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The third full-length from contemporary R&B diva Alicia Keys is called AS I AM, a title that adequately reflects the album's straightforward, confessional soul-pop. Keys built her popularity making stylish, reflective, voice-&-piano music; AS ... Full DescriptionI AM continues that trend, albeit in a poppier vein that balances neatly between neo-soul and adult contemporary. This is reflected in the mid-tempo grooves, songs of empowerment ("Superwoman"), and stirring ballads ("The Thing About Love").
Keys's collaborators on the album include songwriter Linda Perry, who co-wrote three of the album's tracks, and John Mayer, who twines voices with Keys on the sensual "Lesson Learned." Top-notch arrangements, which include gorgeous, retro-tinged flourishes via strings and horns, make the set shimmer, but it's the strength of the hook-heavy tunes and Keys's moving performances that make AS I AM stick. It's not the five-star album she's capable of, but it leaves little doubt that Keys is moving steadily in that direction.
Personnel: Alicia Keys (vocals, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, harpsichord, Wurlitzer organ, Mellotron, synthesizer, bass synthesizer, Moog synthesizer, string synthesizer, vocoder, programming, background vocals); Jack Splash (various instruments, programming); Ron Haney, Peter Thorn, David Ryan Harris, John "Jubu" Smith (guitar); John Salvatore Scaglione (guitars); Steve Mostyn (acoustic guitar, bass guitar); Everette K. Harp (saxophone); Darryl Dixon (alto saxophone); David Watson (tenor saxophone); Carl Maraghi (baritone saxophone); Duane Eubanks, David G. Stout, Jumaane Smith (trumpet); Jason Sugata (French horn); Harry Kim (trombone); Michael Dease (tenor trombone, bass trombone); Ryan Kebrle (tenor trombone); Mark Batson (piano, Clavinet, Hammond b-3 organ, Moog synthesizer, programming, drum programming); Linda Perry (piano, background vocals); Damon Fox (Hammond b-3 organ, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer); Paul Ill, Sean Hurley (bass guitar); Trevor Lawrence, Jr. (drums, percussion); Mark Robohm, Steve Jordan (drums); Kerry "Krucial" Brothers (drum programming); Novel Stevenson, Harold Lilly, L. Green (background vocals); Ann Minicieli.
Additional personnel: John Mayer (guitar, background vocals).
Rolling Stone (p.192) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he prevailing mood is reflectively soulful and the prevailing tempo mid."
Rolling Stone (p.114) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007" -- "Keys' ever-deepening vocal power is the first thing you notice on AS I AM."
Spin (p.120) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[O]n her melodically powerful third studio album, she matures into the matriarch of her genre."
Entertainment Weekly (p.75) - "'The Thing About Love' begins as a melancholy R&B lament and rolls into pure pop-rock uplift..." -- Grade: B
Mojo (Publisher) (p.98) - "She certainly has vocal dexterity and prodigious keyboard skills....Tracks like No One and Thing About Love become exercises in power soul..."
Blender (Magazine) (p.146) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "AS I AM advances by showing an experimental side....The music is dizzying, even mesmerizing." Hide Description As I Am Music | List Price | $18.98 (You save $3.63) | | Category | Rock/Pop Albums, Rap CDs, Urban Soundtrack, Soul/R&B, R&B | | Label | J-Records | | Orig Year | 2007 | | All Time Sales Rank |  483   | | CD Universe Part number | 7532702 | | Catalog number | 711513 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Nov 13, 2007 | | Studio/Live | Studio | | Mono/Stereo | Stereo | | Producer | Jack Splash; Kerry "Krucial" Brothers; Dirty Harry; Alicia Keys; Mark Batson | | Engineer | Andrew Chavez; Stuart White; Vincent Creusot; Keith Gretlein; Kristofer Kaufman; Seamus Tyson; Brendan Dekora; Linda Perry; Seth Waldmann; Chad Franscoviak; Manny Marroquin; Ann Mincieli; Glenn Pittman; Zach Hancock | | Recording Time | 55 minutes | | Personnel | Steve Jordan - drums
Sean Hurley - bass guitar
Jack Splash - various instruments, programming
Everette Harp - saxophone
Alicia Keys - vocals, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, harpsichord, Wurlitzer organ, Mellotron, synthesizer, bass synthesizer, Moog synthesizer, string synthesizer, vocoder, programming, background vocals
Harry Kim - trombone
Linda Perry - piano, background vocals
Trevor Lawrence Jr. - drums, percussion
Darryl Dixon - alto saxophone
Mark Batson - piano, Clavinet, Hammond b-3 organ, Moog synthesizer, programming, drum programming
List all 33 contributors
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Alicia Keys As I Am Songs Purchase As I Am CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Amy Winehouse Back To Black CD (2006)
As I Am album
 $12.45   
BACK TO BLACK's production is an artful blend of sophisticated '60s R&B and 21st-century stylistic poaching, with "Tears Dry on Their Own" incorporating elements of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and Winehouse sounding like Billie Holiday fronting a reggae band on the old-fashioned cheating song "Just Friends." Densely packed with musical history and often conjuring a dark, Portishead-esque atmosphere, BACK TO BLACK is a sumptuous-sounding collection freighted with blunt confessionals of a lush life.
It doesn't take much listening to Amy Winehouse's 1960s pop period piece to realize that this is a tribute with an edge--nice girls back then didn't sing about boozing and rehab. Since her 2003 debut album, FRANK, Winehouse has been a frequent presence on the gossip pages of the U.K. tabloids, and her songwriting here candidly reflects her experiences with drinking, sex, and drugs.
Personnel: Amy Winehouse ...
| | Kanye West Graduation CD (2007)
As I Am CD music
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Given the remarkable critical and commercial success of 2005's LATE REGISTRATION, Kanye West's rich, rewarding sophomore release, expectations were high for 2007's GRADUATION. Ever savvy, West flouts those expectations by delivering a record that delivers curveballs while staying true to his sharply sculpted, commercially minded m.o. West's rapping, never his greatest strength, is still entertaining. He delivers witty, smart, sometimes absurd rhymes (he seems to take more lyrical chances on GRADUATION) that fit nicely with the overall feel of his tracks.
As usual, it's West's productions that stand out. While there are examples of his style-defining use of classic R&B samples and background choirs (as on the feel-good highlight "I Wonder"), West streamlines his sound to center on synth-driven lines, giving many of the tracks a retro-electro new wave feel. "Stronger," for example, another standout, is powered by a vocoder-drenched vocal sample courtesy of French dance superstars Daft Punk, which finds West again more comfortable in hip-hop's uncharted waters. The overall results make for a fun, inventive album that offers ...
| | Chris Brown Exclusive CD (2008)
As I Am music CDs
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With its muscle-flexing attitude, thumping beats, and guest spot from T Pain, "Kiss Kiss," the club single on Chris Brown's EXCLUSIVE, announces that the teenaged singer is growing up fast. He's graduating from the province of cutesy `tween pop to big league urban contemporary, joining the ranks of Usher and R. Kelley with his sexy, slinky jams.
Part of EXCLUSIVE's grown-up sound comes from top-shelf production, courtesy of Scott Storch, the Underdogs, and Will i. Am, and its roster of guests, which ...
| | Keyshia Cole Just Like You CD (2007)
As I Am songs
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On her highly anticipated second album, JUST LIKE YOU, R&B vocalist Keyshia Cole solidifies her celebrated status with an assured set of songs. A more personal outing than the performer's debut, THE WAY IT IS, this 2007 record also boasts even more star power than its predecessor, a notion confirmed ...
| | Jay-Z American Gangster CD (2007)
As I Am album
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Following up his crossover-ridden return from retirement KINGDOM COME, Jay-Z presents a concept album, AMERICAN GANGSTER, inspired by the Ridley Scott movie of the same name. Contentwise, Jay is in his element, spinning street corner imagery and tales of the drug trade in the same spirit as the film, ...
| | Mary J Blige Growing Pains CD (2007)
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It's no accident that Mary J. Blige is an icon on the ...
| | Jimmy Holiday How Can I Forget CD (1996)
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| | Pogues Rum Sodomy & The Lash CD (Import) Netherlands
As I Am songs
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RUM, SODOMY AND THE LASH is the second album from the Pogues, who mixed folk, rock, punk, and traditional Irish music. Produced by Elvis Costello, this album includes the singles "Dirty Old Town", "Sally MacLennane", and "A Pair of Brown Eyes".
RUM, SODOMY & THE LASH delivers on the brash promise of its predecessor, RED ROSES FOR ME, mixing the band's unique brand of traditional Irish instrumentation and composition with Shane MacGowan's timeless poetry. As the mythic introduction of the album's opener, "The Sickbed Of Cuchulainn" crashes into its heaving, breakneck-speed verse, RUM, SODOMY & THE LASH is a hurtling juggernaut of Celtic soul, fierce and unrelenting. Its lyrics are the very stuff of Irish song ...
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As I Am album
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As I Am music CDs
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As I Am songs
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As I Am Music Review Average Rating: (4.4 out of 5 stars)   List All Reviews the best album of the year
I LOVE A.KEYS!!!!!!!!!!! She is the best female singer out (next 2 MJB). Her music is uplifting,inspiring,powerful,etc.I don't have the words to explain, but I love her and her music.Keep doin your thing for the us women who love too hard.
Submitted by toya0983 (Richmond,VA,USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful. i love this cd
i really love this cd she is my favorite singer and i think she did good on all of her albums so i just want her to know that i love her and her music!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by kiaraswanson (cleveland, ohio, usa)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful. great cd i love it
this cd is awsome and i love it.she sounds great. This cd is really SWEET and it is very funky and cool.GREAT CHRISTMISS PREZ. plus this is not just for 13 girls who love hip muice.
Submitted by nobody (boston MA, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful. GOOD CD OVERALL
its a good cd but like after the first five songs you have to listen to the rest over and over to get the sons in your head. The lyrics are beautiful. I like the cd. This is one of those relaxation cds. put this in when you wanna relax
Submitted by youngkprophecy (somewhere,usa)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful. Naturally Alicia
I think Alicia Keys did a wonderful job on her new album. I wouldn't say that it was definitely worth the wait. I'm not disappointed, but I definitely think that the "Diary of Alicia" keys was better produced.
Submitted by Patrick (Philadelphia, PA, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful. List All Reviews | Have you heard this album? |  |
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