Alicia Keys "The Diary of Alicia Keys" Album

	Title: The Diary of Alicia Keys Format: Album Label: J-Records Released: 2003-12-02
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Tracklisting & Lyrics

1. Harlem's Nocturne lyrics »
2. Karma lyrics »
3. Heartburn lyrics »
4. Medley: If I Was Your Woman/Walk on By lyrics »
5. You Don't Know My Name lyrics »
6. If I Ain't Got You lyrics »
7. Diary lyrics »
8. Dragon Days lyrics »
9. Wake Up lyrics »
10. So Simple lyrics »
11. When You Really Love Someone lyrics »
12. Feeling U, Feeling Me (Interlude) lyrics »
13. Slow Down lyrics »
14. Samsonite Man lyrics »
15. Nobody Not Really (Interlude) lyrics »

Reviews

Alicia Keys has more than lived up to the promise of her formidable debut Songs in A Minor, pushing beyond her flirtation with old-school soul and venturing into the modern world, even hiring Timbaland to guide her through the shoals of anthemic hip-hop on the breathless and funkified "Heartburn." Sounding like a hyperthyroid cheerleader, Keys unleashes a quirky sense of humor that no one even suspected she possessed. Her effortless singing on the beat-driven "Karma" is a wonder of sonics on this uplifting piece of pop philosophy, giving countless anxious woman hope that everything will work out as it's meant to, or on "Samsonite Man," where it won't. But despite her edgy styling and jazzy vocal posturing, Keys hasn't abandoned her love for old R&B and travels back in time, giving Gladys Knight's "If I Was Your Woman" a face lift it may not have needed, then turns around and recasts the song as the winsome and dramatic "You Don't Know My Name." But at its heart, The Diary of Alicia Keys is a gross misnomer. After listening to the disc, fans will know little more about the elusive diva than they did before, her lyrical style consistently more narrative than confessional. In fact, the title track doesn't delve into the singer's inner life, but instead is about a long-distance love affair, with Keys promising the object of her affection that: "I won't tell your secrets/Your secrets are safe with me/I will keep your secrets/Just think of me as the pages in your diary." ~Jaan Uhelszki, Amazon.com

Since Alicia Keys' 2001 debut album, Songs in A Minor, was ever so slightly overpraised, expectations for her second album, 2003's The Diary of Alicia Keys, were ever so slightly too high. Songs in A Minor not only kicked off a wave of ambitious new neo-soul songsters, it fit neatly into the movement of ambitious yet classicist new female singer/songwriters that ranged from the worldbeat-inflected pop of Nelly Furtado to the jazzy Norah Jones, whose success may not have been possible if Keys hadn't laid the groundwork with such soulful work as her hit "Fallin'." Such success at such a young age, even if deserved, can be too much too soon, since young songwriters showered with praise and riches may find it hard to see the world outside of their own cocoon. The very title of The Diary of Alicia Keys - at once disarmingly simple and self-important - suggests that Keys, like Furtado, took her stardom a little too seriously and felt compelled to present her worldview unfiltered, dispensing with artistic ambiguities and leaving each song as a portrait of Alicia Keys, the woman as a young artist. As she somewhat bafflingly says in her liner notes, "these songs are like my daily entrees," which likely means that these were indeed intended to play like unedited entries in a journal, a goal that she's fulfilled quite successfully, even if it does mean that the album often plays as a diary, leaving listeners in the role of observers instead of seeing themselves in the songs. This was a problem on Furtado's nearly simultaneously released Folklore, but Keys trumps her peer in one key way - musically, this is a seamless piece of work, a sultry slow groove that emphasizes her breathy, seductive voice and lush soulfulness. Tonally, this is ideal late-night romantic music, even when the tempos are kicked up a notch as on the blaxploitation-fueled "Heartburn," yet beneath that sensuous surface there is some crafty, complex musicality, particularly in how Keys blurs lines between classic soul, modern rhythms, jazz, pop melodies, and singer/songwriter sensibility. It's an exceptionally well-constructed production, and as a sustained piece of sonic craft, it's not just seductive, it's a good testament to Keys' musical strengths (which can even withstand Andre Harris and Vidal Davis' irritating squeaky voice production signature on "So Simple"). What the album lacks are songs as immediate as "Fallin'" or as compelling as "A Woman's Worth," and that, combined with her insular outlook, is where Diary comes up short and reveals that it is indeed merely a second album. Such is the problem of arriving with a debut as fully formed as Songs in A Minor at such a young age - listeners tend to expect more from the sequel, forgetting that this an artist still in her formative stages. So, those expecting another album where Keys sounds wise beyond her years will bound to be disappointed by The Diary of Alicia Keys, since her writing reveals her age in a way it never did on the debut. Yet that is a typical problem with sophomore efforts, and while this is a problem, it's one that is outweighed by her continually impressive musical achievements; they're enough to make The Diary worth repeated listens, and they're enough to suggest that Keys will continue to grow on her third album. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

The fuss that greeted the arrival of Alicia Keys three years ago faded fast (like all true stars, she didn't whore herself around every chat show or pop programme going). Tellingly, however, the song that echoes from every reality pop show audition is her 'Fallin'. Her impact may not have been on a par with Beyonce's, but certainly her songs will last longer, because - like 'Fallin' - they are already coming to be recognized as certified classics.
She was groomed for five years before the release of her debut, the superb 'Songs In A Minor' - and it felt like a lifetime's work. Every note, rhyme and vocal nuance was perfect. Naturally, then, you get worried that she'll never be able to follow it up. But there's no need: 'The Diary Of Alicia Keys' is another masterpiece.
You knew everything was going to be alright when that elegant, magisterial lead-off single, 'You Don't Know My Name', was debuted on Top Of The Pops. Only someone as brazen and ridiculously talented as Keys could return after all this time with a sprawling six minute old skool soul ballad that has a bloody spoken word section right in the middle of it. It's a work of genius, though; and if, by the end of it you aren't totally in love with this girl, then you'll never know what love is.
It's a track that's matched again and again throughout 'The Diary...'. Keys approaches melodies like she's writing standards. In doing so, she walks a perilously thin line between 'timeless' and 'Whitney Houston', but thankfully never toppling toward the latter. 'If I Ain't Got You' is a perfect example - on first listen, it could be any one of a number of identikit '80s soul belters, but after the devastatingly pure chorus melody has burrowed into your cranium you're powerless to resist. This is Keys' strength - taking the blueprints of the past and pinpointing the moments that work, and jettisoning everything else.
Only 'Slow Down', with its lazy filch from the Isley Brothers' 'Summer Breeze', fails to impress. But it hardly registers on an album that throws out incredibly slinky r'n'b like 'So Simple', stormy, sexy torchsongs like 'Diary', and swaggering hip-hop like 'Heartburn'. With both Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott still AWOL, and Beyonce unable to cut it over an entire album, there's only one lady right now who can truly claim Aretha's crown. ~Christian Ward, Dot Music