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WHEN I THINK ABOUT HOW MANY GRAMMY AWARDS THIS WOMAN WON COMPARED TO HOW MANY TRUE ARTISTS LIKE RACHELLE (AND A PRECIOUS FEW SELECT OTHERS) HAVE NOT WON...IT JUST MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH.

WILL YOU PEOPLE SNAP OUT OF IT!! PLEASE, FOR THE SANCTITY OF MUSIC AS WE KNOW IT, SNAP OUT OF WHATEVER TRANCE YOU'RE UNDER THAT KEEPS FORCING YOU TO BLOW THESE "CHILDREN" UP AS IF THEY'RE SOME KIND OF MUSICAL GENIUSES.

I DIDN'T EVEN GO SO FAR AS TO BUY THE CD; INSTEAD, I SAMPLED IT ON A LISTENING STATION IN A LOCAL MUSIC STORE AND AS QUICKLY AS I PUT THE HEADPHONES ON, I TOOK THEM OFF AGAIN.

I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MS. KEYS BUT, ADMITTEDLY, I FOOLISHLY FEEL FOR HER 'YOU DON'T KNOW MY NAME' VIDEO, PRIMARILY DUE TO ITS OLD SKOOL FEEL -- NOT HER VOCALS -- THINKING I MIGHT GIVE HER A SHOT TO IMPRESS ME. WHAT WAS I THINKING??

HER VOCAL QUALITY IS SUB-STANDARD AT BEST. HER TALENT ON THE PIANO IS NOTHING YOU COULDN'T FIND AT ANY GIVEN PERFORMING ARTS HIGH SCHOOL. ULTIMATELY HER POPULARITY AND APPEAL SEEMS TO FALL BACK ON ONE FACT AND ONE FACT ALONE -- ONCE AGAIN AS IT HAS DONE WITH COUNTLESS OTHERS BEFORE AND ALONGSIDE HER: SHE MAKES GOOD EYE CANDY. SIGNED. SEALED. DELIVERED.


Songs...relatively Minor   December 10, 2003
 8 out of 10 found this review helpful

At first listen, I find myself a bit struck at the lack of tracks that articulate and deal with the nuances of life and its travails outside of the realm of amorous relationships. This type of song, for me, is what distinguished Songs in A Minor from the usual "lovey-dovey" dreck of Keys' contemporaries. Keys, in largely confining the topics addressed in Diary to plain love songs (excepting one track, shoved behind the album's 14 other tracks), reveals only her amorous side. Thus, little else of her personality comes across in this collection, and what is a diary if not personal?

With respect to her vocal delivery on this album, it seems to fall short of the preceding album wherein Keys utilized all sorts of textures of her voice, and varied her singing style from track to track. In Diary, however, the vocals are much less adventurous, and almost every track is sung in more or less the same tone and voice, belying Keys' ability and range as a vocalist.

Aside from these two gripes, Diary is a solidly good album. If it had been her debut (i.e. if I didn't know she could do better), it would have earned five stars from this amateur reviewer. It's musically adventurous with its paeans to funk, disco, and classic 70's soul. Keys' frank, smart, and contemporarily flavored (i.e. 2003 street) lyrics lend a freshness to the album that elevates it from the retro-land in which it might have otherwise resided. I love Miss Keys, and that's why I'm kinda' disappointed with this album. I want to know more about her, not about her man.


Brittney Spears?????????????? PLEASE - You are an idiot   December 10, 2003
 8 out of 14 found this review helpful

If you think Brittney Spears CD is better than Alicia Keys you must be on some strong drugs!! It's nonsense. Brittney CAN NOT SING!!!!!!!!!!! Alicia is a TRUE artist and singer!

I bought Britney's CD and wasted my money!!!!!!!!!! She talked through the entire CD. I thought singers are supposed to sing.

Anyway buy Alicia's CD, I promise you will not be disappointed!


The EKIR (Emergency Keeping It Real) System...   December 7, 2003
 7 out of 15 found this review helpful

...

In conjunction with true music afficianados and connaisseurs worldwide, we have developed this test in the event the casual music-listening public at-large attempts to submit fraudulently favorable reviews on over-rated, over-hyped, undertalented "musicans" -- and I use that term loosely -- in an effort to further their cause, waste your hard-earned money, and throw more garbage into the wasteland that is today's music charts!

Had this been an actual emergency, the legitimate, keeping-it-real review you're about to read would have been followed by recommendations for CD's that feature true artists with true talents.

That said, I must admit I fell for the 'You Don't Know My Name' video hook, line, and sinker. She sucker-punched me on that one, had me thinking she actually had promise and potential. What was I thinking?

As a measure of self-preservation, I protected myself and didn't even buy the CD; instead, I listened/previewed it on a listening station at a local music store the same day it came out. To make a long story short, as quickly as I put the headphones on I took them off again. And now that I really think about it, it was the old-skool feel of 'You Don't Know My Name'-- not her singing -- that had so attracted me to that song initially.

Clearly she hasn't trained her "instrument" enough and as a result her vocal quality struggles throughout the music on this CD, oftentimes cracking and just sounding in general as if she had laryngitis when she recorded it. It is sub-standard at best. Her talents on the piano are nothing that you couldn't find among any typical student at any typical performing arts high school throughout mainstream America.

You don't have to take my word for it, just look at the reviews that have been submitted and witness how they jump from one extreme to the other. True artists don't have this problem because EVERYONE EVERYWHERE unanimously agrees on the quality of music they output. If everyone would just keep it real instead of jumping on popularity bandwagaons, you'd get a much clearer sense of just how less-than-average Alicia Keys is. How is someone supposed to make an informed decision on whether to purchase this CD when so many people insist on keeping it so NOT real!?...


Gorgeous!   December 26, 2003
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I am completely stunned by this cd! I really enjoyed Ms. Alicia Keys' first album, but i am so overwhelmed at her outdoing herself on "The Diary..." that i find myself putting this album on repeat 24/7 for the past few weeks. This cd definitely has a more retro-60's-soul-style in it. You can hear the influences of the past and it is much more gorgeous than any album i've heard lately. My favorite tracks here are everything, 1 through 15. Especially "if i was your woman," "you don't know my name", "if i ain't got you", "diary", and all the rest of them. I won't list them all. Go out and cop this album, NOW!!!!!