As is not without faults

No longer anyone's prodigy, Alicia Keys has solidified into a confident musician in every respect: writing without regret and singing without apology. Even her production has eased into a groove of older R&B and soul classics, steering away from the hip-hop overtones of her last album. Yet all this confidence makes me wonder whether a little more vulnerability could do her some good, especially since Keys' poise seems misplaced at times behind clunky lyrics and mid-tempo snoozers.\nYou can see some of these highs and lows on Keys' first single "No One," which rings like a true pop single should, with a straight, uncomplicated beat and simple pop lyrics ("I don't worry 'cause everything's gonna be all right"). But beneath the technical perfection of each hyper-enunciated word, I wonder whether the song could have been something more. For a songwriter who has tacked her autobiography so close to her work, such a song feels less like a creative work and more like a meticulous copy of a 1970s Stax single. \nI don't mean to put down the album too heavily. There are plenty of highs, like the smoky funk throwback "Where Do We Go From Here?" and the anthemic belting of "Go Ahead," the album's raucous opener. I just wonder whether all that talent and praise (along with those shout-outs in Bob Dylan songs) have hampered Keys' development. Gone are the humor of Diary of Alicia Keys and the white-hot passion of Songs in A Minor, replaced by a hyper-produced smooth automaton declaring, with no irony, "I'm a Superwoman!" It's not a raw feminist ballad; it's star-glorifying schlock, and Keys can do better.\nPerhaps most telling of the over-polished Keys is "Lesson Learned," her collaboration with Tiger Beat guitar idol John Mayer, whose talent (and ego) seems comparable to hers. Instead of following her proper muse, Keys' voice drowns beneath the lame descending riff, while Mayer adds a frightening double-track of his own bland voice (Multiple John Mayers? Shudder). At this point, both artists are so sure of themselves that it's hard to find humanity in their colorless tune.\nNext time, Alicia should stop trying to be Aretha or Janis and just be herself, as she is.