Albums to watch

The Element Of Freedom

Alicia Keys

The Element Of Freedom

Fourth studio album from the New York R&B / modern soul singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist

ADM rating[?]

5.7

Label
Sony
UK Release date
14/12/2009
  1. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    These songs confirm her status as a major singer, songwriter and pianist
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  2. 7.0 |   musicOMH

    In an R 'n' B world that's gone Auto-tune crazy, Keys proves that she's something genuine among so many mass-produced plastic knick-knacks
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  3. 7.0 |   The Observer

    A confident, well-crafted modern soul record that engages and rewards without doing anything groundbreaking
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  4. 6.0 |   Spin

    Keys seems uninterested in breaking new ground, snooze-controlling her way through a series of familiar piano-soul platitudes
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  5. 6.0 |   The Scotsman

    Much of The Element Of Freedom is taken up with the pros and cons of romantic love. In some respects, Keys is a jobbing songwriter, sticking to the safe subjects and composing to a formula
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  6. 6.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    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. Maybe next time she’ll push herself further
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  7. 6.0 |   Sydney Morning Herald

    ...an album that impresses with its mastery of R&B pop but it's a hard album to love because Keys never lets you inside her head or heart
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  8. 6.0 |   Rolling Stone

    ...the production compresses her voice, making it sound a lot less like her, especially on the ballads
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  9. 6.0 |   Eye Weekly

    Her slyer material excels ... But the disc includes several unfortunate departures from that standard
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  10. 6.0 |   Eye Weekly

    ...the songs on The Element Of Freedom, her fourth studio album, negotiate love’s deposits with all the subtlety of a bank manager
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  11. 4.0 |   The Independent

    ...the album's underlying assumption that desire and dignity might not be mutually exclusive seems fanciful at best, snobbish at worst
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  12. 4.0 |   The 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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  13. 3.0 |   PopMatters

    Make no mistake, this is the worst album of Alicia Keys’ career
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Alicia Keys: The Element Of Freedom

  • Download full album for just £6.99
  • 1. The Element Of Freedom (Intro) £0.99
  • 2. Love Is Blind £0.99
  • 3. Doesn't Mean Anything £0.99
  • 4. Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart £0.99
  • 5. Wait Til You See My Smile £0.99
  • 6. That's How Strong My Love Is £0.99
  • 7. Un-thinkable (I'm Ready) £0.99
  • 8. Love Is My Disease £0.99
  • 9. Like The Sea £0.99
  • 10. Put It In A Love Song £0.99
  • 11. This Bed £0.99
  • 12. Distance And Time £0.99
  • 13. How It Feels to Fly £0.99
  • 14. Empire State of Mind, Pt. II (Broken Down) £0.99
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