Alicia Keys - ALICIA

[Marchum]

I think this is shaping up to be her worst, most lifeless LP to date.

Sadly, I agree. I love So Done, and play it often but the rest is so meh.

[ThaInfo1]

Chile half the album out with no date in sight

[luckyONE]

^ it's out next Friday.

[ThaInfo1]

^ it's out next Friday.

Wait when did a release date happen?!?!? This is news.

[JeremySpears]

Wait when did a release date happen?!?!? This is news.

Its release date has been changed to September 18th on Target's website, Amazon and other websites. She’s also on the cover of a magazine this week. But then again she hasn’t posted about it and iTunes still says it'll be released on December 31.

If she does release the album out of nowhere this week it’s gonna make this era even messier than it already is.

[BeeBoy]

If she releases on Friday out of the blue she is going to make Smile seem like a mega Smash. Underdog was kinda doing its thing for her nowadays standard. The album push back was dumb af if it was for this messy rollout to happen

[GonPop]

this leaked

[JeremySpears]

So she confirmed that it'll be out this week. What a huge mess this whole thing is.

[firefly_86]

Should have put it out in Spring as originally planned. Done some home concerts on her piano, build some buzz, then people would a relished a new album to enjoy while they're bored stuck at home.

I heard she kicked off when the record company wanted to delay to Q4 or 2021 so that's why it's just being chucked out now.

[Tansike]

If she releases on Friday out of the blue she is going to make Smile seem like a mega Smash. Underdog was kinda doing its thing for her nowadays standard. The album push back was dumb af if it was for this messy rollout to happen

This era (and Underdog) really suffered from Corona. I thought with some nice performances Underdog could have been a nice hit for her, but it just started to take off when Corona blew up so she wasn't able to promote it.

[theMathematician]

I don't think it has to do with Corona. The radio stations played her song (which should be the most frequently played song by her since 'Girl On Fire'), and on the other hand, Dua Lipa or the Weeknd haven't been negatively affected either (If anything, the massiveness of 'Blinding Lights' overshadowed the latter one's whole era). A mainstream-friendly album with an 80+/100 on Metacritic would've performed well commercially, it's just that Alicia Keys hasn't been able to put together a proper work of art and promote it accordingly - probably due to the lack of vision. 'Here' didn't leave a major impact either, despite receiving a respectable 76/100 on Metacritic.

[abi]

Tansike I think she was still doing some online performances for "Underdog" during the pandemic which did help a lot. I remember the song was floating inside the top 10 on US iTunes for so long. Unfortunately it didn't have any strong support from streaming services + radio quickly dropped it after being pushed hard for the first few weeks.

[InFamous]

Tansike I think she was still doing some online performances for "Underdog" during the pandemic which did help a lot. I remember the song was floating inside the top 10 on US iTunes for so long. Unfortunately it didn't have any strong support from streaming services + radio quickly dropped it after being pushed hard for the first few weeks.

Didn't it get up to 68 or something at one point which was pretty decent for an Alicia single in 2020!! It kind of just died then sadly. Was a great track.

[JeremySpears]

[Tansike]

I don't think it has to do with Corona. The radio stations played her song (which should be the most frequently played song by her since 'Girl On Fire'), and on the other hand, Dua Lipa or the Weeknd haven't been negatively affected either (If anything, the massiveness of 'Blinding Lights' overshadowed the latter one's whole era). A mainstream-friendly album with an 80+/100 on Metacritic would've performed well commercially, it's just that Alicia Keys hasn't been able to put together a proper work of art and promote it accordingly - probably due to the lack of vision. 'Here' didn't leave a major impact either, despite receiving a respectable 76/100 on Metacritic.

I don't think we can compare Alicia with The Weeknd and Dua Lipa. Alicia has flopped with her recent stuff, the others haven't. Alicia is in the game for a while (and we know how it works for female artists who are in the game for a while, see Katy, Britney, Christina etc.) while the others are still fresh and belong to today's hot artists. So yes, "Underdog" got the most airplay for Alicia since "Girl On Fire" and I just think even more promo would have done wonders to her, especially being in the situation she was in (finally having some kind of hit again, and it really had a lot of potential). It's obviously not just Corona, but I think Alicia's album is one of the releases that suffered the most (another being probably Sam Smith's album).

abi is right, she did some home concerts that did wonders. That's actually also why I think some proper promo (like a performance on Ellen & Co.) could have done even more.

[firefly_86]

It’s a nice listen, I’m pleasantly surprised after having low expectations lol. Much prefer the songs we haven’t heard yet, Jill Scott collab is a nice surprise.

[InFamous]

Forgot all about this. Truth Without Love is a big no from me. Not a good start. Voice sounds rough. Time Machine is already much better. Nice groove to this track. Sounds familiar.

Edit - Time Machine totally reminds me of Breathe on me by Britney .

One time through and this album is Far better for me than her last two. I wasn't a fan of her last one at all and only liked one or two tracks from Girl on Fire, although Brand new me is one of the best songs of her career.

I am going to have to spend time with this, but I like it. It's melodic, accessible and has some interesting tracks.
Apart from the first track there is nothing I would skip, although Gramercy Park sounds very out of place ! Love looks Better is a great track.

[BeeBoy]

I actually love the new track x Tierra Whack, will give this album a listen over the weekend

[Michiel]

This is much better than I anticipated, quite cohesive and a pleasant listen!

[Loose]

I hate to say it but this album is full of lifeless songs. Some pleasant stuff (Show Me Love, 3h Drive) on there but mostly bland and characterless music on this album.

Huge disappointment for me.

[oasisbobo]

Just about to give this a listen.

[JeremySpears]

Listening to it right now. Just reminding y’all that "Time Machine" is a masterpiece that deserved Underdog's success.

[Marchum]

Smoked a blunt last night while listening to it before bed, and I really enjoyed it. I need to check it out again later today, but the songs with Snoh and Tierra were impressive.

[oasisbobo]

Really enjoyed the album after one listen. Definitely one I'll go back to.

[JeremySpears]

Wow I'm very suprised! I liked 10 of the 15 songs. Especially the first half of the album (track 1-7) was incredibly strong in my opinion. Tracks 8-10 are too boring and "You Save Me" & "Jill Scott" didn’t blow me away either. But wow "Authors Of Forever"?? "3 Hour Drive"?? "Me x 7"?? Pretty great tracks. And I'm gonna give my fav "Time Machine" another shoutout because it’s an underrated gem and really stands out on this record.

I think this might be my favorite album of hers.