-LP editions, each comprising the remastered original album plus a selection of outtakes, rarities, and B-sides. The new vinyl edition was cut by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Additionally, a 25th anniversary digital album will be available in time with the physical formats, offering the complete audio content from the 4-CD box set release. Full track listings for each format are below. Pre-order HERE, and watch the unboxing trailer for the reissue HERE.
Additionally, in celebration of the announcement, the first track from the collection is out today – a demo of Jewel’s beloved smash single, “You Were Meant for Me,” which features collaborator and co-writer, Steve Poltz, who plays guitar and sings with Jewel on the song. The track was originally released as the second single from Pieces of You and went on to receive a great deal of recognition. It became a hit and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, as well as No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for a single week. In 1997, a re-issue of the single containing the unreleased “Foolish Games” allowed the song to rebound to No. 7 on the Hot 100, eventually totaling 65 weeks in the top 100, which at the time was a record. “Pieces of You” also landed at No. 15 on Billboard’s All Time Top 100 in 2008. Stream or download the first single, “You Were Meant for Me (Demo),” HERE, and watch the accompanying visualizer HERE.
To coincide with release day, Jewel will also be holding a virtual livestream concert on November 20, marking the first time Pieces of You will be played in its entirety from front to back. Tickets are available for purchase HERE. The VIP package for the show will feature a Q&A with Jewel and access to performances of songs not featured in the regular set.
All proceeds will go to charity – Jewel’s own Inspiring Children Foundation and Voices of Hw??dzil (Resilience) – Adabi Healing Center. Follow Jewel on her social media platforms (linked below) for all forthcoming updates about the event.
The story of Pieces of You is as tangled as it is unlikely. Performing alone with an acoustic guitar at the height of the grunge movement, Jewel was the subject of a major label bidding war. When the record was released, it failed to chart, only to catch fire almost two years later after earning the support and endorsement of icons Bob Dylan and Neil Young, and eventually becoming one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.
“It was a really simple record and I went out and worked hard for it,” Jewel elaborates. “I knew it was going to be a slow process, but I also saw a change in the zeitgeist. Grunge was a tectonic shift in the culture, but you can’t live in cynicism forever. The culture was in pain, but then what? And I happened to be a little ahead of that curve in my own life—I was thinking about what do I do with pain, how do I stay sensitive?”
Pieces of You stands as a distinct chapter in Jewel’s career, which this collection allows fans to examine in full, from beginning to end. The recordings range from some of her very earliest compositions, including “Don’t,” to an unreleased outtake from the live sessions for Pieces Of You, which she wrote when she was 16, to the lullaby “Sov Gott,” which started life during a road trip from San Francisco to Colorado when she was 17 and she asked her traveling companion to teach her some rudimentary Swedish. Some of the demo songs for Pieces of You have never been released before now, while others were re-recorded over the years for subsequent Jewel albums, including “His Pleasure is My Pain” and “Nicotine Love” on 2015’s Picking Up the Pieces.
“Listening back to these songs,” says Jewel, “I hear a lot of courage, though I didn’t feel that at the time. I was really raw, but I wanted people to feel what I was feeling as intensely as I was.”
Track Listings:
25th Anniversary 4-CD Box Set (Digital Album will replicate)
Disc 1
- Who Will Save Your Soul
- Pieces Of You
- Little Sister
- Foolish Games
- Near You Always
- Painters
- Morning Song
- Adrian
- I’m Sensitive
- You Were Meant For Me
- Don’t
- Daddy
- Angel Standing By
- Amen
- You Were Meant For Me (Album Edit)
- Foolish Games (Radio Edit)
- Morning Song (Radio Mix)
- Angel Needs A Ride
- Everything Breaks
Disc 2
- Who Will Save You Soul (Demo)*
- Pieces Of You (Demo)*
- Little Sister (Demo)*
- Foolish Games (Demo)*
- Adrian (Demo)*
- You Were Meant For Me (Demo)*
- Near You Always (Demo)*
- Painters (Demo)
- Don’t (Demo)*
- Daddy (Demo)*
- Angel Standing By (Demo)*
- Amen (Demo)*
- See Sassy Wake Up (Demo)*
- His Pleasure Is My Pain (Demo)*
- Down So Long (Demo)*
- Sometimes It Be That Way (Demo)*
- Nicotine Love (Demo)*
- Tiny Love Spaces (Demo)*
Disc 3
- 1000 Miles Away (Live)
- She Cries (Live)
- My Own Private God’s Gift To Women
- Race Car Driver
- Flower (Live)
- I’m Sensitive (Live)
- You Were Meant For Me (Juan Patiño Version)
- Cold Song
- Rocker Girl
- Emily
- Dance Between Two Women
- Quiet Warrior
- Walk Away (Outtake)*
- See Sassy Wake Up (Outtake)*
- Foolish Games (No String Overdubs)*
- Angel Needs A Ride (Outtake)*
- Flower (Outtake)*
- Race Car Driver (Outtake)*
- Who Will Save Your Soul (Unedited Master Take)*
- Sov Gott (Live)*
Disc 4
- Who Will Save Your Soul (Live)*
- Pieces Of You (Live)*
- Little Sister (Live)*
- Near You Always (Live)*
- Painters (Live)*
- Morning Song (Live)*
- Adrian (Live)*
- I’m Sensitive (Live)*
- Don’t (Live)*
- Daddy (Live)*
- Angel Standing By (Live)*
- Amen (Live)*
- Foolish Games (Piano Demo)*
- Quiet Warrior (Live)*
- Chime Bells (aka The Yodeling Song) (Live)*
Deluxe 2-Disc CD
Disc 1
- Who Will Save Your Soul
- Pieces Of You
- Little Sister
- Foolish Games
- Near You Always
- Painters
- Morning Song
- Adrian
- I’m Sensitive
- You Were Meant For Me
- Don’t
- Daddy
- Angel Standing By
- Amen
- You Were Meant For Me (Album Edit)
- Foolish Games (Radio Edit)
- Morning Song (Radio Mix)
- Angel Needs A Ride
- Everything Breaks
Disc 2
- 1000 Miles Away (Live)
- She Cries (Live)
- PAINTERS (Demo)
- My Own Private God’s Gift To Women
- Race Car Driver
- Flower (Live)
- I’m Sensitive (Live)
- You Were Meant For me (Juan Patiño Version)
- Cold Song
- Rocker Girl
- Emily
- Dance Between Two Women
- Quiet Warrior
- Walk Away (Outtake)*
- See Sassy Wake Up (Outtake)*
- Foolish Games (No String Overdubs)*
- Angel Needs A Ride (Outtake)*
- Flower (Outtake)*
- Race Car Driver (Outtake)*
- Who Will Save Your Soul (Unedited Master Take)*
Deluxe 4-Disc Vinyl
LP 1
Side A
- Who Will Save Your Soul
- Pieces of You
- Little Sister
- Foolish Games
- Near You Always
Side B
- Painters
- Morning Song
- Adrian
- I’m Sensitive
LP 2
Side C
- You Were Meant For Me
- Don’t
- Daddy
- Angel Standing By
- Amen
Side D
- You Were Meant For Me (Album Edit)
- Foolish Games (Radio Edit)
- Morning Song (Radio Mix)
- Angel Needs A Ride
- Everything Breaks
LP 3
Side E
- 1000 Miles Away (Live)
- She Cries (Live)
- Painters (Demo)
- My Own Private God’s Gift To Women
Side F
- Race Car Driver*
- Flower (Live)*
- I’m Sensitive (Live)
- You Were Meant For Me (Juan Patiño Version)
- Cold Song
- Rocker Girl
- Emily
LP 4
Side G
- Dance Between Two Women
- Quiet Warrior
- Walk Away (Outtake)*
- See Sassy Wake Up (Outtake)*
- Foolish Games (No String Overdubs)*
Side H
- Angel Needs A Ride (Outtake)*
- Flower (Outtake)*
- Race Car Driver (Outtake)*
- Who Will Save Your Soul (Unedited Master Take)*
* Indicates previously unreleased tracks.
About Jewel:
Jewel went from a girl who grew up with no running water on an Alaskan homestead, to a homeless teenager in San Diego, to an award winning, multi-platinum recording artist who released one of the best-selling debuts of all time. Through her career Jewel has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and has earned 26 nominations for such awards as the GRAMMY®s, American Music Awards, MTV Awards, VH1 Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and Country Music Awards, winning eight times. Jewel has been featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, Rolling Stone, has performed on Saturday Night Live, at the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals, for the Pope and the President of the United States. She has experimented with several genres over her career with top hits in Folk, Pop, Club, Country, Standards, Children’s and Holiday music.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jewel has been leading the conversation around mental health, helping people tackle the silent symptoms of COVID-19—anxiety, depression, and isolation—to build community and connection for those who need it most. For more than 18 years, Jewel’s non-profit, the Inspiring Children Foundation has helped at-risk youth cope with the same silent symptoms we are now seeing in the pandemic. Growing up in Alaska where she was indoors for eight months out of the year, she knows about isolation. After moving out at 15 due to an abusive household and suffering from debilitating panic attacks, Jewel became homeless by the age of 18 and developed agoraphobia, the fear of leaving one’s home, a condition that experts worry some people will develop in the post-COVID-19 era. Mental health has been a significant passion of hers since being a homeless teenager with little access to resources. During that time, she began to develop a set of tools to rewire her brain and create new emotional patterns that were later validated by neuroscientist and associate professor in psychiatry at Brown University, Dr. Judson Brewer. After learning meditation and discovering and innovating her own mindfulness practices, Jewel was able to heal symptoms of her depression and go from surviving to thriving. These are the same tools she uses to help at-risk youth through her charity and the same tools she is offering online for free. For more information, please visit the Inspiring Children Foundation website. To access Jewel’s free online tools, please visit the Never Broken website.
Connect with Jewel:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Jason Price founded the mighty Icon Vs. Icon more than a decade ago. Along the way, he’s assembled an amazing group of like-minded individuals to spread the word on some of the most unique people and projects on the pop culture landscape.
