As You Are Is Not Good Enough

I just got the opportunity to sit down and listen to Alicia Keys' new album, As I Am . Sadly, I am not impressed. I was hoping with this being her third album that it would be her first "complete" and cohesive work. However, the album is marred by lackluster production and what I consider vocal ventriloquy. So many of the songs sound alike and are just boring. At the same time, on most songs Keys sounds like she is attempting to imitate or channel other great artists' vocals. She really needs to find her own voice. Even the remake of Tears of a Clown comes off as uninspiring and just a lazy reproduction. For me this album is a total disappointment and the people fawning over her because Clive deemed it so need to go sit down.