Following the success of her “Diary Tour,” Alicia Keys attempts to capture the sound and feel of the her live show on the Unplugged album , a hodgepodge of singles, album cuts, unreleased tracks, new songs, and covers.

Alicia Keys 101 is presented well here, for the most
part. “Karma” sounds richer with its live horns and
strings accompanying Alicia on vocals and piano. “If I
Ain’t Got You” and “Diary” are arranged almost exactly
as they are on The Diary of Alicia Keys, with the
added flair of the live band and annoying audience
applause. But strangely enough, her biggest singles
suffer from questionable arrangements that bring down
the songs. “A Woman’s Worth” sounds great until the
chorus arrives and is sung purposely out of
tune, just sounding awkward. “You Don’t Know My Name”
lacks the depth it has on the studio version, despite
the Unplugged setup having more than enough performers
to duplicate the beat in a much better fashion. And
strangest of all is “Fallin’”, her biggest hit, which
sounds excellent musically, but finds Alicia curiously
omitting over 50 percent of the verses’ words.

“Unplugged” also proves to be a showcase for new and
unreleased material from Ms. Keys. “Streets of New
York (City Life)”, originally a remake of “NY State of
Mind” featuring Nas and Rakim that didn’t make the cut
for The Diary of Alicia Keys, is finally officially
released in an interesting arrangement featuring
singing and spoken-word vocals, but lacking the rap
guest appearances. “Unbreakable,” the first single
from Unplugged, features Alicia duplicating an
Eddie Kendricks sample on a Rhodes keyboard, but
suffers from noticeably hokey and contrived lyrics.
The most interesting new track is “Love It or Leave It
Alone” which features Common and Mos Def rapping over
a beautiful horn and keys instrumental, yet strangely it
lacks much of Alicia.

Unplugged is an entertaining album to listen to,
but is far from a proper representation of Alicia’s
live shows, or her best work. Although it is not a
must-buy for everyone, it is still worth a listen, if
only for the new tracks and the brilliant cover of
“Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones, featuring Adam Levine of Maroon 5.

&8211; Adrian Ruhi