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From the moment Alicia Keys dropped onto the music scene in 2001, one thing was clear, the girl could write a killer hook. With a few simple words stretched out to blasting piano underscored intensity, “I keep on fallin, in and out of love with you,” Alicia Keys roared onto radio with an album (“Songs in A Minor”) that would garner her both critical praise and a slew of awards. It also seems to be the only real lyrical idea she will ever write, but that’s not as bad as it sounds.

With 2004’s follow up “The Diary of Alicia Keys,” we saw the singer amp up her game enlisting some of the hottest producers to bring her musical vision to life. A prodigious piano player, all the songs acted as a showcase for her searing, raw vocals, and roaming hands.
With so much time spent at the piano, it seems like Key’s has been able to experience little other than love, as is evidenced in the thirty (roughly) songs she has written to date.

Next week brings the release of her eagerly anticipated album “As I Am,” and it’s both strikingly different than her past two albums and strikingly similar. Those seeking out more of Keys’ piano driven ballads about heartbreak, newfound love, and euphoric romance will be pleased to know that Keys has delivered fourteen songs with her signature killer hooks that seem radio friendly and original at the same time.

Fortunately, for her slightly repetitive songwriting skills, Keys is blessed with one of the best voices in the pop/R&B world. Anyone who has heard the incredible first single, “No One,” where Keys practically screams her devotion to a man that will never be matched, you realize that even when she’s pushing the limits of her vocal range (which she is doing to beautiful effect in this single) she’s fully in command.

What makes her music accessible is the simple stream of emotions that she writes with. Her choruses often consist of a string of three or four words, repeated with different notes and they send shivers through your body. It doesn’t seem to matter that she employs slews of clichés because the way she performs them is breathtaking and she fully commits. This is most true on “Sure Looks Good To Me” which finds her singing with defiance, “Don’t rain on my parade.” There’s nothing lyrically original in this statement, but through some magic she makes it feel like you are hearing it for the first time.

At other places on the CD, she is more lyrically successful. The absolutely stellar “Lesson Learned,” about a tumultuous relationship which she finally put an end to, is an incredible collaboration between her and fellow singer/songwriter John Mayer. He croons “It’s
alright, it’s alright, it’s alright,” over slamming drums while Keys laments that “yes, I was burned, but I called it a lesson learned.” It’s a slow building explosion of a song that evokes a
soulful feeling of some of Keys’ influences. At its most scorching moment Keys wails out that “You don’t know what the struggles for/ Falling down ain’t falling down if you don’t cry when you hit the floor/ It’s called a past/ because I’m getting past/ and I ain’t nothing like I was before/ You oughtta see me now.”

Of course this song is sandwiched between the songs “I Need You,” and “Wreckless Love,” which seem to be the antithesis to “Lesson Learned.” It’s all about love with Keys but this time the key (pun not intended but I’ll take it) difference is the production of the album. On “Diary,” the only drum driven song was the Timbaland produced “Heartburn” but this album finds pulsing and invigorating drums pounding throughout.

Even though I would love to see Keys branch out into uncharted territory with her subject matter, there’s no denying that what she does, she does well. Clichéd? At times, yes. Enjoyable? Always. Pick up her album when it hits stores next Tuesday. Review by Matthew Murphy

MP3 | Alicia Keys – Superwoman

MP3 | Alicia Keys- Like You’ll Never See Me Again

MP3 | Alicia Keys – The Thing About Love

MP3 | Alicia Keys ft. John Mayer – Lesson Learned

UPDATE:
One has to be on a vigilant watch with binoculars to keep a lookout on latest trends in fashion. This includes swimsuits, jewelry, designer handbags, shoes and bras as well. Only when done with this check, can one proceed with her wedding programs.