AS I AM: An Alicia Keys Record You'll Actually Want to Play More Than Once
Written: Nov 23 '07
Product Rating:
Pros: At least half a dozen super duper pop singles just begging to be overplayed.
Cons: A collaboration with John Mayer reminds us that high concentrations of talent can be boring.
The Bottom Line: In which no one, no one, no one - not even the enormously talented Alicia Keys - can get in the way of the author totally grooving this new record.
The primary peril for an artist as enormously talented as Alicia Keys is that, especially in today's musical climate, people are generally more likely to let her slide a little simply because of her obvious, enormous talent, thereby giving her implicit license to be, well, sorta boring sometimes, or sorta self-indulgent at other times. It's harder to hold Alicia Keys accountable for her shortcomings because even on her worst day, even on her worst work, she's still an enormously talented young woman. But, seriously: how many times have you taken Songs from A Minor or The Diary of Alicia Keys out for a listen the last couple of years? And how many times, in the four years since it came out, have you heard "If I Ain't Got You" on your local Lite FM station, and pined for something a little more... crude. Something a little more Gwen. Something a little more Britney.
Don't misunderstand me. I take no small amount of encouragement from the fact that an artist of Alicia Keys' enormous talent can outperform Britney, not just in the obvious ways - see the 2007 VMAs not just for Britney's buzzed-out breakdown, but for Alicia's glammed-out (and far less talked-about) throwdown - but also in terms of commercial success. There's sweet justice in the north-of-700k first week sales numbers for As I Am, Ms. Keys' hotly anticipated third album; as well as the commanding ascent of its lead single, "No One" to the top of the pop charts. But it's an even bigger deal to me that someone with Alicia Keys' classical training can come up with a single that doesn't make a show of her classical training - a song that is as youthful and ingratiatingly elementary, simple and singalong as Britney at her best, only backed up with a more organic sense of craft and musicianship. With its thick stomp of a beat, the plucky exactitude and music-box delicacy of its piano line, the comical honking of a wheezy electric organ, and the instant familiarity of its chord changes, "No One" is the smartest dumb pop song of the year, offering proof positive that pop needs Alicia as much as she needs pop.
"No One" certainly bodes well for As I Am, but, as excited as I was to be among the three-quarters-of-a-million folks to line for my copy last week, I approached the album with caution and skepticism. Only to be immediately disarmed - well not quite immediately (there's the standard piano instrumental introduction) - by the album's opening punches. "Go Ahead" is a tough-as-studded-leather tell-off for a do-wrong man, followed closely by the understated and sweetly self-affirming "Superwoman", a song that glimmers with groovy electro-twinkles, a casually lilting melody and an easy-going sense of humor. You can almost imagine Alicia sitting down to write the song specifically to play on her Walkman while walking through the city on an autumn afternoon - an oasis of ease and contentment in the midst of bustle for bustle's sake. Topped off by "No One", this trio of songs assure us all that listening to Alicia Keys doesn't have to be a chore, or penance to be paid for enjoying the records of artists without her enormous musical talent. As I Am starts off as a record you can enjoy both for its impeccable sense of taste and craft, but also for the freshness and pop-ness of its hooks.
And it largely remains so for most of its 14-song near-hour duration. Lighthearted ballads like the gorgeous "Tell You Something" and "The Thing About Love" reinforce the album's casual sincerity and lovability, while "Wreckless Love" is a full-throttle, defenses down, old-school plea for some no holds barred "business time." Even when things take a small turn for the epic as on the album's mountainous closer "Sure Looks Good to Me" or its second single, "Like You'll Never See Me Again", Keys - whose arranging prowess makes her live performances fascinating, but can also make her ballads feel overbearing and leaden on record - leaves her songs plenty of open space so that even as her vocals pump hefty lyrical dumbells about making the most of every moment in love, the plink-plink-plinking of a piano behind her undermines all that weightiness, keeping the whole thing conversational and sweet.
On previous albums, we could let Alicia Keys get away with her elaborate recreations of the very best 70s Motown and Philly soul for their own sake - and damn the replay value. But, with few exceptions - "Teenage Love Affair" is an inexplicable knock-off of circa '73 Jackson 5 - the songs on As I Am reach for something deeper and, ironically, simpler than just being exquisitely-crafted, exquisitely-performed, exquisitely produced nu-soul museum pieces. Perhaps not coincidentally, the flattest track here is "Lessons Learned" a song that pairs Keys with the similarly enormously talented (and similarly boringness-prone) John Mayer, whose flawlessness is its essential flaw, and whose respectability hangs on the middle part of this record like a meticulously handsewn quilt thrown over a backyard volleyball net. But it's a small transgression and an easy one to forgive when so much of the record is so damn much fun. With As I Am, Alicia Keys has finally given us the record we have in our collection not just to demonstrate to onlookers that we're not Britney-loving musical philistines, but also - and primarily - because we really, really (seriously) enjoy listening to it.
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BECAUSE YOU NEED TO KNOW:
"As I Am" by Alicia Keys
J Records
Released 11/13/07
Produced by Alicia Keys, Jeff Robinson, Peter Edge, and Kerry "Krucial" Brothers
53 min.
SONGS: As I Am (Intro) - Go Ahead - Superwoman - No One - Like You'll Never See Me Again - Lesson Learned - Wreckless Love - The Thing About Love - Teenage Love Affair - I Need You - Where Do We Go From Here - Prelude to a Kiss - Tell You Something (Nana's Reprise) - Sure Looks Good To Me
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