Alicia is ASTONISHING just as she is,with this OVERWHELMINGLY impressive creation!!
This ultra-talented young lady never ceases to amaze me!!From start to finish this album is a definite masterpiece!!Alicia had already set the bar for my expectations from her EXTREMELY high when I first heard the touching "tear-jerking" "Goodbye"from her debut album!! "Goodbye" is one of my favorite songs of the last 15 years,PERIOD!!Because with its emotion-filled lyrics,Alicia made me(vividly)recall my very first heartbreak..Amazingly Alicia pulled this same sort of feat off again with "Teenage Love Afair"in which she caused me to feel nostalgia about my first"puppy-love" These following lyrics were instrumental in doing this:"I love our secret meetings on the 5th floor staircase,I'm gonna give you this letter of all the things I can't SAY." "Cant WAIT to get home baby,dial your number.."Daydream about you all day in school,CAN'T concentrate,wanna have your voice in my ear 'til Momma come and say:"It's TOO late." "3rd Base":"Better pump the brakes and baby slow down,I gotta go HOME now!" this following line is something that I bet EVERY young couple did:"I write your name in my book,your last name,my first,I'm your"Misses"!!"Alicia perfectly mirrors the seriousness in which we held our"puppy-love"regardless of the fact that all of our elders and parents blew our 1st-time"romance"off as:"goofy,nose-wide-open fleeting kid-stuff"when she so emphatically sings:"It's a matter of EXTREEEME importance,my first teenage love affair!!" The title track starts the album off with vintage Alicia Keys(beautiful)piano-play.."Go Ahead" is a FIERY"woman-fed-up"type of track,where Alicia has finally experienced the proverbial"straw" that broke the camels' back..Very convincing lines that show that Alicia is RESOLUTE in her decision are:"No NEED to apologize,don't TRY to"make-it-right!" and"NOTHING you can SAY or can DO,can make me CHANGE my mind!!" This following line is one I can REALLY empathize with:"Broken promises,my heart you stole,LIES you told,got the best of me,DIGGIN' in my heart-of-gold!!" And these aingst-filled lines:"I see you for who you are,know all I NEED to know,boy you DISSAPOINTED me!!" "Soon enough time REVEALS,the weight of what is REAL!!" "You point your finger,trying to JUSTIFY your mistakes,a change IS gone' be made,so you'd BEST,be on your way!!"The(barely audible)sad-sounding voice stating:"My man don't want me no more,he said he needed his time,to clear his mind,meanwhile I'm LOSING mine!!" at the opening of"Where Do We Go From Here"with its' accompanying vaudevillian music is a GREAT touch!! Alicia continues with her vintage mature/adult emotional content with:"Maybe you WON'T go,maybe you'll stay,I'm gonna MISS YOU,either way!!(THINK about what she's actually SAYING on that line!!)"It's such a LONELY road!!" SuperWoman"UN-like Karyn Whites' and Joss Stones'songs of the same name has Alicia declaring that she IS a "superwoman"while encouraging/urging other women to undauntedly EMBRACE their myriad responsibilities!"Like You'll Never See Me Again"is a wonderful song with a great point and an excellent SOLUTION to any stagnant relationship.."Lesson Learned"is another great song with some really profound and thought-provoking lyrics such as:"A life perfect aint perfect,if you don't know what struggle's for,falling down aint falling down if you don't CRY when you hit the floor!"the song carries an excellent point:no experience is a TOTAL loss or complete waste of ones'time,if you LEARNED something FROM it. The most EXCELLENT/powerful,eye-opening line on this song(which reveals the PRIME reason why a lot of women seem to get"walked all over"by the man they love)is:"You give it one more chance"JUST like the time BEFORE,but he ALREADY KNOWS,you'd give a HUNDRED more!! This following line is VERY encouraging and displays a"TRIUMPHANT"Alicia with:"It's called the"past"cause I'm gettin'PAST and I aint NOTHING like I was BEFORE,you oughta see me NOW!!""Alicia confidently states:Yes I was"burned"but I call it a lesson LEARNED!" The songs'opening line is sang with such emotion,that the"sadness"in it is almost TANGIBLE:"He broke my heart,and now it's raining,just to RUB-IT-IN.." "No One"is a wonderful song that has Alicia declaring that nothing and No ONE will be able to interfere with the growth of this promising relationship."Reckless Love"is a thoughtful song where Alicia is longing for the BLUE-hot RAW passion that was present at the start of her current relationship,which has apparently "cooled-off.." This is a song that EVERYONE in any long-term relationship should be able to identify with!! POWERFUL lyrics include:"I want that CRAZY love,that"Off-the-wall-WON'T-stop-'til-I get ENOUGH" kinda love!!" "I want THAT love!" "I NEED that love!!" "Let's go BACK there,let's take it there!!" "I want that"I dont-really-CARE-we-can-have it-ANYWHERE" kinda love!!" "Sure Looks Good To Me"has Alicia throwing caution to the wind,electing instead to act on appearances alone.."On"Tell you something"Alicia shows that she will not risk not conveying her feelings about someone. "I Need You"is so very POWERFUL lyrically as Alicia EXPERTLY compares her and her loves'need for each other with the very forces of nature itself and lifes' opposing conceptsthat CAN'T exist without each other..The song starts out with Alicia cleverly applying human attributes to natural phenomena and inantimate things:"The sand LOVES when,the waves come." "The sky can't WAIT,for the light of the Sun." After stating this Alicia turns the attention back to how her relationship should also be as "sure"and unchanging as her allegories pertaining to nature,with:"So how COULD you,look me in my eye,and NOT see what,what I feel INSIDE?!?" "Tell me how could you,DOUBT the fact that I,I LOVE you!!" Alicia then equally very cleverly(and truthfully)states how certain things couldn't exist without other things..How they "need"another thing to simply exist:"North needs South,East needs West,and"no"needs YES,YES,YES!!" She continues:"Up needs Down,Night needs Day and even this rather "eerie" FACT:"Life NEEDS Death!!" "Prelude to a kiss"with its'BEAUTIFUL piano has Alicia battling with unsurety to act on simple emotion.This song has some very touching lines:"Sometimes I feel like I don't BELONG anywhere,it's gonna take so LONG,for me to get somewhere..""Imagine there was no tommorrow,I couldn't IMAGINE that I couldn't see your face,there'd be no LIMIT to my SORROW,so all I can say.." "Sometimes I feel so heavy-hearted,but I CAN'T explain,'cause I'm so GUARDED!!" "That's a LONELY road to travel,and a HEAVY load to bear,and it's a LONG,LONG road to"heaven",but I gotta get there!!" "Can you send me an angel to GUIDE me?!?" "Tell You Something"features Alicia musing on the penalty of NOT conveying how you care for someone. Alicia is a MASTER at summing a point up,with:"Cause it will all mean NOTHING,if I don't say SOMETHING,before it all goes AWAY!!"and the emphatic:"Won't wait'til it's TOO LATE!!" "Sure Looks Good To Me"wraps the album up with a"BANG" The songs' first line is CLASSIC:"Life is cheap,bittersweet,but it"tastes"GOOD to me!!followed with:"I'm gonna risk it ALL,the FREEDOM to fall.."and"Take my turn,CRASH and BURN,thats how it's 'SPOSED to be!!"I really enjoy how the INTENSITY of the song steadily increases from the near whisper of Alicias' voice as she starts with:"Deep in my mind......"and finally culminating with Alicia almost SCREAMING:"So WHO are we ANYWAY!!" I'm really IMPRESSED with Alicias sheer emotion as she so DESPERATELY pleads:"So DON'T rain on MY"parade"!!"and the heart-felt(very factual)declaration:"Life's TOO short,to waste ONE day!!" I just LOVE the ingenious way that this song rises to its' crescendo!! The "Yeah,yeah,yeah"repeated throughout this song really adds to its' emotional feel!! This is an EXCELLENT well-written intelligent/thoughtful album!! Don't DARE hesitate in buying this gem!This album SINGLE-HANDEDLY redeems the music industry for every immature,shallow"low-brow"meaning-free"teeny bopper"album that it has put out over the last FIFTEEN years!!Alicia should be PROUD of herself!! And YOU should make it a PRIORITY to get yourself a copy of this MASTERPIECE!! If I weren't limited to rating songs to five stars,I would've given this album SIXTY-SEVEN stars!! Truly,I am THAT impressed with"As I Am"!! This album is the ACME of musical creativity!!TRUST me,you just GOTTA get THIS one!!
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