Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor

She may be beautiful, but Alicia Keys is a musician first and foremost. She plants herself firmly behind the piano keys on her debut, unlike many of the booty-waggin' junior divas crowding the R&B videoscape. Though many of the tracks on Songs in A Minor are embellished with adolescent angst, the then-20-year-old's substantial, gorgeously soul-drenched alto putties the cracks between notes with astonishing ease. "Fallin'," the album's first single, showcases Keys at her best. She wails plaintively and passionately over rolling blues chords, in the tradition of the greats that she clearly wants to align herself with - Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and Aretha Franklin. She swoops and soars over the spicy, flamenco-fueled melody that opens "Mr. Mann," one of the many winning tracks gathered here. And she digs deep into a remake of the beloved Prince B-side, "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" packing more heat into her melismatic wails than most singers twice her age.

1. Piano & I

2. Girlfriend

3. How Come You Don't Call Me

4. Fallin'

5. Troubles

6. Rock Wit You

7. A Woman's Worth

8. Jane Doe

9. Goodbye

10. The Life

11. Mr. Man

12. Never Felt this Way (Interlude)

13. Butterflyz

14. Why Do I Feel So Sad

15. Caged Bird

16. Lovin U

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