Songs in A Minor

1	Piano & I 1:52
2	Girlfriend 3:34
3	How Come You Don't Call Me 3:57
4	Fallin' 3:30
5	Troubles 4:28
6	Rock Wit U 5:36
7	A Woman's Worth 5:03
8	Jane Doe 3:48
9	Goodbye 4:20
10	The Life 5:25
11	Mr. Man 4:09
12	Never Felt This Way (Interlude) 2:01
13	Butterflyz 4:08
14	Why Do I Feel So Sad 4:25
15	Caged Bird (Outro) 3:02
16	Lovin' U 3:49

Barnes & Noble

While teen pop divas Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera continue to pursue their belly-baring blonde ambitions, R&B ingénue Alicia Keys allows her music to speak for her. On her impressive debut, Songs in A Minor, the 20-year-old, classically trained pianist delivers a haunting, sophisticated mix of blues, soul, gospel, and jazz, all sung -- as the title suggests -- in the key of A minor. The New York-born phenom wrote, arranged, and produced the bulk of the disc's 16 tracks, which, despite her youth, resonate with the depth and maturity of a more seasoned artist. Several songs explore affairs of the heart, including the lead single, "Fallin'," a bluesy ode to the heartbreaking reality of unrequited love; "Girlfriend," which chugs along to a hip-hop break beat, and the piano-driven jaunts "Goodbye" and "How Come You Don't Call Me," a soulful Prince cover. In addition to her ruminations on love, Keys, like Destiny's Child did on "Survivor," pays homage to strong-willed sisterhood on the mid-tempo, moody soul of "A Woman's Worth." With lyrics such as "I know why the caged bird sings/Only joy comes from song," "Caged Bird" is perhaps the disc's most personal and revealing track. And with music as her muse, this lovely songbird has a harmonious future in song. Brett Johnson

All Music Guide

Alicia Keys' debut album, Songs in A Minor, made a significant impact upon its release in the summer of 2001, catapulting the young singer/songwriter to the front of the neo-soul pack. Critics and audiences were captivated by a 19-year-old singer whose taste and influences ran back further than her years, encompassing everything from Prince to smooth '70s soul, even a little Billie Holiday. In retrospect, it was the idea of Alicia Keys that was as attractive as the record, since soul fans were hungering for a singer/songwriter who seemed part of the tradition without being as spacy as Macy Gray or as hippie mystic as Erykah Badu while being more reliable than Lauryn Hill. Keys was all that, and she had style to spare -- elegant, sexy style accentuated by how she never oversang, giving the music a richer feel. It was rich enough to compensate for some thinness in the writing -- though it was a big hit, "Fallin'" doesn't have much body to it -- which is a testament to Keys' skills as a musician. And, the fact is, even though there are some slips in the writing, there aren't many, and the whole thing remains a startling assured, successful debut that deserved its immediate acclaim and is already aging nicely. Stephen Thomas Erlewine