As I Am

After listening to this album several times, I have come to the conclusion the Ms. Keys decided to pay tribute to her parents' generation and the music to which they sang and danced. With the exception of "No One," the hit first single, the rest of the songs bear a distinctive stamp of songs from the 60's - 80's.That's not quite a bad thing at that.Keys is guaranteed the younger/hip-hop audience by virtue of her earlier releases and her stunning beauty."As I Am" allows her to branch out and capture an audience that may have avoided her in the past. Such outstanding tracks as the aforementioned, "Superwoman," "Lesson Learned," "Wreckless Love," "Teenage Love Affair," and "Sure Looks Good to Me" capture the ear and the heart with her vocals and lyrics.It's no wonder that the album has been reviewed and purchased by so many.To that, I'll add my four stars (loses a star for too few uptempo tracks) to this good release.

Six years into her career, Alicia Keys remains a guarantee of real quality in today's R&B. Her third studio disc continues to explore old school traditions, putting on them the state-of-the-art, modern "sound coat". Her voice is as soulful as ever, songs grow on you the more you listen to them and her piano arrangements (often using simple but clever riffs) serve the best to the music. The excellent, gradating first single "No One" gets under your skin after a few hearings and the highlight is "Like You'll Never See Me Again", which flows you with lots of warmth and emotion. Although the presence of John Mayer is very welcome, The Krucial brothers set the tone for the album. Alicia's "As I Am" does not disappoint and shows that she is one of the very few top commercially successful singers of the day that can call themselves ARTISTS.

The quality of the vinyl pressing is very poor. It's extremely compressed and even after thoroughly cleaning sounds worse than the digital recording. I so enjoy this album and was very disappointed after purchasing it twice and finding it to just be a bad pressing. I am hopeful that it will be repressed someday in the future and given all the love it deserves.

I bought her very first album but not any after. I've always been a fan but i saw her perform on YouTube and thought I needed another record. I bought this and she is fantastic. I am.a man and Superwoman is just a great song. This album is amazing. She is very gifted.

Bottom-Line: On "Am I Am", Alicia Keys has grown considerably. Gone, mostly, is the street tinged songs that so marked her earlier work.Alicia Keys, the beautiful, light-skinned, black bombshell diva from Harlem released her third studio album "As I Am" in November 2007 to much funfair some five years after her smash 10 million selling Songs in A Minor (2001). Two point five years is not an inordinate time to wait between albums, but it was time well spent, for Ms. Keys once again serves up collection of (Prince) R&B tracks that are better than those that came before, proving that this hip, beautiful and (very) talented young black woman is here to stay.Upon release, "As I Am," like its predecessors won wide-spread critical acclaim and debuted on the charts at No. 1 selling some 742,000 copies in its first week of release making it her strongest debut album yet. As of January 2008, As I Am had sold some three million copies worldwide; earning a triple-platinum designation, making it less successful than Songs in A Minor, but what's a million album sells between Diva and fans?The album also garnered Ms. Keys (2) Grammy Awards for the single No One (track No. 4), and for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the same track. "Am I Am" also won three 2008 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Album and the single Like You'll Never See Me Again (track No. 4) won for Outstanding Song and Outstanding Music Video. Finally, the CD won (2) 2008 American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Album. Can this woman rack them up or what? And is "Am I Am" that good? In a word, YES!The stunning success of "As I Am" solidifies Ms. Keys' position and standing as an R&B force to be listened to, and respected; she is no passing fad; she was (and is) the real thing, an honest to goodness R&B diva with crossover appeal who can not only sing with emotive soul, but can play the piano like a virtuoso. Not many of her peers could, or can match Alicia Keys' combination of innate musical talent, lyrical acumen, vocal faculty and striking, smothering, sexy good looks."As I Am" spawned four notable singles: the aforementioned No One, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts;Superwoman (track No. 3), which reached No.82 on the Billboard Hot 100; the aforementioned Like You'll Never See Me Again, which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, and; track No. 9 Teenaged Love Affair, which reached No. 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.I enjoy "Am I Am" on many levels; at least the music is authentically hers; in other words there is a decided and refreshing lack of featured artists (except John Mayer on track No. 6 Lessons Learned). Ms. Keys in confident enough in her "street credentials" and musical seasoning to keep it real all on her own. There are many gleaming musical facets to this album. In additional to Ms. Keys own brand of funky, sultry soul, there is also an diverse mix of genres from contemporary jazz, to smoky salsa, from hip-hop to Pop; Ms, Keys has it covered and covered well on her third studio effort.But there is also a heavy Prince influence on all of Alicia Keys' CD's and "Am I Am" is no different. Prince's musical imprints can be clearly discerned on track No. 5 Like You'll Never See Me Again; the soft bass riffs and layered vocals are straight from Princes' signature `80's influenced funk.On "Am I Am", Alicia Keys has grown considerably. Gone, mostly, is the street tinged songs that so marked her earlier work. Here Ms. Keys, wrote and perform a more soulful brand of R&B, one that relates to, and pays homage to the artists that came before her and laid the tracks whereby R&B steamed into the fabric of American music."Am I Am" feels and sounds more personal, more wistful and wishful; Keys is singing about the state of her soul, and we are the recipients of a body of work well done, a group of songs that are thankfully devoid of Hip-Hop's brashness and hallow bravado. "Am I Am" is instead filled with the sweet serenity of old-school R&B, sweetened by a twist of contemporary flavor.

This CD is also a vibe since I've heard these songs on YouTube first I automatically knew it was going to be a whole vibe.

Even though a fan of Alicia,this one was the first I bought from her. I like it a lot.There are some real good songs. "No One" is classic!!!!"Like You'll Never See Me Again","Lesson learned","Teenage Love Affair","Sure Looks Good To Me " and "Superwoman" are my highlights form the album.Being I've yet to buy "Songs In A Minor",I can't compare this one yet to it,but to "Diary Of",it does fall short. But in a good way. "Diary" was CLASSIC and probably will not be topped.If you were thinking of buying,don't hesitate anymore. You will still love it.A solid 4.5 stars for superb r&b music.

I was disappointed when I bought Alicia's first debut 'Songs in A Minor' I loved the single 'Fallen' but the rest of the album was too R&B for my taste. So I do admit I shied away from her work since.Then I watched an episode of the hit show 'Medium' with Patricia Arquette and the song 'The Thing About Love' was played in a emotional episode and I immediately loved it and came on Amazon to purchase the record.This album showed Alicia's maturity and growth as an artist and many of the songs have something her past albums never had and that was life and experience.I also have come to respect Alicia for being a star who decided she didn't want to be the musical industry's puppet, refusing to wear sexual clothing and heavy make up, and wanting to be a role model to younger girls and wanting to make her voice and music be the focus. She presented the Grammy's and her positiveness and promotion towards her fellow artists is so good to hear and watch, no tearing people down and laughing at anyone. What an inspiration she is

Oh dear oh dear what a tragedy to hear this magnificent voice bogged down in such an uninspiring production that it sounds like one of those one-album only efforts from an X-Factor winner.With that voice and her piano skills she really needs NOTHING else as witnessed on the only redeeming track "Prelude to a Kiss" whoever thought that leaden drum beat was a good idea should be hung up by his talentless braces and soundly beaten.what a disappointment!! A dull effort veering towards the tedious

Alicia Keys is really showing what a great musician and song writer she is on this new cd As I Am. Her voice has so much depth and I absolutely love the song Another Way To Die which she does with Jack White who's music I really enjoy too. There is a wide range of different music styles and arrangements on this ablum which is amazing. As I Am comes with a nice bonus dvd on what is truly an outstanding ablum and I highly recommend it

I didn't like this cd as much as Songs in A Minor and The Diary of Alicia Keys.Alicia's voice sounded a little flat and so did the music.My favourite song was "No one" which is a really tuneful and uplifting song you can sing along to.The dvd was good and shows Alicia singing live at the Hollywood Bowl and on a video shoot in Los Angeles and a photo shoot in the Mojave desert.The dvd is about 25 minutes long.

Brilliant album I would buy it again