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  • CD Review: Alicia Keys’ “The Element of Freedom”

    What’s not to like about Alicia Keys? She’s attractive and talented, and manages to be pop-friendly without being butt-naked or appearing in the tabloids all the time (more on that in a sec).

    I also have to say that her albums have the tendency to wear off of me sort of quickly. I’ve fallen in love with each of her previous three studio albums upon release, yet when I play them now, I skip past half the songs. I’m not quite sure why that is, but it definitely tempers the level of enthusiasm I have for her latest effort, “The Element of Freedom”.

    “Freedom” is a largely mid/downtempo album of lovelorn songs. Heartbreak and desire figure very heavily in these songs’ lyrics. Alicia seems to have been seriously affected by Cupid in recent days-and if you believe the tabloids, Cupid led her to the very married producer Swizz Beatz, who makes several appearances on this album.

    There’s definitely a change in sound on this album vs. Alicia’s earlier work. The acoustic piano-the centerpiece of the majority of her hit material to date-takes a backseat in place of the synthesizer. Now, for most folks, that would spell bad news. Particularly in light of the way music these days enlists synthesized music. Thankfully, there is NO Auto-Tune, no club bounce on this album. The prevalence of synthesizers will actually remind you quite a bit of Prince-this, folks, is a good thing.

    The most Prince-y songs on “Freedom” are the midtempo “This Bed”, which sounds like it stepped straight out of 1986, and the breathy, tension-filled “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart”, a song on which Alicia tries out a breathier singing style. “Wait Till You See My Smile” also has an Eighties vibe, matches a Billy Joel piano figure with thunderous synth work that calls to mind bombastic rock bands like Journey. It’s definitely the album’s anthem.

    On a more traditional tack, there’s the album’s first single “Doesn’t Mean Anything”. Most people will remark that this sounds a lot like Alicia’s huge single “No One”, and there are definite similarities. This song, however, has a tenser, more percussive musical background. It’s a sharper backdrop for Alicia’s emotive vocalizing. Meanwhile, the ballad “That’s How Strong My Love Is” has an orchestral sweep that recalls The Force MDs’ classic “Tender Love”. There’s also a rendition of Alicia’s recent hit “Empire State of Mind”. With Jay-Z’s rap and the thundering backbeat removed, the song has less swagger and attitude, but the pensive quality of the song makes up for it. It’s less of a triumphant walk through midtown and more of a wistful look at the starry skyline from the balcony of a penthouse apartment.

    Vocally, Alicia sounds rawer and less mannered than she has before. She’s investing more feeling into her lyrics, which bother me a lot less than they used to earlier in her career. She’s become very good at creating a mood-as evidenced by the dark, pensive vibe of “Unthinkable (I’m Ready)”.

    Beyonce appears on the track “Put it in a Love Song”, and there’s really no reason for this song to appear here other than to be sort of an “event record”. It feels like Alicia’s dumbing down a little bit-trying to record a song with the vibe and feel of “Single Ladies” when she’s obviously a much more thoughtful songwriter than that. This is really the album’s only immediately skippable track.

    Over the course of 8 years and four albums, Alicia has done a pretty good job of combining classic songwriting with a modern attitide, and each of her albums has been a step better than the last one. “The Element of Freedom”, somewhat surprisingly given that this album had very little buzz, continues that trend. Whether behind a piano or a wall of synthesizers, wailing or whispering, Alicia Keys continues to stake her claim as one of the best contemporary R&B musicians working today, and this time, I think I’ll feel exactly the same about this album six months from now.

  • Chart Chat 2009 Wrap Up: Susan Boyle Falls Just Short

    Soundscan’s 2009 officially ended at midnight on Monday morning, and Taylor Swift and Susan Boyle were racing for the prize for best-selling album of the year. Swift manages to win in a photo finish. “Fearless” sold 3.22 million copies in the calendar year, just a shade over Boyle’s 3.10 million. Boyle can take some consolation in the fact that “I Dreamed a Dream” tops the Billboard album chart for a sixth consecutive week, with sales of 137,000 copies as the industry winds down from the holiday boom.

    Actually, this week’s Top 5 is very kind to the fairer sex. Aside from Boyle at the top and Swift at #5, the chart is filled out by a resurgent Lady GaGa at #2, Alicia Keys at #3 and Mary J. Blige at #4. The post-Christmas lull and a lack of new releases makes for a pretty uneventful chart, but that may change next week as newcomer Ke$ha challenges for the #1 spot.

    Let’s re-direct our attention to the year-end charts. Swift and Boyle had the only albums to move over 3 million units in 2009. All told, 5 albums crossed the 2 million mark, 22 albums crossed the 1 million mark and 62 albums scanned over half a million copies, as though we needed any further proof that the industry is shrinking-nearly 100 albums crossed the Gold barrier as recently as 2005.

    A few trends that jump out as I peruse the year-end totals:

    *Country is one genre that is illegal-download and recession proof. 14 country albums sold over half a million copies this year, led by two Taylor Swift albums. In addition to “Fearless”, her self-titled debut was the 35th best-selling album of the year with 782,000 copies sold. Other major country successes included Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, the Zac Brown Band and the country-flavored “Hannah Montana” movie soundtrack, all of which were million-sellers.

    *Hip-hop had a mixed bag of a year. Three rap albums land in the Top 10. The Black Eyed Peas had the year’s 7th biggest seller with “The E.N.D.”, followed by Eminem’s “Relapse” at #8 and Jay-Z’s “Blueprint 3” at #9. The only other rap album to sell more than half a million units this past year was T.I.’s “Paper Trail”, which pops in at #58 with 530,000 units scanned. You could also technically include Kanye West’s “808s and Heartbreak”, which scanned 597,000 units this year, although it’s not a rap album per se.

    *If you’re an “American Idol” fan, now might be a good time to start buying music. Carrie Underwood’s “Play On” was the only album from an “Idol” alum to crash the million-sold barrier this year. She’s followed by Daughtry (#31, 882K) and Kelly Clarkson (#33, 813K). If you’re looking for other former “Idol”s, you have to go much lower on the chart, where you’ll find David Cook (#73), Underwood’s “Carnival Ride” (#74, Adam Lambert (#81), the first Daughtry album (#144), Underwood’s debut (#158), Jennifer Hudson (#166), Kris Allen (#183) and Kellie Pickler (#191).

    *Good old dependable rock & roll? Not so much. The biggest-selling rock album of the year was Kings of Leon’s “Only by the Night”, which lands at #10, with 1.4 million copies sold. Nickelback’s “Dark Horse” trails right behind at #11. Along with the “Twilight” soundtrack (#13), they are the only rock albums in the Top 20.

    *Then, of course, there’s Michael Jackson. “Number Ones” finished as the year’s third biggest-seller, with 2.4 million copies sold. It was followed by “This is It” (#12), “Thriller” (#14), and “The Essential Michael Jackson” (#20).

    *As far as sales disappointments go, albums by these superstar artists failed to even hit the 400,000 copies sold mark: Mariah Carey, Colbie Caillat, Creed, Fabolous, Rob Thomas and 50 Cent, while albums by Rick Ross and Bon Jovi have stalled under the 500,000 mark.
    Here are the year’s Top 40 sellers, according to Soundscan:

    1) Taylor Swift “Fearless”
    2) Susan Boyle “I Dreamed a Dream”
    3) Michael Jackson “Number Ones”
    4) Lady GaGa “The Fame”
    5) Andrea Bocelli “My Christmas”
    6) Soundtrack “Hannah Montana: The Movie”
    7) The Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”
    8) Eminem “Relapse”
    9) Jay-Z “Blueprint 3”
    10) Kings of Leon “Only by the Night”
    11) Nickelback “Dark Horse”
    12) Michael Jackson “This is It”
    13) Soundtrack “Twilight”
    14) Michael Jackson “Thriller”
    15) Zac Brown Band “Foundation”
    16) Michael Buble “Crazy Love”
    17) Miley Cyrus “Time of Our Lives EP”
    18) Beyonce “I Am…Sasha Fierce”
    19) Carrie Underwood “Play On”
    20) Michael Jackson “The Essential Michael Jackson”
    21) Rascal Flatts “Unstoppable”
    22) U2 “No Line on the Horizon”
    23) Dave Matthews Band “Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King”
    24) Lady Antebellum “Lady Antebellum”
    25) Soundtrack “Twilight: New Moon”
    26) Jason Aldean “Wide Open”
    27) Maxwell “BLACKsummersnight”
    28) Whitney Houston “I Look to You”
    29) Green Day “21st Century Breakdown”
    30) Darius Rucker “Learn to Live”
    31) Daughtry “Leave This Town”
    32) Various “Now That’s What I Call Music 32”
    33) Kelly Clarkson “All I Ever Wanted”
    34) P!nk “Funhouse”
    35) Taylor Swift “Taylor Swift”
    36) The Fray “The Fray”
    37) Alicia Keys “The Element of Freedom”
    38) Various “Now That’s What I Call Music 30”
    39) Justin Bieber “My World”
    40) Keith Urban “Defying Gravity”

  • First Listen: “The High Road” by Broken Bells

    A couple of months ago, I wrote a post detailing my excitement upon finding out that James Mercer of The Shins was collaborating with supa-producer Danger Mouse on a full-length album project called Broken Bells. While the album isn’t due until March, the twosome have provided us with a sneak peak of the upcoming opus.

    “The High Road” is the album’s first single, and while it’s fairly recognizable as a Danger Mouse track, I wouldn’t have placed James Mercer as the vocalist. He’s singing in a different register than we’re used to hearing on Shins records, but once you get over the surprise, you’re left with a pretty good track. Danger Mouse’s production work always has this mysterious, spooky quality to it, and it’s nice to hear Mercer sing over something with a little more boom-bap to it than your average Shins record. Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think.