― Tracer Hand, Friday, 26 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Nitsuh, Friday, 26 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Sterling Clover, Friday, 26 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― M. Matos, Friday, 26 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
(hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha)
― Keiko, Saturday, 27 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Alicia's songs, on the other hand, are plodding and meandering. Almost like prog r'n'b, but that makes it sound cooler than it really it is.
― Nicole, Saturday, 27 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― RickyT, Saturday, 27 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
This is a great description, though I'd delete "not-very-musical" and replace "simplistic" with "simple." I like the song a lot. In fact, "repeating one very simple ______ figure for the sole purpose of preening and cawing and fussing over it" is a description of a lot of North America's best pop music since "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." Of course, those two songs didn't start the trend, just went pop with it. And a lot of bad music fits this pattern too.
― Frank Kogan, Sunday, 28 October 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Qoolout, Monday, 29 October 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Having re-discovered it, I think it's terrific. I am looking forward to the new album. Probably the only person on here who genuinely is?
*Ashanti-hate which was spawned since I bought this has nothing to do with my feelings, or maybe just a little
― Vic (Vic), Friday, 3 October 2003 12:43 (twenty years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 3 October 2003 12:45 (twenty years ago) link
― Vic (Vic), Friday, 3 October 2003 12:50 (twenty years ago) link
There are good black artists (Stevie Wonder, Seal, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson) and there are bad ones. Alicia Keys belongs to the latter category
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 3 October 2003 12:53 (twenty years ago) link
― Vic (Vic), Friday, 3 October 2003 13:16 (twenty years ago) link
― minna (minna), Friday, 3 October 2003 13:29 (twenty years ago) link
― minna (minna), Friday, 3 October 2003 13:32 (twenty years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 3 October 2003 13:42 (twenty years ago) link
Is Alicia Keys' new album actually any good?
― The Brainwasher, Wednesday, 14 November 2007 21:21 (sixteen years ago) link
("Like You'll Never See Me Again" is slowly becoming my fave song of hers)
― The Brainwasher, Wednesday, 14 November 2007 21:22 (sixteen years ago) link
She's okay. I find her lyrics to be uninspired and her music boring.Except for that song produced by Kanye West.
― Christyles, Thursday, 15 November 2007 11:14 (sixteen years ago) link
I like her (like that matters).
― Alex in NYC, Thursday, 15 November 2007 16:08 (sixteen years ago) link
The new Target/Alicia Keys commercial makes me laugh pretty hard. It's a combination of the circular Target-piano and the awkward pumping motions Alicia makes towards the end as she's playing it. It ranks up there for me with that Jennifer Lopez commercial for Rhapsody.com where you can just sense the rapid drainage of any relevancy.
― Bus Driver Stu, Thursday, 15 November 2007 21:26 (sixteen years ago) link
"No one no one no one" makes me want to decapitate myself with a dull rusty butter knife
― carne asada, Friday, 16 November 2007 20:08 (sixteen years ago) link
i watched a relevancy drainage procedure on the Discover Channel once and darn near puked.
― Alex in Baltimore, Friday, 16 November 2007 20:14 (sixteen years ago) link
I wasn't that impressed with whatever her first single was called (the rewrite of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"), but really dug the new one...until that goddamn Target ad. It shouldn't have changed my perception of the song, but it did.
― Formerly Painful Dentistry, Saturday, 17 November 2007 23:32 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah yeah i know i should stop reading mediatakeout but lol
― r|t|c, Saturday, 17 November 2007 23:43 (sixteen years ago) link
She sounds almost as bad on "No One" as Mariah circa '02.
― The Reverend, Sunday, 18 November 2007 00:11 (sixteen years ago) link
Jupiter 8 in rainbow patch button shockah!
― Display Name, Sunday, 18 November 2007 00:27 (sixteen years ago) link
i really feel that hearing the junior reid reggae rmx would go a long way to solving people's issues with 'no one'.
― r|t|c, Sunday, 18 November 2007 00:36 (sixteen years ago) link
Yall are crazy, "No One" is the jam
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:18 (sixteen years ago) link
"No One" is still awful but "Wreckless Love" is my shit right now..
― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:19 (sixteen years ago) link
WHEN THE RAIN IS FALLING DOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOWWOWOOOOOOOOWOWOOOOON
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:19 (sixteen years ago) link
I really loved Alicia's first album but the second one was horribly uneven.
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:21 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, but "You Don't Know My Name" is still the best thing she's done.
― The Reverend, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:24 (sixteen years ago) link
i love "if i ain't got you"
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:26 (sixteen years ago) link
That was one of my favorites from the second album.
And I still "liked" the second album but some of it didn't work.
I did also like her remake of Gladys Knights "If I was Your Woman"
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:26 (sixteen years ago) link
If I Ain't Got You is also solid.
really I think it's songs like "Heartburn" that didn't go anywhere
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:27 (sixteen years ago) link
alicia singles ranking:
you don't know my name like you'll never see me again if i ain't got you girlfriend fallin' diary a woman's worth how come you don't call me? karma no one
(was "heartburn" a single? I vaguely remember hearing it on the radio, if so it goes above "karma")
― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:28 (sixteen years ago) link
and if collabos count, "gangsta lovin" goes above "a woman's worth" and "ghetto story" is underneath "how come you don't call me"
― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:29 (sixteen years ago) link
I forgot about the "If I Were Your Woman" cover. Yeah, that was good.
― The Reverend, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:31 (sixteen years ago) link
I love "if I Ain't Got You", but it's such a blatant rip off of Aretha's "Call Me" :-\ Same with that song she wrote for Christina, "Impossible," it totally rips of "Ain't No Way"
― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:33 (sixteen years ago) link
"Fallin'" has always been the tune for me. very drone-y but effective.
although the first album really shined on its non-singles. The cover of "Never Felt This Way" by Brian McKnight...Butterflies....and "Goodbye", which was my favorite. lyrically nothing special but what hooks.
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 00:34 (sixteen years ago) link
"i really feel that hearing the junior reid reggae rmx would go a long way to solving people's issues with 'no one'."
I didn't even see rtc write this at the time, but I said pretty much the exact same thing in the other keys thread on "no one" about a week ago.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 01:58 (sixteen years ago) link
the "teenage love affair" video is so great. love that song.
― The Brainwasher, Friday, 2 May 2008 04:10 (fifteen years ago) link
Back when it wasn't clear whether that or "Wreckless Love" would be the next single, I was like oh either would be fine, those are my 2 favorites off the album, but now that it's "Teenage" I'm starting to really wish it was "Wreckless."
― Alex in Baltimore, Friday, 2 May 2008 04:14 (fifteen years ago) link
did anyone see her BET Awards performance?!? ZOMG. She brought out SWV, EN Vogue AND TLC
― The Brainwasher, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 19:08 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, though tboz's voice was SHOT it was still interesting to see the group of them do waterfalls. Nice to see Dawn back with en vogue.
― forksclovetofu, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 19:10 (fifteen years ago) link
It's on YouTube.
― Pancakes Hackman, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 19:19 (fifteen years ago) link
more evidence that drake needs to stop doing rap music forever
― *plop*timist (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 15 December 2010 22:18 (thirteen years ago) link
it's perfect makeout music, or perfect driving-while-brooding-about-sex music, but whatever it is for, it works
― the tune is space, Wednesday, 15 December 2010 22:23 (thirteen years ago) link
for some reason it reminds me of "sleeping with the enemy" the movie -- when i first heard about that movie, more than the movie itself, and what the title suggested
a sort of epic mystery
― boo (surm), Wednesday, 15 December 2010 22:45 (thirteen years ago) link
The answer to the thread question is a resounding YES. Try Sleeping is my song of the year.
― Davek (davek_00), Wednesday, 15 December 2010 22:47 (thirteen years ago) link
"love is blind" is the other keeper off the album, along with "unthinkable" and "try sleeping..."
― lex diamonds (lex pretend), Thursday, 16 December 2010 00:02 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/alicia-keys-is-done-playing-nice-your-phone-is-getting-locked-up-at-her-shows-now/2016/06/16/366c15aa-33af-11e6-95c0-2a6873031302_story.html?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_2_na
This is a “phone-free event,” he tells fans waiting in line. And that doesn’t mean airplane mode. Spanier holds a gray, rubbery pouch in his hand. Your phone goes in here, he says, and then we lock it.
“What?” one fan grumbles.
Quickly, Spanier adds an important addendum.
You keep that locked pouch with you. Spanier also explains that if you need to use your phone, you can just come outside and he can quickly unlock it by tapping it on a metal disk slightly larger than a bagel.
....
For DJ Walton, the manager, the only real issue is that Keys planned to premiere songs from her planned follow-up to 2012’s “Girl on Fire.”
“We don’t want the first time you ever hear a song to be some [lousy] MP3 somebody captured on their phone,” said Walton. “We have a 30-foot stage and you’re looking at it through a four-inch iPhone. We want people to come and almost forget about their phones for a moment.”
― curmudgeon, Monday, 20 June 2016 20:03 (seven years ago) link
this revive caused me to listen to The Element of Freedom for the first time, and damn it's wonderful, thanks to everyone singing its praises on this thread
― kruezer2, Thursday, 23 June 2016 01:07 (seven years ago) link
i want that to become standard practice at cinemas, concert venues, theatres...
― StillAdvance, Thursday, 23 June 2016 11:14 (seven years ago) link
Restaurants, cafes
― albvivertine, Thursday, 23 June 2016 11:16 (seven years ago) link
Was killing time recently by watching those silly "reaction" videos. Laughed a lot at this guy in Koreans React To Black Female Celebrities saying "Her teeth are brighter than my future" in an expressionless voice.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 23 June 2016 23:19 (seven years ago) link
almost forget about their phones
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 24 June 2016 02:22 (seven years ago) link
To answer the original question: she's a horrorshow.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 24 June 2016 02:29 (seven years ago) link
My feeling about her, and particularly New York, which to me sounds exactly like something else I can't place, is that it suffers in songwriting complexity; it's essentially one hook, over and over and over and over. There's a lot of pop music around like this these days, and it's grating. Like, the hook is only good if it's contrasted against something else, then your ear craves it. when it just plays over and over, it's fucking annoying.
she's really pretty and has a great voice though.
― akm, Friday, 24 June 2016 05:48 (seven years ago) link
shes a fantastic singer, just doesnt have enough songs worthy of that voice. i love her all the same though.
― StillAdvance, Friday, 24 June 2016 09:36 (seven years ago) link
Debut album is pretty great start to finish, Diary has a lot of strong moments
"You Don't Know My Name" is my favorite, her "How Come You Don't Call Me" also p definitive imo
― niels, Friday, 24 June 2016 10:47 (seven years ago) link
she always has a handful of standouts on every album.
― StillAdvance, Friday, 24 June 2016 10:51 (seven years ago) link
a km/StillAdvance otm. Girl on Fire has what's probably a good hook but it just sits there repeating until I can't listen anymore.
― albvivertine, Friday, 24 June 2016 11:32 (seven years ago) link
i adore Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart.
when she gets it right, all my problems with her instantly vanish.
girl on fire, and her current one, feel like theyre hooks with no proper verses. girl on fire was basically just one big anthemic arena-R&B chorus, and not much else.
― StillAdvance, Friday, 24 June 2016 11:56 (seven years ago) link
xpost Dave Chappelle pulled that phone move here when he had a 17-show residency and it worked fine.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 24 June 2016 12:00 (seven years ago) link
im sure that if venues really wanted to, they could install a device/lead roof or whatever to prevent phone signals. but i suppose they too want people to post on social media about the great time theyre having.
― StillAdvance, Friday, 24 June 2016 12:15 (seven years ago) link
No, she isn't.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 18 November 2017 03:16 (six years ago) link
rude! i do hate "no one" but she has a number of excellent songs, including "fallin'"
― dyl, Saturday, 18 November 2017 14:31 (six years ago) link
yeah, debut and Diary are both good albums
― niels, Saturday, 18 November 2017 17:50 (six years ago) link
Can somebody please explain to me, as I sit here suffering through some ridiculous live version of “Empire State Of Mind”, how it is that a singer so famous, visible and widely regarded has allowed such garbage vocal takes to make it to radio?
I’m not trying to be snarky! Every note this woman sings is flat! Why? How has this been allowed to come to pass?
― flamboyant goon tie included, Sunday, 31 December 2017 20:18 (six years ago) link
alicia off keys
― dyl, Sunday, 31 December 2017 21:45 (six years ago) link
^
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 31 December 2017 22:07 (six years ago) link
I just don't understand it
― flamboyant goon tie included, Sunday, 31 December 2017 23:27 (six years ago) link
I've warmed to the second album hits, but when she's bad, duck under the table.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 30 July 2019 10:23 (four years ago) link
I will The Hague “Girl On Fire” without any remorse whatsoever.
― breastcrawl, Tuesday, 30 July 2019 10:54 (four years ago) link
...but I love “In Common” off her most recent album. Not a hit, unfortunately.
― breastcrawl, Tuesday, 30 July 2019 11:21 (four years ago) link
damn this ruleshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFCsuDcWqY0
― de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:20 (four years ago) link
oh god yeah that's great
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:30 (four years ago) link
my favorite alicia keys single in a decade
I liked “in common” a few years back
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:37 (four years ago) link
oh yeah that's right that song was very good too
ilx 2000s poll brought me back to "try sleeping with a broken heart" which <3
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:38 (four years ago) link
this is easily her best since in common yeah
― de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:38 (four years ago) link
I think I may have only really heard two of her songs: Falling and Girl On Fire. Both of those fill me with a sense of pure hate like I never imagined myself able to feel.
― Valentijn, Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:55 (four years ago) link
She has a few good songs.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 November 2019 18:57 (four years ago) link
I was in Rouen a few years ago for Bastille Day and the town put on a Joan-of-Arc-themed fireworks display set to "Girl on Fire."
― Lily Dale, Thursday, 21 November 2019 19:12 (four years ago) link
Oh right! That was the day of the infamous Defenestration of Rouen..
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 November 2019 19:13 (four years ago) link
― breastcrawl, Thursday, 21 November 2019 20:16 (four years ago) link
*great
well produced but not completely won over by this one. however it is definitely better than her last single "show me love" which weirdly enough is gaining more traction than even "in common" managed (i really liked that one)
― dyl, Friday, 22 November 2019 04:44 (four years ago) link
it's odd when i think about it but "like you'll never see me again" may be my favorite of all her singles
― dyl, Sunday, 24 November 2019 07:06 (four years ago) link
i was watching Olympics figure skating this morning while getting ready for work and a pair skated to "No One" and she really shoulda turned up the autotune on that one, woof
― Murgatroid, Friday, 18 February 2022 16:42 (two years ago) link
i have heard it is not actually her playing the piano or her singing remember milli vanilli!
― xzanfar, Saturday, 19 February 2022 17:49 (two years ago) link