As I Am

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Untitled

As I Am is the third studio album (fourth overall) by American R&B/soul singer Alicia Keys, released on November 13, 2007 (see 2007 in music). The album became Keys' fourth consecutive number-one album on the Billboard 200, selling 742,000 copies in its first week;[1] this amount is the largest ever first-week sales for any female R&B artist, and is also one of the largest first-week sales for any female artist in the United States. It features appearances by John Mayer, Marsha Ambrosius, Linda Perry, and others. This is Keys' third consecutive multi-platinum studio album in the U.S. The album spawned four singles; two of them became number-one hits on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while the others entered the top three and the top fifteen respectively.

Background

Keys had been working on the album since late 2005, but focused on it to a greater extent in 2006. She first mentioned the album's name to E! News reporter Giuliana Rancic on June 26, 2007 at the BET Awards red carpet pre-show. During the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards she confirmed that her album was finished. Earlier Keys had said to MTV: "It's coming together incredibly. I am in love with this album. It's very fresh and new."[2]

Promotion and release

The album was heavily promoted, and special advertising was arranged in collaboration with MTV before and during the week of release. The entire album was streamed on MTV's website, beginning on November 6, 2007, a week before the album's North American release date. Additionally, Keys was MTV's Artist of the Week for the week beginning November 12, 2007.[3] MTV commissioned Evan Silver to direct series of nine humorous ads of Keys being harassed by someone in a bunny costume.[4] In the final spot, the bunny is revealed to be John Mayer.[5]

A limited number of vinyl records were pressed on double red vinyl at Nashville's historic United Record Pressing. They contain the fourteen standard tracks divided into two vinyls with seven tracks each.

Reception

Critical response to the album was generally positive to mixed; the album scored a 66/100 on Metacritic, given the green tag to signify 'Generally Positive Reviews.'[6] Giving the album three out of five stars, Rolling Stone magazine found the album's prevailing mood "reflectively soulful and the prevailing tempo mid."[7] The New York Times said that "As I Am radiates not just confidence but also experience," and added, "On the whole it's her strongest effort yet."[8] People magazine said that while not "veering too much from the Keys playbook," Keys "continues to scale artistic heights on As I Am" and gave the album three and a half stars.[9] The album was number thirty-six on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[10] Fox News' unrated review declared that "Keys still hasn't produced a classic -but, oh, she's so tantalizingly close. Once again,[Keys] comes up with some brilliant music. But what's more important is that even the songs that fail to live up to that standard are, for the most part, pretty memorable on their own, resulting in a near-great, cohesive record." The song "Teenage Love Affair" was number twenty-three on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[11] In People Magazine's Best (And Worst!) of 2007 issue, they noted the top ten albums of the year, and As I Am was ranked number one. The album though received very poor reviews from The Washington Post, The Guardian, Now, and The Chicago Tribune. It was also ranked the fourth best-selling album of 2007 in the United States with sales of 2,543,000 units.[12] As I Am has been certified triple platinum by the RIAA as of January 3, 2008.[13] As of February 7, 2008, As I Am stayed in the top three of the Billboard 200 for eleven consecutive weeks, and peaked at number one for four non-consecutive weeks. The album received two Grammy Awards for the song "No One" at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

Track listing

  1. "As I Am (Intro)" (Alicia Keys) – 1:52
  2. "Go Ahead" (Keys, Mark Batson, Kerry Brothers, Jr., Marsha Ambrosius) – 4:35
  3. "Superwoman" (Keys, Linda Perry, Steve Mostyn) – 4:34
  4. "No One" (Keys, Brothers, George D. Harry) – 4:13
  5. "Like You'll Never See Me Again" (Keys, Brothers) – 5:15
  6. "Lesson Learned" (featuring John Mayer) (Alicia Keys, John Mayer) – 4:13
  7. "Wreckless Love" (Keys, Jack Splash, Matthew Kahane, Harold Lilly) – 3:52
  8. "The Thing About Love" (Keys, Perry) – 3:49
  9. "Teenage Love Affair" (Keys, Splash, Kahane, Lilly, Josephine Bridges, Carl Hampton, Tom Nixon) – 3:10
    • Contains a portion of The Temprees' "(Girl) I Love You" (Josephine Bridges, Carl Hampton, Tom Nixon).
  10. "I Need You" (Keys, Batson, Lilly, Paul L. Green) – 5:09
  11. "Where Do We Go from Here" (Keys, Brothers, Mary Frierson, Johnnie Frierson) – 4:10
    • Contains a portion of Wendy Rene's "After Laughter (Comes Tears)" (Mary Frierson, Johnnie Frierson).
  12. "Prelude to a Kiss" (Keys) – 2:07
  13. "Tell You Something (Nana's Reprise)" (Keys, Novel Stevenson, Ron Haney, Brothers, Green, Mostyn) – 4:28
  14. "Sure Looks Good to Me" (Keys, Perry) – 4:31

iTunes edition

  2. "Waiting for Your Love" – 3:53
  3. "Hurt So Bad" (pre-order bonus) – 2:56

UK edition

  2. "Waiting for Your Love" – 3:53

Bonus DVD

  1. "Karma" (Live at the Hollywood Bowl)
  2. "Heartburn" (Live at the Hollywood Bowl)
  3. "Wake Up" (Live at the Hollywood Bowl)
  4. Behind-the-Scenes: As I Am Photo Shoot
  5. Behind-the-Scenes: "No One" Video Shoot

Re-release

Sony BMG will release 'As I Am' Super Edition on November 3rd. The double CD box will contain all songs from As I Am album plus three new tracks: [2] [3]

  1. "Another Way to Die"
  2. "Doncha Know (Sky Is Blue)"
  3. "Saviour"

The Second CD will consist of The Coronet Theatre (London) live performances:

  1. "You Don't Know My Name"
  2. "Fallin'"
  3. "Superwoman"
  4. "No One"
  5. "Teenage Love Affair"
  6. "If I Ain't Got You"

Personnel

The following musicians and technicians worked on As I Am:[14]

Musicians

Production

Charts

Certifications

Release history

Region Date Label
Germany November 9, 2007 J
Australia November 10, 2007 J
France November 12, 2007 J
United States November 13, 2007 J
Canada November 13, 2007 Sony BMG
United Kingdom November 19, 2007 RCA
Japan November 21, 2007 BMG

References

  1. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (November 21, 2007). "Keys Storms Chart With Mega-Selling 'As I Am'". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  2. ^ Carroll, Larry (January 2, 2007). "Alicia Keys Kills — Literally — In Film Debut, 'Smokin' Aces'". MTV Movie News. Retrieved 2007-02-01.
  3. ^ "MTV Artist Of The Week: Alicia Keys". MTV Buzzworthy Blog. November 12, 2007. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  4. ^ Silver, Evan (October 10, 2007). "Alicia Keys video shoot in Harlem". Les Notables! director, Evan Silver. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  5. ^ "The Big Reveal". MTV. December 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  6. ^ Alicia Keys: As I Am (2007): Reviews
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (2007-11-15), "As I Am". Rolling Stone. (1039):192. Retrieved November 14, 2007
  8. ^ Chinen, Nate (2007-11-12) "Vintage Sounds, Yet Little Nostalgia". New York Times. 157 (54126):B1-B7
  9. ^ Arnold, Chuck (2007-11-19), "As I Am". People. 68 (21):53
  10. ^ Robert Christgau, David Fricke, Christian Hoard, Rob Sheffield (December 17, 2007). "The Top 50 Albums of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-20
  11. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
  12. ^ Nielsen Soundscan Year In Music 2007
  13. ^ a b "RIAA – Searchable Database". RIAA. January 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
  14. ^ As I Am CDUniverse.com Retrieved 2001-11-15
  15. ^ "Alicia Keys – As I Am – Music Charts". αCharts.us. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
  16. ^ "As I Am > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  17. ^ "Ranking Venta Mayorista de Discos – Semanal". CAPIF (in Spanish). Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  18. ^ "Australian Top 40 Urban Albums Chart". ARIA. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  19. ^ a b c "Alicia Keys – As I Am – swisscharts.com". SwissCharts.com. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  20. ^ "European Top 100 Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  21. ^ "Classifica Artisti". FIMI (in Italian). Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  22. ^ "As I Am on Oricon". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  23. ^ a b "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży". OLIS. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  24. ^ "Billboard Comprehensive Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  25. ^ "Nielsen SoundScan Charts – R&B : Top 50". CANOE. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  26. ^ "CD top100, nädal 4 – 2008". Pedrobeat (in Estonian). Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  27. ^ "Top 50 Ξένων Aλμπουμ". IFPI (in Greek). Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  28. ^ "Hip Hop Album Sales: Week Ending 3/10/08". HipHopDX.com. March 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  29. ^ "CRIA: Gold & Platinum – May 2008". CRIA. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  30. ^ See [1]
  31. ^ "Swiss Certifications – Awards 2007". SwissCharts.com. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  32. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums". ARIA. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
  33. ^ "UK Certified Awards". BPI. March 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
  34. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – Q1 2008". IFPI. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  35. ^ "IRMA – 2007 Certification Awards – Gold". IRMA. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  36. ^ "New Zealand Top 40 Albums (see "Chart #1593 – Monday 3 December 2007")". RIANZ. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  37. ^ "Top 30 Artistas (see "Ano 2008 – Semana 15")". AFP (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  38. ^ "Ultratop 50 Albums – 26/04/2008". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  39. ^ http://www.promusicae.org
  40. ^ "Les certifications Albums – Année 2007 – Or". SNEP (in French). December 20, 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  41. ^ "Gold/Platin-Datenbank". Bundesverband Musikindustrie (in German). Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  42. ^ "Japanese sales". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-03-15.
Preceded by Swiss Albums Chart number-one album
November 25, 2007 – December 12, 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album (first run)
December 1, 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album (second run)
January 26, 2008 – February 2, 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Juno by various artists
 U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album (third run)
February 16, 2008 		Succeeded by
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