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Track Listings
| 1. Harlem's Nocturne |
| 2. Karma |
| 3. Heartburn |
| 4. If I Was Your Woman / Walk On By |
| 5. You Don't Know My Name |
| 6. If I Ain't Got You |
| 7. Dairy |
| 8. Dragon Days |
| 9. Wake Up |
| 10. So Simple |
| 11. When You Really Love Someone |
| 12. Feeling U, Feeling Me (Interlude) |
| 13. Slow Down |
| 14. Samsonite Man |
| 15. Nobody Not Really (Interlude) |
Product Description
Review
This was an eagerly-awaited follow-up. Released two years after the 20-million plus sales of her debut, Songs in A Minor, The Diary of… underlined 22-year-old singer and pianist Alicia Keys’ increasing maturity and her significance to 21st century American music.
Keys states in her accompanying notes that the 15 pieces of music here are like diary entries. They could so easily have been full of gauche heart-on-sleeve angst, but fortunately everything is kept in good measure with the listener being drawn into her world of contemporary takes on classic soul.
Lead single You Don’t Know My Name is built around a sample from the 1970s New York group Main Ingredient’s Let Me Prove My Love to You. The meshing of modern street funk with its gorgeous, string-laden predecessors is hardly the freshest concept, but the subtlety – and Keys’ stunning voice – carries it through.
With contributions from artists such as Kanye West, Timbaland and John Legend, at times this album is like an academic exercise in spotting her reference points. Titles such as Harlem's Nocturne and her cover of Gladys Knight’s If I Was Your Woman (which merges into Isaac Hayes’ version of Walk On By) make her nods to history explicit; it's like some RnB relief teacher coming in and taking the class.
But it is so much more than just that – the album is all about mood and groove. Diary, which features Tony! Toni! Toné!, is faultlessly languid late-night soul with a superb “your secrets are safe with me” hook.
There can be a level of suspicion about Grammy-gathering albums often subsequently reduced to their statistics – US No.1; 618,000 US sales in its first week alone – as this often says little, and commemorates only the commercial accomplishment. However, it is easy to hear why The Diary of Alicia Keys was so popular – well-written, well-played and, although it boasts a cast list commensurate with all urban albums of the 21st century, it is unmistakably the vision of one person. An MTV Unplugged performance, a book of poetry and an acting career was just around the corner. --Daryl Easlea
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this album when it was first released and have yet to come across another "rnb" album - if we can call it that - of its calibre. Many albums can you get excited, or make you sad - but this inspires feelings of another era altogether. The album has a kinda Jackie Brown/The Delfonics vibe to it. Some tracks like Nobody Not Really are perfect for jumpin into your time machine and hailing a new york yellow cab in the 70s in the pouring rain and watching the bright lights through the pasenger window. Not that you do that, but thats the vibe almost!
Simply brilliant.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Yes she is in touch with the classics, and yes she is in touch with the street.
It's a rare thing, and it still comes out in her music - the frantic violins of 'Karma', the piano arpeggios of Harlem's Nocturne' and the dreamy, filmic theme of 'Nobody Not Really'.
She is also in touch with the classics of soul, so there is more than a hint of Stevie Wonder to her writing.
If anything, 'The Diary Of..' is a little bit more knowing about urban styles than the breathtaking debut 'Songs In A Minor'. There is more of a hip-hop undercurrent, and there's more work for your sub-woofers to do.
It's in the shadow of it's predecessor, the 5-star debut 'Songs In A Minor', in my humble opinion, but it's still a 4-star wonder, which makes you hope that Keys will not be squeezed into the destiny of just another hip hop soul singer in a crowded marketplace.
Great voice, great pianist, great album. Great!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I have to admit that I bought this album on the strength of the single ('You Don't Know My Name') and reviews in The Times. I know next to nothing about the artist, and I'm probably far too old to understand all the nuances of her lyrics. But the music -- the tunes -- on this CD are really wonderful. It looks set to appear in many a Christmas stocking -- for those who have the patience to wait three more weeks.
Given the single, and given the CD cover, I had been expecting Alicia's piano to be given greater prominence in the mix, such as it is. Is it just me, or has the production of this album been a deliberately low-tech AM-friendly affair? The melody of the single harks back to Marvin Gaye's classic 'What's Going on?', and the production seems equally muffled. Another example: on track #10, 'So Simple', Alicia has added some prerequisite scratching, which has been done a thousand times since Madonna's 'Erotica'.
Alicia's band is pretty small. There does not seem to be a drummer -- despite the frequent appearance of drums on most tracks -- so we must assume that drums come courtesy of 'digital programming'. This music is far more cerebral than Beyonce, who also uses a tiny musical team. Neither, to my ear, quite approaches the standard set by Jimmy Jam / Terry Lewis for Alexander O'Neal's 'Hearsay'.
But this is a great album to end 2003 on.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Warm, sad and certainly brilliant
I have listened to so many albums and so much music from different music types. And this album is one of the best albums I've ever listened to. Read more
Published 13 months ago by music&cinema
Because, "I put it all into this, my diary"
1. Harlem's Nocturne. 9/10
2. Karma. 10/10
3. Heartburn. 10/10
4. If I Was Your Woman/Walk On By. 9/10
5. You Don't Know My Name. 10/10
6. Read more
2. Karma. 10/10
3. Heartburn. 10/10
4. If I Was Your Woman/Walk On By. 9/10
5. You Don't Know My Name. 10/10
6. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2008 by Ronnie
Four and a half, really
Being more of a book reviewer I often find it difficult to review music, as I think it's so much more a matter of individual taste. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2008 by OEJ
Super follow up .
The follow up to " Songs in A Minor " shows that Alicia Keys is not going to sit on her laurels , and bask in the glory of her debut album . Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2008 by Egbert Souse
Three Brilliant tracks (all in a row)
In the 80's There was Whitney Houston and Madonna, the 90's saw the emergence of both MAriah Carey and Celine Dion. This decade has been prominent for Norah Jones and Alicia Keys. Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2007 by Jay
A quality addition to my collection
This is the disc that confirmed my interest in Alicia Keys. She has a great voice and I like the kind of modern mix of classical with R&B, and whatever. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2006 by Bernard Smith
Alicia Keys is the bomb!
I don't usually write reviews for CDs but this album inspired me so much I felt I had to. Alicia Keys is an American superstar whose at the top of her game. Read more
Published on 10 April 2005 by L. T. Whitehall
shes so sweet..............
i had so many expectations of this album and so many predictions to what the flavour will be. After LOVIN songs in a minor, a legendary album which has come to be one of my... Read more
Published on 21 Mar 2005
Almost Perfection
This album was the best i bought last year. Alicia Keys is such a talent I anticipate her third album highly. The melodies on this album are simple and pure. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2005 by Temidire1479
Just Stunning!!!
Rarely does an artist release an excellent debut album and then release another album as good.Alicia Keys however not only does an album as good she does one even better. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2005 by J.D.H
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