As I Am

by Alicia Keys

Overview

By now established as a major and talented force in the mainstream music world, Alicia Keys has perhaps earned the right to explore a little, to venture into new genres while still keeping a foot firmly planted in the R&B/neo-soul she grew out of. On her third full-length, As I Am, Keys takes a step closer toward the soul revival popularized by John Legend, with full-band arrangements and bright horn hooks, only occasionally falling back into the piano/melisma combination that drove the singles off her first two albums. Instead, here, as evidenced in "No One" -- which sounds all too ready to take on a "reggae dance mix" -- the guitar-driven "I Need You," "Wreckless Love," or "Where Do We Go from Here," which pays tribute to both Stax and Motown ("All I can do/Is follow the tracks of my tears," she sings, after a sample of Wendy Rene's "After Laughter [Comes Tears]" crackles through the first few bars), this is music that owes as much to pop as it does R&B, highlighted no less by the fact that the queen of radio rock herself, Linda Perry, co-writes three of the songs with Keys, including the straight-from-the-Stripped-sessions "The Thing About Love" and "Superwoman." It is on the latter, in fact, that Keys, unsurprisingly, turns furthest away from the style that brought her initial success (more so even than on the John Mayer collabo, "Lesson Learned," which is actually not bad) toward the generic-pop world, sliding in between corny and sincere, sometimes even in the same breath. "When I'm breaking down/And I can't be found/...'Cause no one knows/Me underneath these clothes/But I can fly/We can fly," she sings in the bridge, flatly. Keys has never been a brilliant lyricist, but she's always been able to write simple yet affective and honest words that don't seem trite, something that is forgotten here, and makes the track one of the weakest on the album. Fortunately, this doesn't happen too often, and as As I Am weaves its way through the drums and various keyboards and vocal harmonies that make up the backbone of her work here, punctuated by the great, hooky melodies and strings, you get the impression that this is in fact the sign of an artist who's not content to only follow the path that's brought her previous acclaim, an artist who's looking to find more, both about herself and her music, and an artist who carries these developments, these insights, with her. And so even though As I Am is a flawed work -- a little too poppy, a little too cliched -- it is also indicative of what Keys can and will do, and that she is someone, thanks to her curiosity, intelligence, and natural talent, who will be able to mature and grow for years to come. ~ Marisa Brown

Product Details

Release Date:	11/13/2007
Label:	J Records
UPC:	0886971151312

Tracks

1. As I Am [Intro]
2. Go Ahead
3. Superwoman
4. No One [Main]
5. Like You'll Never See Me Again
6. Lesson Learned
7. Wreckless Love
8. The Thing About Love
9. Teenage Love Affair
10. I Need You
11. Where Do We Go from Here
12. Prelude to a Kiss
13. Tell You Something (Nana's Reprise)
14. Sure Looks Good to Me

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Alicia Keys   Primary Artist,Synthesizer Strings,Synthesizer,Piano,Vocals,Vocoder,Mellotron,Wurlitzer,Harpsichord,Fender Rhodes,Moog Synthesizer,Synthesizer Bass,Vocals (Background)
Jack White   Primary Artist
John Mayer   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Guitar (Rhythm),Vocals (Background),Guitar
Mark Batson   Moog Synthesizer,Piano,Clavinet,Moog Bass,Organ (Hammond)
Peter Thorn   Guitar
L. Green   Vocals (Background)
David Stout   Trumpet
Everette K. Harp   Saxophone
Mark Robohm   Drums
Jack Splash   Various Instruments
Ron Haney   Guitar
John "Jubu" Smith   Guitar
Darryl Dixon   Sax (Alto),Sax (Alto)
Damon Fox   Moog Synthesizer,Organ (Hammond),Mellotron
David Ryan Harris   Guitar
Steve Mostyn   Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Acoustic)
Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson   Vocals (Background)
David Watson   Sax (Tenor)
Paul Ill   Guitar (Bass)
Duane Eubanks   Trumpet
Linda Perry   Piano,Vocals (Background)
Trevor Lawrence Jr.   Percussion,Drums
Jason Sugata   French Horn
Michael Dease   Trombone (Bass),Trombone (Tenor)
Harry Kim   Trombone
Jumaane Smith   Trumpet
Ryan Keberle   Trombone (Tenor)
John Salvatore Scaglione   Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm)
Sean Hurley   Guitar (Bass)
Harold Lilly   Vocals (Background)
Carl Maraghi   Sax (Baritone)
Ron Thaler   Drums,Percussion
Steve Jordan   Drums
L.C. Green   Vocals (Background)
Mark Robham   Drums
Rony Henry   Guitar

Technical Credits

Mark Batson   Programming,Audio Production,Composer,Producer,Drum Programming,Horn Arrangements,String Programming
Zach Hancock   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Glenn Pittman   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Ann Mincieli   Audio Engineer,Coordination,Engineer
Manny Marroquin   Audio Engineer,Mixing,Engineer
Chad Franscoviak   Audio Engineer,Engineer
Seth Waldmann   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Linda Perry   Audio Engineer,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Brendan Dekora   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Seamus Tyson   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Kristofer Kaufman   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Keith Gretlein   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Alicia Keys   Audio Production,Programming,Concept,Arranger,Composer,Producer,Vocal Producer,Horn Arrangements,Vocal Arrangement,Executive Producer,String Programming
Dirty Harry   Audio Production,Producer
Vincent Creusot   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Stuart White   Audio Engineer
Kerry Brothers   Audio Production,Composer,Producer,Drum Programming,Horn Arrangements,Executive Producer
Jack Splash   Audio Production,Arranger,Composer,Producer,Programming
Andrew Chavez   Audio Engineer
Erika Rose   Composer
Mary Frierson   Composer
Candice Nelson   Composer
Mark Springer   Artist Coordination
Steve Mostyn   Composer
Ray Chew   Horn Arrangements
Kanye West   Composer
Jared Robbins   Mixing Assistant
Marsha Ambrosius   Composer
J.R. Bailey   Composer
Tom Nixon   Composer
Ron Haney   Composer
Jack White   Composer
Carl Hampton   Composer
Paul Green   Composer
Peter Edge   Executive Producer
Marni Senofonte   Stylist
Taneisha Smith   Composer
Ashunta Sheriff   Make-Up
Walter Millsap III   Composer
Harold Lilly   Composer
Christian Baker   Mixing Assistant
Kim Biggs   Design,Art Direction
David Kutch   Mastering
Chris LeBeau   Creative Producer
Ken Williams   Composer
Melvin Kent   Composer
Jeff Robinson   Management,Executive Producer
Alli Truch   Design,Art Direction
Ron Thaler   Additional Production
Joseph Conrad Robinson   Management
Jeanine McLean Griffin   Management
Thierry Le Goues   Photography
George M. Harry   Composer
John Mayer   Producer