Alicia Keys - MTV Unplugged
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alicia KeysArtist: Alicia Keys
Brand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
DVD Release Date: 2005-10-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: J Records
Movie Reviews of Alicia Keys - MTV Unplugged
Movie Review: I Can't Find A Suitable Title
Summary: 5 Stars
To borrow from Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity", I like to think of myself as a professional music appreciator. Now I don't claim to know every last thing about music of all sorts, I am 15, but I have to say that I usually decide I like things that are widely accepted to be good. You know, I like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello (though some don't know who he is and some can't bear with him through his changes), and plenty other people from most genres but rap, and on more than just a greatest-hits-only basis. I can't say as though I see a lot of hope in the present music scene, it being dominated by bands who think they're as good as the best but could only wish they were. Then you've got people who only listen to the mediocre music they make because they don't know there's anything better because they can't look farther back than five years ago. Well, Alicia Keys is someone who can look back.
Now, I haven't seen this DVD, but I've seen the performance on MTV which has about 5 less songs, and I must say that Alicia is excellent on this. I bought both of her albums because I see a strong potential in her, but sometimes her lesser taste shows. Example: I liked the regular version of "If I Ain't Got You" just fine, except for that annoying and unnecessary beat overtop of it. The song even had regular acoustic drums on it, which were perfectly adequate, but for some reason they just had to throw overtop that artificial beat to give it more bass or something, becuase that's what the kids like or whatever. Well, here we have none of that stuff.
Here we get Alicia's music in its purest form. This is the reason we have MTV Unplugged and like shows such as VH1 Storytellers and the Meltdown Festival. Nirvana showed that they were a very musically good band and that there was substance to their work beyond the layers of grungey distortion that is their trademark. Bruce Springsteen recently gave us an acoustic performance on Storytellers that really blew me away and that is another DVD I must get. But here we get a performance that really stands out in my head because she is so young. She's one of this new breed of young people who you don't necessarily see on TV yet who can appreciate older music, learn from it, and channel it, much like Bob Dylan did. Alicia has an amazing talent and songwriting gift, not to mention an excellent voice, and here she shows it.
She treats us to some alternate versions to some songs, some better, some fall a little flat, but are still miles beyond most people's now. I didn't care a lot for this version of "Karma" and I questioned why she did it first, but the switch to "Heartburn" was clever and that version of the song was better. She gives us a stripped down version of "If I Ain't Got You" with only her singing and playing piano, the backing singers adding exquisite parts and a few little cymbal crescendos on the choruses. Her band is excellent and she plays well herself. She has another keyboard player, two drummers, an electric standup bassist, a guitarist, and a small string and horn section, as well as four backing singers (but I think there was one too many of them), adding up to roughly twenty people on stage.
When she brought out onto the stage Adam Levine for The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses", I was surprised, curious, and a little worried. On top of it being a fair enough classic, I had just heard Elvis Costello and The Imposters and Emmylou Harris with Larry Campbell sing it in concert. I was not setting my hopes unrealistically high and expecting Alicia and Adam to play it better here. The problem with the performance was Adam's voice. The two did not blend very well together. They have basically the same tonal range, but his voice is very nasal and they didn't exactly harmonize with each other. You'd think him being a guy would sing a lower part and she would sing on top of him but they both sang basically the same thing and it didn't sound as good as it could have. At least they didn't play that long.
So all in all, her performance was excellent and I am very excited to buy this DVD and once I do I'll update this review to make it more specific and to comment on the DVD extras, but her performance was so good I just felt complelled to write a review now.
Summary of Alicia Keys - MTV Unplugged
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