If you guys like Alicia Keys, you should check out Amel Larrieux, she's really good.

I've heard that she's working on a third studio album and although I am looking forward to this, I've heard stories that she will be exercising her musical creativity by venturing outside the soul sound.

Fans of Amel Larrieux should check out her old group Groove Theory. Consisting of Amel as well as Bryce P Wilson, they released a very good album on Sony back in 1995. It was kind of an neo soul / hip-hop soul effort and the single "Tell Me" did make some impact on the more specialists charts

Amel and Alicia are very good, but Res and Goapele are the best in soul along with Jill Scott over the last few years.

Is Alicia supposed to drop an new album soon?

Around summertime, that's what I heard em say.

Her next album "As I Am" soon to be released (Nov. 13th?)... I'm already liking No One.

quote:

Originally posted by Blue Recluse:
Her next album "As I Am" soon to be released (Nov. 13th?)... I'm already liking No One.

So what do you think of the album now? I've been listening to it quite a bit lately. It has some weak songs, but on the whole, I like it better than her previous two - I think it's more consistent and enjoyable all the way through. It's just a solid mainstream R&B album. My favorite song is probably still "No One."

I love alicia keys, especially her new album. I do have a couple of things I'd love to change if it were me.
1. I wish so bad she'd use acoustic instruments (especially drums) on her albums. It would give the songs such a fuller sound.
2. For the most part, her lyrics are pretty laughable. They're quite lame.

I kind of agree with number 2. Her lyrics are well... fluffy.

Alicia Keys is known for her piano riffs so I don't know if she'll try out anything acoustic in the near future. My knowledge is limited, but I know of one artist who is recognizably acoustic soul and her name is India.Arie. If you're looking for that kind of thing, you should look her up.

I think she's a fake. She has obvious talent, but I don't think she's honest at all.

quote:

Originally posted by wilsonna:
I think she's a fake. She has obvious talent, but I don't think she's honest at all.

From what I’ve seen of her live performances, they seem pretty honest to me. I obviously don’t know her personally, so I could be wrong, but I’ve always thought her singing was very passionate and emotional, like she is truly reliving the feelings conveyed in her songs when she performs them.

I guess everyone interprets everything differently though

quote:

Originally posted by blueskyoas:
So what do you think of the album now? I've been listening to it quite a bit lately. It has some weak songs, but on the whole, I like it better than her previous two - I think it's more consistent and enjoyable all the way through. It's just a solid mainstream R&B album. My favorite song is probably still "No One."

I've finally given some of the tracks a listen. Overall, I am not too sure yet whether it's a better record than Songs In A Minor or The Diary of Alicia Keys. The album does, however, sound more experienced and mature than the previous ones. In any case, Alicia Keys reaffirms that her work is one of the more accessible and mainstream of the neo soul genre, which is not necessarily something bad in her case. I regard her with incomparably more respect than contemporary R&B artists.

The tracks "Teenage Love Affair" and "Like You'll Never See Me Again" stand out for me. I have a tendency to have songs on repeat so I still really have to go back and give the other tracks more time. "Teenage Love Affair" reminds me of the sound characteristic of The Temptations while "Like You'll Never See Me Again" sounds like a hybrid of Maxwell's "Lifetime" and D'Angelo's "Untitled (How Does It Feel)".

"Like You'll Never See Me Again" - same guitar lick as Prince's "Diamonds and Pearls." Check it out.