Jewel is the second studio album by American singer Marcella Detroit, and her first since leaving band Shakespears Sister. It was released in March 1994 under London Records to moderate commercial success.

Critical reception

Aaron Badgley from AllMusic gave the album a retrospective mixed review, saying "The CD sounds formulaic and overproduced by Chris Thomas. He seems to steer Marcella into mid-'90s dance grooves, which does not always fit her own distinctive sound ... When she is left alone and not "produced," the results are stunning." Johnny Huston of Entertainment Weekly also gave Jewel a mixed review, stating "Branching away from her work with Shakespear's Sister, her solo debut Jewel suffers from drab Motown and Sly Stone covers and from a Godfather of Soul impression that's more embarrassing than subversive.

Track listing

All tracks written by Marcella Detroit, except where noted.

Personnel

with:

Singles

"I Believe" was released as the lead single in February 1994, and reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also found similar success internationally, peaking at No. 10 in Australia, and No. 24 in Ireland. In 2005, the song was covered by German singer Joana Zimmer as her debut single, and was more successful in some territories than the original. The second single, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", a duet with Elton John, was originally included on John's album Duets, and was released as a single in May 1994. The song peaked at No. 24 in the UK. The third single "I'm No Angel" peaked at No. 33, and the fourth, "Perfect World", at No. 100.

Jewel: The Original Demo Recordings

In 2014, Detroit independently released a compilation of the original demos recorded for the album. The 15 tracks comprise the demos for 9 of the 13 album tracks, demos for 4 B-sides, and two unreleased songs: "Second Class Citizen" and "Love and Destruction". The version of "Prima Donna" is an extended version with additional lyrics. Track listing

Charts

Certifications