Album Review: Alicia Keys's Girl on Fire is Pretty Damp

Alicia's new album could use some gasoline

Alicia Keys has a brand new look for her new album Girl on Fire. On the album's cover she looks more like a high-fashion mode, than the superfly songstress from her illustrious debut Songs in A Minor, Both the image and the album's title suggest a new fiery direction from Alicia, whatever that would mean.

And yet, this may be her least interesting album to date.

Despite the title, Girl on Fire lacks the blaze that even her most mellow effort, 2009's The Element of Freedom, possessed. As a collective, it is a perfectly fine album, but nothing really pops as it should. There are some moments, particularly the gorgeous "Not Even The King", when a spark or two bursts through the speakers, but it is unfortunately not enough to ignite the listening experience. A lot of the melodies are either weak or uninspiring, a huge step down from her previous productions.

All of that said, there are some good tracks on the album. "Girl on Fire", a song I didn't care for when it was first released, sounds a lot better within the album's context, as does "New Day". They are the most bombastic tracks after all. The aforementioned "Not Even The King" is an easy addition to the best of her discography. Although the length causes the song to drag a bit, her duet with Maxwell "Fire We Make" is silky smooth quiet storm groove. The rest of the tracks are pretty much interchangeable, but the other standout, for the wrong reasons, is "Limitedless", a faux-Caribbean grind which sounds like a whack version of "Put It In A Love Song".

Alicia Keys really can't put out a bad album, per se; she is too talented for that. But this record is seriously below the standards she has set for herself, and should be ultimately forgotten when the time comes for her career retrospective.