NESSAholics.com
Vanessa Carlton => General Vanessa Carlton Discussion => Topic started by: Ivy Lynne on October 18, 2005, 09:28:57 am
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look at this...
http://www.tuftsdaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/18/43546b6682b9b
Published October 18, 2005
'Unplugged' will have you fallin' for Keys again
by John Reed
Contributing Writer
The accolades for Alicia Keys have been pouring in since "Fallin'" became a smash in 2001 and helped make her debut, "Songs in A Minor," a major smash - not to mention darling of the 2002 Grammys. Her follow-up, 2003's "Diary of Alicia Keys," was a big seller, but didn't garner the glory of her debut.
Luckily for her, she's still hot enough to be chosen as the first artist to lead off the resurrection of MTV's "Unplugged" series, last seen in the heady days of 2002. Going unplugged as a keyboardist is not too much of a stretch (at least not the way it was for LL Cool J and Aerosmith), but on her new unplugged album, Keys shows that she's as competent live as she is in the studio.
Her vocal delivery, with its wide emotional range, is her biggest asset, and she makes the best use of that talent on the lovelorn numbers from the album like "If I Ain't Got You," "You Don't Know My Name," and "Every Little Bit Hurts." She also again tackles Prince's "How Come You Don't Call Me," and, while it's not quite as good as the Purple One's original, Keys does add a certain sincerity and warmth to the song that expands on the desperation of Prince's original vision.
In fact, her only major gaffe on "Unplugged" is the duet with Maroon 5's Adam Levine on "Wild Horses." If you have to cover the Stones, and if you insist on doing it as a duet, then please pick a partner with some soul. Nothing against Levine, but he's no Mick Jagger (hell, he isn't even a Rob Thomas).
Keys's other strength is her proficiency on the keyboard. While one is not usually able to pick out a performer simply by the sound of key strokes in the same way one can identify a certain guitarist by only a few picks or strums of guitar strings (e.g. Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, etc.), Keys has created a rich, soulful, and confident sound - one that Vanessa Carlton would sell her soul for - that you know it is uniquely and unmistakably hers after a just a note or two.
One place where Keys has a bit of a liability is her ego. Yes, a confident performer is extremely appealing, but Keys seems a bit full of herself, giving off the vibe that she feels she is the second coming of Aretha Franklin. Wanting to be the next Aretha is a great aspiration, but after only three releases, it may be a tad premature to be considering herself the subsequent "Queen of Soul." Also, while her material is emotional and expressive, is does tend to fall into ballad mod a bit too often; she surely would not hurt her set by adding more upbeat tracks.
This aside, Keys ends the album on a great note with the "Love It Or Leave It Alone/Welcome To Jamrock" medley, for which she is joined by Mos Def, Common and others. The raucous tone of this posse set makes the listener long for similar collaborations. But, to be fair, Keys comes from a jazz, gospel, and soul background, and is more suited for slower jams.
Overall the "Unplugged" experiment was a success for Keys - look for her at the Grammys in February. Apparently the judges at the Grammys have a weakness for this stuff (remember that these are the same people that doomed us to hear Clapton's God-awful "Unplugged" version of "Layla" for all eternity).
The only thing that would have made Keys's CD complete would have been a duet with Usher. A version of "My Boo," sans all the studio tricks, would have been a great treat. But hey, Adam Levine is just as good as Usher...isn't he?
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wut assholes...i wish vanessa would get the attention / recognition she deserves...:(
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I honestly don't like Alicia much.
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Everyone's entitled to their own opinion.
It's not our (or Vanessa's) fault that *some* people are complete and utter morons, though.
:)
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Everyone's entitled to their own opinion.
It's not our (or Vanessa's) fault that *some* people are complete and utter morons, though.
:)
Si....you rule! :)
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Thats just wrooooooooong!!! Let kick their @sses!!!!
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Keys's other strength is her proficiency on the keyboard. While one is not usually able to pick out a performer simply by the sound of key strokes in the same way one can identify a certain guitarist by only a few picks or strums of guitar strings (e.g. Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, etc.), Keys has created a rich, soulful, and confident sound - one that Vanessa Carlton would sell her soul for - that you know it is uniquely and unmistakably hers after a just a note or two.
Hmmm, I wouldn't go so far.
Don't get me wrong, Alicia Keys is a very good piano player but I don't think she's as good as Vanessa, in terms of technical level and songwriting. As for "her sound", it's not that unique in my opinion.
I even think that my ex-gf (who's a singer/songwriter/pianist) is better than Alicia Keys. Period.
I still like Alicia's stuff though, it just doesn't sound unique to me.
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He's fault was compare both two... I don't like Alicia because her voice... I don't argue the talent of her, but i prefer too much Vanessa
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Again I will say reviews are pointless and stupid. One moron's opinion. He has no idea what he's talking about. I'd bet my life on the fact that Vanessa's piano playing skills are far better than Alicia's.
Personally I've never been able to get into Alicia Keys...I've liked maybe 2 or 3 of her singles, but not enough to even purchase them on itunes. She's overrated and Vanessa is underrated. But that's just my opinion...should I get paid for it? I WISH!
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all I have to say is "fu3k! I just wonder if there is some way to contact them..
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Just because V's not a sell out and whines into a mircophone an acts like every other drooling idiot for Usher. Doens't mean that she talented. I'm not saying she's not good but realisticlly V would smoke Alicia Keys on the piano, NUFF SAID!!!!
Anyway just thought I would vent my anger too.
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I'd bet my life on the fact that Vanessa's piano playing skills are far better than Alicia's.
Personally I've never been able to get into Alicia Keys...I've liked maybe 2 or 3 of her singles, but not enough to even purchase them on itunes. She's overrated and Vanessa is underrated.
I totally agree. I liked Alicia at the beginning but now she's just overrated.
But you guys gotta remember, MTV is trying to go more R&B/Hip-hop & cut off pop completely at least for now so just remember that when you read stuff like that.
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I'd bet my life on the fact that Vanessa's piano playing skills are far better than Alicia's.
Personally I've never been able to get into Alicia Keys...I've liked maybe 2 or 3 of her singles, but not enough to even purchase them on itunes. She's overrated and Vanessa is underrated.
I totally agree. I liked Alicia at the beginning but now she's just overrated.
But you guys gotta remember, MTV is trying to go more R&B/Hip-hop & cut off pop completely at least for now so just remember that when you read stuff like that.
before i give my opinion, i would just like to say thank you to whoever posted the article about Alicia Keys, b/c i'm a huge fan of her, and have been for more than 3 years, around the same time i became a fan of Vanessa [i became a fan of hers just 2 months earlier] and the piano.
i disagree. i think as far as techincal piano skills are, i don't really know how good Vanessa really is. i like her music a little more than Alicia's but i think that Alicia is the better piano player, b/c she showcases her skills more than Vanessa in terms of chromatic scales, glissandos, arpeggios, etc. she also adds classical pieces to her shows and albums, which is something that Vanessa never does. i guess she doesn't want to show off.
i don't think that Alicia is really overrated, b/c i think that she's getting the amount of credit that she deserves for her craft, b/c she's a true artist. in fact, i think her talents are more versatile than Vanessa's, b/c she channels them in more areas. she even improvises more than Van. why Vanessa get more credit for her artistry, i don't really know. i guess it's b/c her music's too Indie for mainstream attention, no offense. Hanson's a very talented band, too, but also underrated b/c they're an Indie band, and mainstream doesn't really welcome that kind of genre with open arms.
if you don't like Alicia, then that's fine; i can see why. but i like her, also, even though i like Vanessa's music more.
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Okay that really pisses me off!! They shouldn't be comparing the two off them because they both come from too different genres of music, (it's like comparing Jesse McCartney and Marilyn Manson) and they have different styles in the way they play!! God! V is an excellent piano player, and they made her sound like some desperate amateur, first off, I like Alicia Keys, but Alicia Keys don't write all her stuff, in fact Alicia Keys didn't even write her entire album, (Funny because it's called the DIARY of Alicia Keys) she only wrote 4 of the 15 songs on the album, and two of those were and introduction and interlude...the co-wrote the rest of the songs with like five million other people, and one was written by someother people-so tell me who's been more original there? As far as I'm aware-V wrote all the songs on BNN except PIB, and wrote all the songs on Harmonium except, for I think 4 song which she wrote with Stephan...so how can they say that Alicia has more talent than V!!! FU(K THEM!! V is a wonderful musician and they can all kiss my a$$! Oh and Alicia Keys is WAY OVERRATED, she just the flavor of the week (or year) regardless of her talent or not, there are tons of more skilled piano players than V and Alicia Keys and non of us have heard of them-so that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!! :wink:
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They shouldn't be comparing the two off them because they both come from too different genres of music, (it's like comparing Jesse McCartney and Marilyn Manson)
lmao, it's so not like comparing those two. I mean, Jesse is pop & Marilyn Manson is pure rock, they have nothing in common. Vanessa & Alicia do, they are both pop even if Alicia is more on the R&B side.
And sorry to whoever said she likes Alicia, I just think she's overrated cuz Vanessa is just as talented but yet they couldn't even get the title of her song right on TRL (just using that as an example).
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Okay that really pisses me off!! They shouldn't be comparing the two off them because they both come from too different genres of music, (it's like comparing Jesse McCartney and Marilyn Manson) and they have different styles in the way they play!! God! V is an excellent piano player, and they made her sound like some desperate amateur, first off, I like Alicia Keys, but Alicia Keys don't write all her stuff, in fact Alicia Keys didn't even write her entire album, (Funny because it's called the DIARY of Alicia Keys) she only wrote 4 of the 15 songs on the album, and two of those were and introduction and interlude...the co-wrote the rest of the songs with like five million other people, and one was written by someother people-so tell me who's been more original there? As far as I'm aware-V wrote all the songs on BNN except PIB, and wrote all the songs on Harmonium except, for I think 4 song which she wrote with Stephan...so how can they say that Alicia has more talent than V!!! FU(K THEM!! V is a wonderful musician and they can all kiss my a$$! Oh and Alicia Keys is WAY OVERRATED, she just the flavor of the week (or year) regardless of her talent or not, there are tons of more skilled piano players than V and Alicia Keys and non of us have heard of them-so that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!! :wink:
Alicia does write all of her stuff, but with help. [i have both of her songbooks and that didn't occur to me, but i don't have neither of Van's]. on the debut, V was on her own in songwriting, but she had some help on a few songs on the sophmore record. hell, some of the songs from BNN were from her original demo songs.
i honestly can't see Vanessa being a mainstream artist, as much as i would love to. it just wasn't written in the stars for her to be. i don't think that Alicia is the 'flavor of the moment', b/c they've been whoppin' and a-hollerin' about her for more than 4 years. her sophmore was successful, but not as much as her debut. so i think that the reason that Alicia's more popular is b/c her music just happens to be more mainstream, and Vanessa's more Indie, and Indie isn't as embraced and accepted.
i think that the reason it's easy to compare both women to one another is that they both are classically-trained pianists. but they also hail from Hell's Kitchen, NY, [Alicia born there, Van moved there] write, play, and sing their own stuff, and born the same year. [Alicia says she was born in '81, but i know she lies about her age; she was really born in '80]. but i think that the simlarities end there.
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^I agree.
I don't think it's fair for the author to compare both because their styles are soo different.Just because they are women with the same instrument they fall into the same category and get compared. :roll:
But I've played both vc's and ak's songbooks and I think alicia keys's songs are harder to play and her vocals and her range are amazing. So I think she deserves the credit she gets. Vanessa is amazing because she is the way she is, she is that pure music we know without fitting any label. No reason to say Alicia is not good,no reason to say Vanessa is not good, they are both amazing and just because one person made an unfortunate comparision in a review doesn't mean we have to pick sides and bash Alicia.I think there is plenty of space for both styles and musicians and I'm sure that guy has never even picked up vc's album to really listen to her songs.. :roll:
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I think Vanessa is the best songwritter ever! 8) :wink:
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^I agree.
I don't think it's fair for the author to compare both because their styles are soo different.Just because they are women with the same instrument they fall into the same category and get compared. :roll:
But I've played both vc's and ak's songbooks and I think alicia keys's songs are harder to play and her vocals and her range are amazing. So I think she deserves the credit she gets. Vanessa is amazing because she is the way she is, she is that pure music we know without fitting any label. No reason to say Alicia is not good,no reason to say Vanessa is not good, they are both amazing and just because one person made an unfortunate comparision in a review doesn't mean we have to pick sides and bash Alicia.I think there is plenty of space for both styles and musicians and I'm sure that guy has never even picked up vc's album to really listen to her songs.. :roll:
i strongly agree with you on that one. Alicia's songs are more difficult to play. the only song i've learned out of 'The Diary of Alicia Key's is 'If I Ain't Got You, b/c it's the easiest song to play. i even had to improvise and make the song my own, b/c the arrangment sucked, and as usual with a lot of songbooks, the vocal part followed the piano part. as a result, it took me longer to learn the song. but i'm not complaining, b/c that's what an artist does; take the work of another artist and makes it their own.
as for Alicia and Van, i love them both. they got me into the piano to start with. so i feel no hasty competition between them.
Alicia Keys''Butterflyz' is very much like WTSHNN in the sense that even if someone were to transcribe it, you couldn't play it as a solo as good as a song as it is. both the bass and treble melodies are really hard to play simultaneously, b/c there's just too many sixteenth notes in them. if you're curious about the arrangement, then go to http://mrpiano.bestmusicpages.com/popular.html and you'll see what i'm talking about. just check under Alicia's name. they're in alphabetical order.