29-11-2012, 14:47
online listen
this is my first Alicia album
pop r&b which is not my thing
only firm like is Tears Always Win
single is Girl On Fire which could grow but hasn't yet
1.3 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Girl On Fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J91ti_MpdHA
released Nov 27th, 2012
![[Image: 220px-Alicia_Keys_-_Girl_on_Fire.png]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e7/Alicia_Keys_-_Girl_on_Fire.png/220px-Alicia_Keys_-_Girl_on_Fire.png)
Bio - from allmusic
By mixing R&B with a sultry dose of neo-soul, Alicia Keys became an international star in 2001 with the
release of her debut album. Songs in A Minor sold more than 50,000 copies during its first day of
availability and eventually moved over ten million units worldwide, thus setting the stage for the 20-
year-old's long career. Although she shared the charts with R&B contemporaries like Destiny's Child, Keys'
talent distinguished her as a different sort of diva, one who played a variety of instruments and penned
the majority of her songs without outside help. The Diary of Alicia Keys cemented her popularity two years
later, and Alicia Keys spent the rest of the decade refining her now-signature sound.
Alicia Augello Cook was born in Harlem in early 1981. Raised by her Italian-American mother, she enrolled
in classical piano lessons at the age of seven and began writing songs four years later. An education at
the Professional Performance Arts School helped develop her vocal skills, and Alicia graduated at the age
of 16 as the class valedictorian. Two Columbias loomed on the immediate horizon: Columbia University and
Columbia Records, both of whom had extended offers to the talented student/musician. Although she
attempted to make both options work, Alicia found it difficult to juggle the two commitments and chose to
focus exclusively on her music career. Assuming the stage name of Alicia Keys, she began working with
Columbia and contributed a song to the Men in Black soundtrack, but disputes with the label resulted in
her contract's termination.
Keys bounced back by aligning herself with Clive Davis, the president of Arista Records, but work on her
debut album stalled when Davis was ousted from the company in 2000. Davis soon formed his own label, J
Records, and welcomed Keys back into the fold with an aggressive publicity campaign (including an
influential appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show). Songs in A Minor was then released in June 2001 and
debuted at the top of the charts, eventually netting five Grammys and rising to platinum status in ten
different countries. Released in 2003, The Diary of Alicia Keys enjoyed similar Grammy-certified success,
and Keys released a book of poetry the following year.
A live CD/DVD package, Unplugged, arrived in 2005 and followed Keys' two previous releases to the top of
the charts, even if it failed to win any of the four Grammys for which it was nominated. She then entered
the acting world, starring in both Smokin' Aces and The Nanny Diaries in 2007, before issuing the pop-
influenced As I Am later that year. It became her fourth consecutive number one album, and she was
nominated for another handful of Grammys as a result, with "Superwoman" winning the award for Best Female
R&B Vocal Performance in early 2009. As the year drew to a close, Keys returned to the top of the
Billboard charts with "Empire State of Mind," a Jay-Z single that featured her vocals, and released her
fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom. Although it went platinum, The Element of Freedom didn't
reach number one in the U.S., becoming her first album to miss the top slot. It did reach number one in
the U.K., though, marking Keys' first chart-topping album in Europe and highlighting her status as a
global artist.
During the next two years, Keys married producer Swizz Beatz, gave birth to a son, collaborated with Eve
on the single "Speechless," appeared somewhere in Kanye West's "All of the Lights," and went on a brief
tour in celebration of her debut album's tenth anniversary. She wrote and, with her husband, co-produced
"Angel" for Jennifer Hudson's I Remember Me. In 2012, she assisted Emeli Sandé (Our Version of Events) and
Miguel (Kaleidoscope Dream) prior to releasing Girl on Fire, her fifth studio album. It was issued on RCA
-- in the wake of J Records' dissolution -- that November and featured collaborations with her husband, as
well as Sandé, Salaam Remi, Jeff Bhasker, Frank Ocean, and John Legend.
Album Review - from allmusic
After the release of The Element of Freedom, her fourth consecutive chart-topping and platinum studio
release, Alicia Keys not only married Swizz Beatz and became a mother but stacked collaborations with
Drake, Kanye West, Marsha Ambrosius, Jennifer Hudson, Emeli Sandé, and Miguel. The collaborative spirit
continues all the way through Girl on Fire, an album sporting a list of around 20 co-composers and nearly
a dozen co-producers. A small but significant portion of the album has Keys somewhere in the past,
grappling with or sifting through a stifling relationship. That's the way the album begins, with the
alternately reserved and cathartic ballad "Brand New Me," one of three songs written with Sandé: "You look
surprised your words don't burn me anymore." Two of the better songs, both of which feature assistance
from John Legend, immediately follow and are closer to Keys' personal breakthrough. The first one, "When
It's All Over," is a gushing testimonial over a dizzying Jamie xx co-production -- a clash between
acoustic jazz, synth funk, and minimal techno that will either thrill or repel. "Listen to Your Heart,"
the second one, is mechanical yet plush and dials it back for Keys to embrace new love; it's one of Rodney
Jerkins' unassuming yet stunning beats. After a pair of bombastic anthems -- including the oddly written
"Girl on Fire," which has her "living in a world, and it's on fire," then "on top of the world" with "both
feet on the ground" and "our head in the clouds" -- the album loses its grip. It hits a low with "Not Even
the King," an obvious "love is worth more than money" ballad, and "That's When I Knew," a tender back-
porch ballad presumably about Mr. Keys. (If the mind wanders, consider that the object of affection is the
man behind hits such as "Money, Cash, Hoes" and "It's Me [email=B*#@hes]B*#@hes[/email].") Once "101," the last listed track,
fades out, a chaotic outro fades in and peaks with Keys screaming, in a celebratory and defiant manner,
"Hallelujah -- kicked down the door!" It ends the first chapter of her new life with several exclamation
points, but it's missing one. The album could have used some swift and uplifting neo-disco like "Million
Dollar Bill" or "Everybody Needs Love," exceptional songs that Keys and her husband wrote and produced for
Whitney Houston and Jennifer Hudson.
Track Listing
1. De Novo Adagio (Intro)
2. Brand New Me
3. When It's All Over
4. Listen to Your Heart
5. New Day
6. Girl On Fire (Inferno Version) Feat. Nicki Minaj
7. Fire We Make Feat. Maxwell
8. Tears Always Win
9. Not Even the King
10. That's When I Knew
11. Limitedless
12. One Thing
13. 101
this is my first Alicia album
pop r&b which is not my thing
only firm like is Tears Always Win
single is Girl On Fire which could grow but hasn't yet
1.3 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Girl On Fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J91ti_MpdHA
released Nov 27th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
By mixing R&B with a sultry dose of neo-soul, Alicia Keys became an international star in 2001 with the
release of her debut album. Songs in A Minor sold more than 50,000 copies during its first day of
availability and eventually moved over ten million units worldwide, thus setting the stage for the 20-
year-old's long career. Although she shared the charts with R&B contemporaries like Destiny's Child, Keys'
talent distinguished her as a different sort of diva, one who played a variety of instruments and penned
the majority of her songs without outside help. The Diary of Alicia Keys cemented her popularity two years
later, and Alicia Keys spent the rest of the decade refining her now-signature sound.
Alicia Augello Cook was born in Harlem in early 1981. Raised by her Italian-American mother, she enrolled
in classical piano lessons at the age of seven and began writing songs four years later. An education at
the Professional Performance Arts School helped develop her vocal skills, and Alicia graduated at the age
of 16 as the class valedictorian. Two Columbias loomed on the immediate horizon: Columbia University and
Columbia Records, both of whom had extended offers to the talented student/musician. Although she
attempted to make both options work, Alicia found it difficult to juggle the two commitments and chose to
focus exclusively on her music career. Assuming the stage name of Alicia Keys, she began working with
Columbia and contributed a song to the Men in Black soundtrack, but disputes with the label resulted in
her contract's termination.
Keys bounced back by aligning herself with Clive Davis, the president of Arista Records, but work on her
debut album stalled when Davis was ousted from the company in 2000. Davis soon formed his own label, J
Records, and welcomed Keys back into the fold with an aggressive publicity campaign (including an
influential appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show). Songs in A Minor was then released in June 2001 and
debuted at the top of the charts, eventually netting five Grammys and rising to platinum status in ten
different countries. Released in 2003, The Diary of Alicia Keys enjoyed similar Grammy-certified success,
and Keys released a book of poetry the following year.
A live CD/DVD package, Unplugged, arrived in 2005 and followed Keys' two previous releases to the top of
the charts, even if it failed to win any of the four Grammys for which it was nominated. She then entered
the acting world, starring in both Smokin' Aces and The Nanny Diaries in 2007, before issuing the pop-
influenced As I Am later that year. It became her fourth consecutive number one album, and she was
nominated for another handful of Grammys as a result, with "Superwoman" winning the award for Best Female
R&B Vocal Performance in early 2009. As the year drew to a close, Keys returned to the top of the
Billboard charts with "Empire State of Mind," a Jay-Z single that featured her vocals, and released her
fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom. Although it went platinum, The Element of Freedom didn't
reach number one in the U.S., becoming her first album to miss the top slot. It did reach number one in
the U.K., though, marking Keys' first chart-topping album in Europe and highlighting her status as a
global artist.
During the next two years, Keys married producer Swizz Beatz, gave birth to a son, collaborated with Eve
on the single "Speechless," appeared somewhere in Kanye West's "All of the Lights," and went on a brief
tour in celebration of her debut album's tenth anniversary. She wrote and, with her husband, co-produced
"Angel" for Jennifer Hudson's I Remember Me. In 2012, she assisted Emeli Sandé (Our Version of Events) and
Miguel (Kaleidoscope Dream) prior to releasing Girl on Fire, her fifth studio album. It was issued on RCA
-- in the wake of J Records' dissolution -- that November and featured collaborations with her husband, as
well as Sandé, Salaam Remi, Jeff Bhasker, Frank Ocean, and John Legend.
Album Review - from allmusic
After the release of The Element of Freedom, her fourth consecutive chart-topping and platinum studio
release, Alicia Keys not only married Swizz Beatz and became a mother but stacked collaborations with
Drake, Kanye West, Marsha Ambrosius, Jennifer Hudson, Emeli Sandé, and Miguel. The collaborative spirit
continues all the way through Girl on Fire, an album sporting a list of around 20 co-composers and nearly
a dozen co-producers. A small but significant portion of the album has Keys somewhere in the past,
grappling with or sifting through a stifling relationship. That's the way the album begins, with the
alternately reserved and cathartic ballad "Brand New Me," one of three songs written with Sandé: "You look
surprised your words don't burn me anymore." Two of the better songs, both of which feature assistance
from John Legend, immediately follow and are closer to Keys' personal breakthrough. The first one, "When
It's All Over," is a gushing testimonial over a dizzying Jamie xx co-production -- a clash between
acoustic jazz, synth funk, and minimal techno that will either thrill or repel. "Listen to Your Heart,"
the second one, is mechanical yet plush and dials it back for Keys to embrace new love; it's one of Rodney
Jerkins' unassuming yet stunning beats. After a pair of bombastic anthems -- including the oddly written
"Girl on Fire," which has her "living in a world, and it's on fire," then "on top of the world" with "both
feet on the ground" and "our head in the clouds" -- the album loses its grip. It hits a low with "Not Even
the King," an obvious "love is worth more than money" ballad, and "That's When I Knew," a tender back-
porch ballad presumably about Mr. Keys. (If the mind wanders, consider that the object of affection is the
man behind hits such as "Money, Cash, Hoes" and "It's Me [email=B*#@hes]B*#@hes[/email].") Once "101," the last listed track,
fades out, a chaotic outro fades in and peaks with Keys screaming, in a celebratory and defiant manner,
"Hallelujah -- kicked down the door!" It ends the first chapter of her new life with several exclamation
points, but it's missing one. The album could have used some swift and uplifting neo-disco like "Million
Dollar Bill" or "Everybody Needs Love," exceptional songs that Keys and her husband wrote and produced for
Whitney Houston and Jennifer Hudson.
Track Listing
1. De Novo Adagio (Intro)
2. Brand New Me
3. When It's All Over
4. Listen to Your Heart
5. New Day
6. Girl On Fire (Inferno Version) Feat. Nicki Minaj
7. Fire We Make Feat. Maxwell
8. Tears Always Win
9. Not Even the King
10. That's When I Knew
11. Limitedless
12. One Thing
13. 101
