Posted January 25, 201411 yr So a couple of months ago I finished collecting the rates for Alicia Keys' singles. We now have a winner and I hope you're all here to see it unravel! Some shocks? Maybe. Come and comment on the results and whether or not you agree with them! :D 01. 'Fallin'' 02. 'A Woman's Worth' 03. 'How Come You Don't Call Me?' 04. 'Gangsta Lovin'' (w/ Eve) 05. 'Girlfriend' 06. 'You Don't Know My Name' 07. 'If I Ain't Got You' 08. 'Diary' 09. 'My Boo' (w/ Usher) 10. 'Karma' 11. 'Unbreakable' 12. 'No One' 13. 'Like You'll Never See Me Again' 14. 'Teenage Love Affair' 15. 'Superwoman' 16. 'Another Way to Die' (w/ Jack White) 17. 'Empire State Of Mind' (w/ Jay-Z) 18. 'Doesn't Mean Anything' 19. 'Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart' 20. 'Empire State Of Mind (Part 2 - Broken Down)' 21. 'Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)' 22. 'Girl On Fire' 23. 'Brand New Me' What will win? What will lose?
February 5, 201411 yr Author 23. 'Another Way To Die' (w/ Jack White) | Avg. 6.19 icrNkmf9uyQ >> There has to be a loser right? But unfortunately, it's a pretty underrated track that manages last place. 'Another Way To Die' served as the official James Bond Theme song for Daniel Craig's second outing as Bond, in 'Quantum of Solace'. I kind of see why it's not liked too much, but as I said I do feel it's underrated! In the same way that I feel Madonna's 'Die Another Day' is so under appreciated! << --- 22. 'Girlfriend' | Avg. 6.57 TXxr954y4l0 >> Up next is the final single to be taken from her ridiculously successful debut album, 'Songs In A Minor'. Not surprised to see it this low as it really is a bit bland. Nothing of much to say about this track in all honesty. << --- 21. 'My Boo' (w/ Usher) | Avg. 6.61 fPgf2meEX1w >> Here we have Usher's single 'My Boo', which of course features the wonderful Ms. Keys <3 I remember when this was released 10 years ago this year (!) and being completely obsessed with this song! It got missed off the original 'Confessions' album, but then served as a single to launch the re-release of that album for Usher. Such a good song and one that takes be back to the days of school! This deserved a top 10 finish :( <<
February 10, 201411 yr Author 20. 'Unbreakable' | Avg. 6.71 2kbW3RvVJIA >> 'Unbreakable' is taken from he live 'Unplugged' album and became the first Alicia Keys song to miss the US top 20, since 'How Come You Don't Call Me', back in 2002. It's alright, but a bit forgettable, imo. << --- 19. 'Gangsta Lovin'' (w/ Eve) | Avg. 6.88 aNI8XFEAyI0 >> At number 19 is the Eve collaboration (which originally got accidentally forgotten about in the rate, oops), 'Gangsta Lovin''. It's a good song, I just think it's aged poorly, imo. Both artists have better and I'm not gonna argue with this position for it tbh. << --- 18. 'Diary' | Avg. 7.00 PIksbyVq5jA >> This song followed the monster smash 'If I Ain't Got You' and served as the third single from Keys' second album 'The Diary of Alicia Keys'. Bit of a poor choice, imo. It managed to reach number 8 (!) on the BBH100 and truly showed the power and force that she once was in the US Charts! << --- 17. 'How Come You Don't Call Me?' | Avg. 7.19 L-Jt1jSimjs >> Here we have the third single to be taken from her debut album, 'Songs In A Minor', and it's the ultra smooth and wonderful 'How Come You Don't Call Me'. I think this is quite possibly amongst her best vocal performances. SO MUCH SOUL and just loveliness <3 << --- 16. 'Karma' | Avg. 7.20 EUMC_raxpSc >> At number 16 we move on from one of her better vocal performances, to probably one of my least favourites from her. I find her pretty whiny on this and I've never really "got" it. It's a really dramatic song that doesn't quite get up there I think. The violin screeching is horrible too. But that's just me. <<
February 11, 201411 yr WHUT. Gangsta Lovin, Girlfriend, My Boo and Karma are all among her best :(. UNTHINKABLE TO WIN.
February 13, 201411 yr Author 15. 'Superwoman' | Avg. 7.45 -AphKUK8twg >> Up next is the fourth single from Keys' third studio album, 'As I Am'. 'Superwoman' is one of those "be proud of who you are" sort of anthems. "see when I'm a mess, still put on my vest, with an S on my chest, I'm Superwoman!" the line that's delivered so powerfully. Very nice song.<< --- 14. 'Teenage Love Affair' | Avg. 7.63 UJs6WClFqJU >> At #14 is the super cute, and super underrated gem 'Teenage Love Affair'. Was an instant hit for me, personally and I don't think she's ever looked so good in a video. Feel good, uplifting, joyful and soulful. Everything you could possibly want in an R&B jam! It peaked at a rather disappointing #199 in the UK charts! IDEKWTS! << --- 13. 'Girl On Fire' | Avg. 7.65 bCfSRJENSnc >> At the unlucky number 13, is her last charting UK single, 'Girl On Fire'. I forgot to include the "Inferno Version" as a separate entry, I find it so much better and gives the track that little extra oompf. It was a big hit practically everywhere I think. It's a good song, she's just got better. << --- 12. 'A Woman's Worth' | Avg. 7.73 JtMUIwOE2ss >> Now we have the 2nd single from Keys' career. 'A Woman's Worth' is the ultra smooth and soulful follow up to the monster HIT, 'Fallin'' and although not AS successful, it helped keep the album ('Songs In A Minor') afloat in the charts globally (which eventually went on to sell like 16 million copies!) and managed to become a hit in the US and a minor hit in the Uk. << --- 11. 'Empire State of Mind' (w/ Jay-Z) | Avg. 7.75 8rnr2wuAhYc >> Just missing out on the top 10 is the anthemic, global monster smash hit, 'Empire State of Mind'. It peaked top 10 in just about every country and despite peaking at number 2 (Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart prevented it!) in the UK, it managed to sell close to (or over) 700k! Such a shame it missed the top 10 here. It's SO GOOD. <<
February 13, 201411 yr Author So the top 10 consists of: 'Brand New Me' 'Doesn't Mean Anything' 'Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down' 'Fallin'' 'If I Ain't Got You' 'Like You'll Never See Me Again' 'No One' 'Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart' 'Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)' 'You Don't Know My Name' Any predictionsssssss
February 13, 201411 yr Brand New Me top 10 :o Would never have expected that, such a gorgeous song though. Would like that, Empire State of Mind or Try Sleeping... to win. Girl On Fiyah should be top 10 :cry: Easily my favourite by her. Not that I'm familiar with a lot of her songs. (oops I never voted in this)
February 15, 201411 yr Glad 'Girl On Fire' missed the top 10. So overrated. And her version of 'Empire' beating Jay Z's <_< 'Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart' HAS to win :wub:
February 15, 201411 yr Author 10. 'Like You'll Never See Me Again' | AVG. 7.90 xPvwDcrT6rU Highest Scores: 11 NONE 10 NickF1; Thriller101 09 Jack; R.o.b.; Jonjo; Regina; GRIFF; AaronTM; RiseR --- Lowest Scores: 06 vibe; Theo.; Parallel Reality; Atonement 00 NONE -01 NONE --- Into the top 10 and kicking us off is the second single from her third album 'As I Am', 'Like You'll Never See Me Again'. A beautiful song both lyrically and musically. It went on to be a big R&B hit in the US (surprise, surprise). It knocked the lead single from that era ('No One') off the R&B/Hip-Hop Charts #1 position and remained there for 7 weeks and peaked at number 12 on the Hot 100! As expected, it did absolutely nothing over here in the UK, reaching the dizzy heights of #53. --- 09. 'Brand New Me' | AVG. 7.95 wOSv1TIa58M Highest Scores: 11 NickF1 10 Alex!; Insomnio; Parallel Reality 09 Jack; Envoirment; Jonjo; GRIFF; --- Lowest Scores: 06 vibe; Regina; Mariah Scary; Thriller101 05 Theo. 00 NONE -01 NONE --- At number 9 we have the beautiful, 'Brand New Me' which manages to finish higher than the lead single and far bigger hit 'Girl On Fire', surprisingly! A gorgeous song, which really should have been so much bigger, but man of the moment Bruno Mars released the very similar 'When I Was Your Man' at the same time, which stole this songs thunder, imo and relegated it to "US urban adult contemporary" only status and therefor not following through with a proper UK release. CALUM SANDE AGOG that this didn't get higher.
February 15, 201411 yr Wonderful to see LYNSMA top 10 :o Deserved far better than that atrocious 53 peak :(
February 17, 201411 yr Author 08. 'Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down' | AVG. 8.00 ptK8ir66IjA Highest Scores: 11 NONE 10 J°hnkm; Envoirment; vibe; Alex! 09 Liam (9.5); R.o.b.; Jonjo; Insomnio; RiseR --- Lowest Scores: 05 Atonement 04 Silver Rocket -01 NONE --- At number 8 is the stunning sequel to Jay-Z & Alicia's smash hit, 'Empire State of Mind'. This "Broken Down" version was extremely successful, especially in the UK, where it went to become a long running top 5 hit and seemed to spend an eternity inside the UK top 40! It also seemed to kick start a small craze of songs having "part 2's" where the featured artist released the song as their own, more often than not in a piano ballad form. This is such a stunning take on the song though, so I'm pleased to see it did well here. --- 07. 'You Don't Know My Name' | AVG. 8.13 _ST6ZRbhGiA Highest Scores: 11 NONE 10 Envoirment; Dandy*; GRIFF; AaronTM 09 Liam (9.5); J°hnkm; Jack; Alex! --- Lowest Scores: 06 Insomnio (6.5); R.o.b.; Theo. 00 NONE -01 NONE --- At number 7 we have the lead single from Keys' huge 2nd album, 'The Diary of Alicia Keys'. 'You Don't Know My Name' is a downtempo, love song and again, is another song that just oozes smoothness and soul due to her vocals. A bit of an odd choice to lead the album with, but it worked for her as the album went on to be MASSIVE. It's an ok song, but she definitely has better for me.
February 17, 201411 yr Author 06. 'Doesn't Mean Anything' | AVG. 8.59 (LESS 11's) oLclkP9x_68 Highest Scores: 11 Liam 10 J°hnkm; Jonjo; Dandy*; Mariah Scary; Insomnio; Parallel Reality 09 Jack; R.o.b.; Davidson; Regina; Alex!; GRIFF; Theo. --- Lowest Scores: 06 NickF1 (6.5) 04 Silver Rocket -01 NONE --- Losing out on a top 5 position to a TIE, is the lead single 'Doesn't Mean Anything'. It went on to be her biggest hit in the UK since 2007's 'No One'! It served as the lead single to her 4th Studio album 'The Element Of Freedom' and the song looked set to be her first top 3 hit since her debut, 'Fallin''! But due to iTunes not adding the song until the TUESDAY after her performance on X Factor, it didn't manage to peak any higher than number 8. Still a success, but it annoys me that it could (and likely would) have been a better peak as it still got top 3 on iTunes, even after the hype of the performance was dying. --- 05. 'Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)' | AVG. 8.59 (MORE 11's) HhuGQUZJot8 Highest Scores: 11 Jack; Mariah Scary; Thriller101 10 Envoirment; vibe; Liam; Silver Rocket; Parallel Reality 09 Davidson; Jonjo; AaronTM --- Lowest Scores: 06 J°hnkm 04 R.o.b. -01 NONE --- Into the top 5 and beating out the lead single from the same album, we have the HUGE Urban smash hit and the 4th/5th/6th/3rd/2nd/whatever it was single, 'Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)'. It predictably did naff all over here in the UK (but I think the album steadied out and got closer to the million mark!), but in the US it was a MONSTER radio hit. It was a long running top 30 (?) hit over there. It's so stunning and beautifully haunting. The video is gorgeous too!
February 17, 201411 yr Author SO DOWN TO THE LAST FOUR. I'm definitely not shocked at all at what's left. 'Fallin'' 'If I Ain't Got You' 'No One' 'Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart' One song from her first four eras left! WHICH SONG HAS WON!?
February 17, 201411 yr Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart ftw please. God what an absolute beauty of a song :wub: Edited February 17, 201411 yr by Rob S-K
February 17, 201411 yr Shame I forgot to vote in this but it looks like the results are inaccordance to what I favour anyway, perfect top 4. I too would prefer a TSWABH win, that or maybe IIAGY.
February 18, 201411 yr Author 04. 'Fallin'' | AVG. 8.95 Urdlvw0SSEc Highest Scores: 11 Davidson; Theo. 10 Jack; R.o.b.; Envoirment; Liam; Alex!; Mariah Scary; AaronTM; RiseR 09 J°hnkm; NickF1; vibe; Parallel Reality --- Lowest Scores: 06 Thriller101; Atonement 00 NONE -01 NONE --- At number 4 is the song that started it all for Alicia. 'Fallin'' has gone on to be one of the defining hits of Keys' career, but one of the defining R&B/Soul songs of the 21st Century, yes it's THAT BIG. It was named Billboard's Hot 100's 29th most successful song of the decade back in 2009 and it went on to win 3 Grammy's for her. Not only that but it had huge crossover appeal and managed to break the top 5 in numerous other countries. --- 03. 'If I Ain't Got You' | AVG. 9.02 Ju8Hr50Ckwk Highest Scores: 11 Griff; RiseR 10 Jack; R.o.b.; Envoirment; NickF1; Jonjo; vibe; Alex!; AaronTM; Parallel Reality 09 Davidson; Regina; Liam; Dandy*; Mariah Scary --- Lowest Scores: 06 Insomnio (6.5) 05 Atonement -01 NONE --- Inside the top 3 now and kicking things off for us is the stunning 'If I Ain't Got You'. It takes me back to my school days and all I ever remember is that this song was the song that got me to take notice of Alicia. I'd heard her other songs, but this is the one where I knew I could be on board with her. It's just such a stunning, soulful, emotional, lovely ballad. The song was yet another monster hit for Alicia in the US, where it spent 40 weeks on the Hot 100 chart. I believe that's her longest running hit, so far! I think this song just needs a big, GOOD high profile performance on a reality show, and it'll have a resurgance in the UK.
Create an account or sign in to comment