The Diary Of Alicia Keys

12/09/2003 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy

When she debuted two years ago at age 19, radiating passion and poise from behind the piano, the contrast between Alicia Keys and what passed for her peers was so striking that it wasn't until much later that most of her Songs In A Minor revealed themselves to be on the minor side as well. But where that album succeeded through sheer talent and youthful audacity, the followup – even further steeped in sophisticated '70s soul -- also impresses with several tunes as classic as her ivory-tinkling style. "If I Was Your Woman (Walk On By)," and "If I Ain't Got You," which borrow their melodies from Bacharach but fatten them up with gospel hollers, are the best things Keys has yet signed her name to, and the unrequited love song "You Don't Know My Name" is a close third, its brave but hopeful mid-song phone call buoyed by Philadelphia International harmonies. Just as impressive, in its way, is "Heartburn," a scaldingly funky workout that throws a bone to the hip-hop nation without making an undignified appeal. Her Diary isn't a juicy read cover to cover – vamps like "Dragon Days" still lean too hard on Keys' keystroking skills – but the lament "Maybe I'm invisible to the world" is the only line in it that's patently false.