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Jan 14, 2011In most of these dozen tracks (not including a ponderous intro regarding the necessity of risk and a slow-jam sequel to Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind") Keys seems uninterested in breaking new ground, snooze-controlling her way through a series of familiar piano-soul platitude.
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It's far from a shock but definitely a disappointment to watch Ms. Trained Pianist survey her branding options and choose the bland card over the brains card.
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After so many highlights, the duds feel inconsequential, easily bypassed. Only when Keys panders to Top 40 radio does the album truly stumble, sounding like a hodgepodge of transparent ideas.
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It's her most consistent album and also her most low-key.
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Keys' material is ultimately about the slow reveal, not the instant blitz. If Element asks for patience, it also earns it.
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Throughout the album's remaining 13 tracks, the experience is not unlike watching a flower bloom in time-lapse; this one's about Keys stepping away from safety, and the whole thing benefits beautifully from her sense of daring.
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But all that queenliness, and the sameness of the tempo, start to wear you down. It's not until the 10th track, "Put It in a Love Song," that the record starts to bristle with a less regal impulse: flirting.
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With so few highlights, an unwieldy 52-minute runtime, and a second half nearly devoid of strong material, Freedom doesn't begin to contend with that release--or indeed, even many of those by Keys's objectively less talented contemporaries.
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After the all-too-human ups and downs she's experienced through the rest of the album, ultimately she comes out of it sounding pretty, well, super.
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Her fourth, The Element of Freedom, is full of straightforward pleas for affection that are neither outstanding nor run-of-the-mill.
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Keys never gets gritty, she remains reserved, never letting her singing or arrangements obscure the melodies or the classy veneer of the entire proceedings. All this determined detachment keeps The Element of Freedom from packing a primal, passionate punch, but there is charm in Alicia's enveloping, quiet cool.
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It's surely a compliment to suggest that someone as abundantly gifted as she is can do better than this enjoyable, occasionally brilliant but disappointingly generic record.
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On The Element of Freedom, the production compresses her voice, making it sound a lot less like her, especially on the ballads.
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The Element of Freedom is just really well-made elevator music. It's boring, soulless, and pretentious.
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While R&B artists clamour for synth-heavy, layered production by The-Dream, Danja and Jim Jonsin, Keys proves a hit album can still be made using conventional means.
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Keys delivers a musically understated but richly passionate set of soul paeans to being in love, out of love, lovelorn and pining for her man to return.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 67 out of 88
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Mixed: 7 out of 88
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Negative: 14 out of 88
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Mar 18, 2011
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Sep 28, 2010
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Aug 11, 2010This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.