Former Student

Former Student

English 1121

Draft 1

Alicia Keys As I am

Alicia Keys’ album As I am, puts her in a class all her own among today’s top performing artists because of her exceptional song writing and vocal abilities, her beautiful piano playing, and the wonderful musical arrangement of the songs on the album. I think that this album is truly a masterpiece.

Alicia Keys’ Grammy award winning album As I am, has a rich soulful feel with R&B flavor. Her voice on this album is reminiscent of a young Whitney Houston, wonderfully beautiful and not yet jaded with experience and industry. She has the ability to make you feel what she is feeling and she does it with ease. With the track “Superwoman” she really gives the feel of the all hero woman, her voice ripe with independence and pride, out to defend the things that she holds dear. On the song “The Thing About Love”, she sings in such a soft, tender, aching baritone that it brings you to tears. “Sure Looks Good to Me” is her vocal masterpiece. Sung with such urgency, pain, and wanting that it makes your heart hurt, and she does it with magic, beauty and grace. Her husky baritone is once again showcased perfectly on this album.

While having a tremendously soulful voice, Alicia Keys is also an accomplished and gifted song writer. On this, her third studio album, she has written some of her best works of art. The smart, funky, flirty song “Teenage Love Affair” with lyrics like “another secret meeting on the fifth floor staircase, I’m gonna give you this letter of all the things I can’t say” just brings you back to sixth grade and your first crush. She channels the heart of the young girl and her “extreme importance” of talking to her boyfriend and the lack of importance in everything else. Her track “Where do we go from here” is a standing at the cross roads kind of song. Trying to decide which way to go. “Usually not the kind of girl lost and looking for direction, who could this be, staring at me, when I’m looking in the mirror and trying to find a resolution, it’s too far gone to find our way home, where do we go from here” She really captures the essence of the decision at hand. It’s not a story that’s untold, yet she makes you feel like you’ve never heard it before. Her most compelling single on the album is “Tell you something”. Written for her “Nana” with genuine love and compassion. “try to keep it all together while the time just slips away, see I know nothing lasts forever.” Also, “Just a simple conversation, just a moment is all it takes, I want to be there just to listen and I don’t want to hesitate, imagine there was no tomorrow imagine that I couldn’t see your face, there would be no limit to my sorrow, I know nothing could ever fill that space.” Written with such honesty about those relationships in our lives that sometimes end up on the back burner and sometimes wait too long to be right. Her lyrics are genuine and important, bursting with emotion and truth. “Her honesty and new-found ability to completely expose her emotions shines through every track.”(www.raphiphopmusic.suite101.com James W. Coates January 30th 2008)

As I am is a vocal and lyrical masterpiece. But, let’s not forget one of her greatest talents. Having started piano lessons at the age of seven, Alicia Keys has become an exceptional, accomplished pianist. On this album, As I am, she has written a language that is spoken in ivory and translated through your ears. A language rich in beauty, class and magic. In the intro to the album, she takes the listener through a musical journey, paving the way for the rest of the album. Tenderly caressing the keys, or pounding the ivory in the heat of passion. Her classical background really brings flavor to the R&B essence of the album while she accompanies the beats with her magic fingers. They don’t compare her to Stevie Wonder for any reason!

The musical arrangement of this album is superb. Not only are the songs on the album placed in order and arranged ever so perfectly, taunting the listener and keeping them intrigued long enough to listen to “just one more” , but the songs themselves are cleverly arranged and ranging from robust crescendos, to soft, tempting beats. In the track “Lesson Learned” the musical tempo takes from the beginning of her heart ache with soft tempos, through to her sweeping herself up and putting the pieces back together with stronger, more powerful tempos. As if to say, look at me now! Also on this track is the wonderful addition of John Mayer to vocals and guitar. He adds the right amount of emotion and tenderness to this song. He joins in just when you think her heart is too shattered, with his “it’s alright, it’s alright.” “Lesson learned, which features John Mayer on both backing vocals and guitar, Keys guides a subtle groove with her piano while relating the heartache of a woman scorned yet strengthened by a broken relationship.” (www.blogcritics.org Donald Gibson November 19 2007). Again, the musical arrangement is spectacular. This album holds you hostage and keeps your attention at all times. It is rare for an album to come along and be utterly entertaining.

While it is hard for me to find anything wrong with this album, I did come across a few things. While I do enjoy all the songs, there are a couple of ones that don’t seem to fit in with the rest. The overall feel on this album is of “matters of the heart.” Most of the songs are of love, loss and heartache, with a very mature feel. This album has a sense of longing with some tracks that are hopeful. Her spunky “Teenage love affair” has a fun, flirty feel. It is an ode to those teenage years, yet it feels too immature for this album. It just doesn’t seem to fit. While it is a good song, it would have been a better fit on a different album. On her track “Reckless love”, she is singing about the love that got lost in the daily shuffle. She is missing the times before, and she wants to get back to the kind of reckless love that they once shared. Her lyrics are beautiful, but the tempo doesn’t mesh well with them. The mid tempo pace makes you a little confused. The lyrics are sad but the feel is sunny and happy. Once again, maybe a better fit on a different album.

Some musicians have a flair for the dramatic and excel in those jam sessions that seem to go on forever. Some of the tracks on this album run a little long. By the time you finally reach the end of the song, you are wondering why it took so long, while some of the songs on the album you don’t want to end. If a song leaves you feeling relieved that it’s over instead of needing more, than it should have been over sooner.

Another negative on this album, is that some of the songs sound too much alike. You get the feeling of been there, done that. I think that the overall tone is exceptional, but could maybe be altered a little. When she tries to alter the feel too much, she loses it. The slow to mid tempo feel is pretty consistent, and when she tries to jazz it up too much, she loses her audience. Just a little taste of a different spice would be just enough and add so much flavor to this album. “It is a frustrating mixed bag of an album. This just feels like a step back.” (www.bbc.co.uk James Young 11-19-2007)

The album As I am, is truly a work of art. Alicia Keys has once again proven that she is here to stay. She exudes timelessness with her rich, classy vocals and freshness with her own style of musical arrangement with the addition of her piano as the centerpiece of many of her songs.

Works Cited

Coates, James W. "Alicia Keys As I Am CD Review." Rev. of As I am. Suite 101. 30 Jan. 2008. 14 June 2009 <www.raphiphopmusic.suite101.com>.

Gibson, Donald. "Music Review: Alicia Keys-As I am." Rev. of As I am. Blogcritics.

9 Nov. 2007. 14 June 2009 <www.blogcritics.org>.

Young, James. "Alicia Keys As I am Review." Rev. of As I am. BBC Music. 13 Nov. 2007.

14 June 2009 <www.bbc.co.uk/music/review>.

Peer Critique Form:
Critical Evaluation Essay Draft
(20 pts)

Directions for On-Line Students:

These are the criteria on which you will focus your internal electronic comments in the essays themselves, as noted in Peer Critique Procedure, but you don't have to do anything formal with this form. Instead, you will comment electronically (see Viewing and Making Electronic Comments) within the essays themselves and emailing the essays back to the writers by email attachment by the due date indicated on the course calendar.

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___ Subject Presentation. The subject is introduced by describing the “big-picture” of the subject, its influence on people and its importance to evaluate, and/or establishing the evaluative criteria used to judge the subject.

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___ Thesis: Judgment and Reasons. A “complete” thesis statement, which includes the main judgment on the subject and at least three reasons for support, is clearly identifiable; the supporting reasons relate to the evaluative criteria identified to judge the subject; the word “because” connects the judgment to the reasons; the reasons are arguable assertions.

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___ Support for Argument. The writer's reasons are supported with an adequate balance and variety of support: textual, quotations, expert authorities, comparison/contrast to similar subjects, examples, and analogies (comparisons to dissimilar subjects).

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___ Counter Arguments and Refutations. The writer presents opposing reasons to his/her own through fair and thorough paraphrase, summary and quotation, including the exact reasoning the opponent intended. The argument is not one-sided.

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___ MLA Source Citation. All sources are appropriately cited and formatted to MLA specifications, both in-text and in the works cited list. Sources are varied and balanced rather than biased.

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