Jewel Box is designed as a companion of sorts to
Diamonds, the career-spanning hits compilation
Elton John released in 2017. Where
Diamonds covered familiar ground, Jewel Box explores territory that may be unknown even by hardcore
Elton fans. The eight-disc set is divided into four different segments. First comes two discs of Deep Cuts, covering album tracks from throughout
John's career; it's a ballad-heavy collection that reveals a bit of how he and
Bernie Taupin view their strengths as songwriters. The sophistication of these tunes contrasts sharply with three discs of rarities recorded between 1965 and 1971, a sequence of songs that effectively amounts to
John and
Taupin discovering their voice. This sequence is where most of the set's unreleased material lies, which is fair since most of these cuts are demos in some fashion; even the cuts with full-band arrangements feel a bit rough, as if they're sketches of a full production. Within these demos, there's a clear progression, tracing
John and
Taupin's evolution from aspiring hitmakers for hire to craftsman who threaded the trippy and soulful sounds emanating from the underground. These three discs are worth the price of admission for hardcore fans, and so are the two discs of B-sides from 1976 through 2005. Maybe there aren't any masterpieces among these songs, but it's fantastic to have these stray tracks collected in one place. Jewel Box ends with And This Is Me…, a 16-track soundtrack to
Elton's 2019 memoir Me, a collection that effectively amounts to a deep cuts collection spiked by one big hit ("Philadelphia Freedom") and the Oscar-winning Rocketman theme "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again." That's a lot of ground to cover, and Jewel Box does have a bit of a scattershot feeling to it, but the title itself implies that it's a place where rarities and gems are collected. That's exactly what this set provides: some cuts are diamonds and some are zirconium, but they all have a bit of sparkle. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine