Alicia Keys - The Diary of Alicia Keys
Ok, I admit two things right off the bat: 1) For the longest time, I did not know that Alicia was the singer of "You Don't Know My Name" and 2) One big push for me to buy this album is that Best Buy was selling it for only $9.99. Now with that said, I feel far more comfortable writing this review (as it exposes my 'cluelessness' about Ms. Keys).
Diary opens with a sweet piano intro on "Harlem's Nocturne". You immediately feel like you've been taken to a different place and time; you know, where acoustic instruments were and integral part of the "Black sound". Somehow, Alicia manages to pull off that classic feel of soul without hollow imitation or sounding 'retro' or dated. "Karma" presents some grandiose strings highlighting a strong vocal; "Heartburn" is a funky diddy that (I guess) is supposed to be the album's 'dance track'; the album version of "You Don't Know My Name" seems to flow a lot better in it's full version at 6 minutes and 6 seconds.
But the best of Alicia comes out in "If I Ain't Got You" which feels like it should go into the books as one of the great soul odes of our time. "Nobody Not Really" should get the honorable mention spot.
The other tracks are not bad. Surprisingly, I found the title track to be one of the weakest (Tony! Toni! Tone! don't help out much). Also the funky vocal effects on "So Simple" take some getting used to. I'm on the second run through of this album, and my ears still don't 'dig it' quite yet. And to be honest, it doesn't seem like this album is likely to produce a lot of singles; but how many 'great' albums do that anyway?
So all in all, I feel that this might be one of the strongest R&B/Soul releases of 2003. True, I don't buy that much neo-soul (or whatever it's proper name is), but from a musical, creative, and quality standpoint this album holds it's weight quite well. I think that Alicia has further refined both her vocal and songwriting skills to a point where she really sounds like now other in the business. Perhaps the Grammy for her debut was awarded prematurely?
Diary opens with a sweet piano intro on "Harlem's Nocturne". You immediately feel like you've been taken to a different place and time; you know, where acoustic instruments were and integral part of the "Black sound". Somehow, Alicia manages to pull off that classic feel of soul without hollow imitation or sounding 'retro' or dated. "Karma" presents some grandiose strings highlighting a strong vocal; "Heartburn" is a funky diddy that (I guess) is supposed to be the album's 'dance track'; the album version of "You Don't Know My Name" seems to flow a lot better in it's full version at 6 minutes and 6 seconds.
But the best of Alicia comes out in "If I Ain't Got You" which feels like it should go into the books as one of the great soul odes of our time. "Nobody Not Really" should get the honorable mention spot.
The other tracks are not bad. Surprisingly, I found the title track to be one of the weakest (Tony! Toni! Tone! don't help out much). Also the funky vocal effects on "So Simple" take some getting used to. I'm on the second run through of this album, and my ears still don't 'dig it' quite yet. And to be honest, it doesn't seem like this album is likely to produce a lot of singles; but how many 'great' albums do that anyway?
So all in all, I feel that this might be one of the strongest R&B/Soul releases of 2003. True, I don't buy that much neo-soul (or whatever it's proper name is), but from a musical, creative, and quality standpoint this album holds it's weight quite well. I think that Alicia has further refined both her vocal and songwriting skills to a point where she really sounds like now other in the business. Perhaps the Grammy for her debut was awarded prematurely?
