This sucks...

[VanessaPiana]

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.

[clamicas]

^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:

[Manny]

I think Vanessa is the best songwritter ever!    :wink:

[VanessaPiana]

^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.