Spirit is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Jewel, released on November 17, 1998, by Atlantic Records. Singles include "Hands", "Down So Long", and a newly recorded version of "Jupiter", followed by a remix of "What's Simple Is True" to promote Jewel's debut film Ride with the Devil. In addition, a one-track CD containing a live version of "Life Uncommon" was released to music stores in hopes to raise money and awareness for Habitat for Humanity.
Spirit debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 368,000 copies sold in its first week. It went on to sell 3.7 million units in the United States.
Composition
Jewel Kilcher began writing material for Spirit after the release of Pieces of You in 1995. In 1996, she recorded six songs with producer Peter Collins, but scrapped the tracks after singles from her debut album, Pieces of You, began to receive significant radio play.
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| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3score = B−
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| rev6 = NME
| rev6score = 1/10
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| rev9 = Spin
| rev9score = 4/10
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David Browne of Entertainment Weekly wrote of the album: "With her dulcet voice and lulling refrains, Jewel makes the social and political ills of the world go down easy. But in doing so, she unintentionally confounds the problem, since her honeyed background-music folk makes issues of life and death appear more benign and less worrisome than they are. Jewel truly has brought topical folk songs into the modern age: She makes complacent rabble-rousers." Wendy Brandes of CNN praised Jewel's vocals on the album, though added: "In the funky, accusatory 'Who Will Save Your Soul' on the first album, Jewel dropped to a growl to ask, 'Who will save your soul after the lies that you told, boy.' Songs in the new collection such as 'Hands' and 'Kiss the Flame' are, by contrast, pleasant folky confections that don't distinguish themselves musically or lyrically."
Track listing
Personnel
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Weekly chart performance for Spirit
! scope="col"| Chart (1998–1999)
! scope="col"| Peak<br/>position
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! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)
| 79
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! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 35
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Year-end chart performance for Spirit
! scope="col"| Chart (1999)
! scope="col"| Position
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! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 21
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! scope="row"| Canadian Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
| 53
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! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 92
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! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 24
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! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 13
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