As I Am

by Alicia Keys

Overview

Alicia Keys worked with hitmakers Linda Perry and Swizz Beatz on her third and perhaps most innovative album to date. As I Am draws inspiration from a diverse sampling of music, including hip-hop, soul, rock, and classical and features the reggae-tinged first single "No One."

Product Details

Release Date:	11/13/2007
Label:	J-Records
UPC:	0886971151312
catalogNumber:	711513

Tracks

1. As I Am
2. Go Ahead
3. Superwoman
4. No One
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,Piano,Harpsichord,Vocals,Background Vocals,Moog Synthesizer,Mellotron,Vocoder,fender rhodes,Synthesizer Bass,Wurlitzer,Synthesizer Strings
Harry Kim   Trombone
Linda Perry   Piano,Background Vocals
David Stout   Trumpet
Sean Hurley   Bass Guitar
Mark Batson   Piano,Hammond Organ,Clavinet,Moog Synthesizer,Moog Bass,Hammond B3
Rony Henry   Guitar
David Ryan Harris   Guitar
Darryl Dixon   Alto Saxophone
Duane Eubanks   Trumpet
Steve Jordan   Drums
David Watson   Tenor Saxophone
John Mayer   Guitar,Rhythm Guitar,Background Vocals
Carl Maraghi   Baritone Saxophone
Steve Mostyn   Acoustic Guitar,Bass Guitar
L.C. Green   Background Vocals
Ron Haney   Guitar
Harold Lilly   Background Vocals
Damon Fox   Hammond Organ,Moog Synthesizer,Mellotron,Hammond B3
Mark Robham   Drums
Paul Ill   Bass Guitar
Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson   Background Vocals
Jack Splash   Various
Ryan Keberle   Tenor Trombone
Michael Dease   Bass Trombone,Tenor Trombone
John Salvatore Scaglione   Guitar,Rhythm Guitar
Jumaane Smith   Trumpet
Jason Sugata   French Horn
Peter Thorn   Guitar
Mark Robohm   Drums
Darryl Dixon   Alto Saxophone
L. Green   Background Vocals
Everette K. Harp   Saxophone
Trevor Lawrence   Percussion,Drums
John "Jubu" Smith   Guitar

Technical Credits

Paul Green   Composer
Ray Chew   Horn Arrangements
Dirty Harry   Producer,Audio Production
Carl Hampton   Composer
Manny Marroquin   Engineer
Linda Perry   Composer,Producer,Engineer
Tom Nixon   Composer
Mark Batson   Composer,Programming,Producer,Horn Arrangements,drum programming,Audio Production
Kim Biggs   Art Direction
Alli Truch   Art Direction
Mary Frierson   Composer
Ann Mincieli   Engineer
Kerry Brothers   Composer,Producer,Executive Producer,Horn Arrangements,drum programming,Audio Production
John Mayer   Producer
Peter Edge   Executive Producer
Steve Mostyn   Composer
Alicia Keys   Arranger,Composer,Programming,Producer,Executive Producer,Vocal Arrangements,Horn Arrangements,Concept,Audio Production,Vocal Producer
Chad Franscoviak   Engineer
Ron Haney   Composer
Marsha Ambrosius   Composer
Harold Lilly   Composer
Chris LeBeau   Creative Producer
Jack Splash   Arranger,Composer,Programming,Producer,Audio Production
Jeanine McLean Griffin   Management
Joseph Conrad Robinson   Management
Jeff Robinson   Executive Producer,Management
George M. Harry   Composer

Editorial Reviews

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
eo-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 clichéd -- 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.

All Music Guide - Marisa Brown

...the prevailing mood is reflectively soulful and the prevailing tempo mid.

Rolling Stone - Robert Christgau

Hip-hop rhythms, scratchy LP samples, bright Southern soul horns, and slices of funk still factor into the overall mix on tracks like "No One" and the dynamite Stevie Wonder-inspired tune "Go Ahead," the angry but controlled get-to-stepping opener.

Boston Globe - Sarah Rodman

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