The minute Alicia Keys opens her mouth and the first note is sung, you know that this album is going to be repeated again and again, borrowed by your friends and finally broken by a flatmate in an attempt to record it without your noticing. Yes, its that good - Alicia is the love child of Tori Amos and Erykah Badu, and the world is better off for it - the singles Fallin' and Girlfriend are obviously winners, but the slower tracks, such as Troubles and Butterflyz show an impressive maturity for one so young - she has been listening to Aretha, Nina Simone and Joni Mitchell and it shows. Not to say that Alicia isn't original, as Mr. Man (with the gorgeous voice of Jimmy Cozier) and Jane Doe show, this girl has drawn on her life as well as the music of others. Her voice is smooth and pure, and she has an amazing sense of rhythm as well as vocal range to make Whitney jealous. I haven't taken this album out of my hifi, and I bought it two weeks ago - the lyrics are touching and often funny, and the beats want to make you swing your hips and go out to the nearest R'n'B club, or at least sing into your hairbrush. On the whole, I would recommend this album to everyone who has a pulse - there are songs to dance to and songs to cry to, and I don't think music gets much better than that. Trust me, treat yourself for Xmas - your ears will thank me.