The Element of Freedom
| Alicia Keys
The Element of Freedom
The fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys. Departing from the classicist soul music of Keys' previous albums, The Element of Freedom has a mid-tempo, low-key sound and features mostly ballads. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Consequence of Sound
A step in the right direction for Keys.
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Slant
Keys should be able to do better than this, particularly now that she has a decade of experience under her belt.
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BBC
The US diva album for those who can’t abide US divas.
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DJ Booth
It’s certainly not her best, but complaining about it is like complaining about Michelangelo’s Statue of David because it’s not the Sistine Chapel.
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Digital Spy
Thanks to that voice and her knack for a timeless-sounding melody, she can make even the hackneyed sound classic.
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All Music
A clean, small-scale collection of ballads and Prince-inspired pop.
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Pop Matters
Gone is any inventive use of piano. Gone is the fire and the youthful exuberance.
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Billboard
As usual, her vocals are spot-on throughout.
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Music OMH
This late arrival is set to be remembered among the best pop albums of 2009.
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The Independent
Keys is that most frustrating of things: a stunning talent who’s too happy to give the world more of which it already has a surfeit.
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Survivor Dean
This is another taste of brilliancy from a superwoman of substance and class. Eight out of ten stars.
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Spin
Keys seems uninterested in breaking new ground, snooze-controlling her way through a series of familiar piano-soul platitudes.
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The Guardian
She overcame adversity to make a confident, well-crafted modern soul record that engages and rewards without doing anything groundbreaking.
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LA Times
After the all-too-human ups and downs she's experienced through the rest of the album, ultimately she comes out of it sounding pretty, well, super.
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Trespass Magazine
The album is best described as beautiful in a non-aggressive, more gently cascading sort of way that will make you feel things.
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Planet Ill
She brings an incredible amount of emotion that works splendidly with her subject matter.
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News 24
Her vocals are strong as always but with a vulnerability that is hauntingly beautiful.
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The Billboard Files
It's more loose than anything she's done before and free-flowing.
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The Couch Sessions
The album succeeds on the strength of Keys’ otherworldly voice and songwriting.
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Timeout Abu Dhabi
What’s more frustrating about the album title The Element of Freedom: its meaninglessness or its false advertising?
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Entertainment Weekly
If Element asks for patience, it also earns it.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
"Put It In A Love Song," a scorching, stripped-down duet with Beyoncé, is one of the year's best songs.
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Irish Times
Keys is unquestionably talented, but she needs a firm steering hand and a producer that doesn’t gloss her songs with a dreary r’n’b uniformity.
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USA Today
Freedom marks not so much a departure for Keys as it does the evolution of an artist still seeking higher ground.
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