The Rundown: Alicia Keys, Girl on Fire

A track-by-track look at the introspective new LP.

The Rundown: Alicia Keys, Girl on Fire - Today, Nov. 27, Alicia Keys dropped her fifth studio album, Girl on Fire. It's her first album in three years, and a whole lot has happened in the interim: She married Kaseem Dean, aka Swizz Beatz, and gave birth to a son, Egypt, now two years old. But did Alicia's music evolve as well? And after an uncharacteristically long hiatus from music, did she lose a step? Read on to find out with this track-by-track review of Alicia Key's Girl on Fire. (Photo: Courtesy RCA Records)

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The Rundown: Alicia Keys, Girl on Fire - Today, Nov. 27, Alicia Keys dropped her fifth studio album, Girl on Fire. It's her first album in three years, and a whole lot has happened in the interim: She married Kaseem Dean, aka Swizz Beatz, and gave birth to a son, Egypt, now two years old. But did Alicia's music evolve as well? And after an uncharacteristically long hiatus from music, did she lose a step? Read on to find out with this track-by-track review of Alicia Key's Girl on Fire. (Photo: Courtesy RCA Records)

"De Novo Adagio" (Intro) - As usual, Alicia Keys begins the album with an unadorned piano étude, inspired by classical music. This one is dramatic and moody, a fitting opener for such an introspective, personal album. (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Bento Box Interactive)

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"De Novo Adagio" (Intro) - As usual, Alicia Keys begins the album with an unadorned piano étude, inspired by classical music. This one is dramatic and moody, a fitting opener for such an introspective, personal album. (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Bento Box Interactive)

Alicia Keys @aliciakeys - Tweet: "I cherish the day he was born!!! Today and everyday!!! Happy birthday to my love @THEREALSWIZZZ !!!!!!!"Alicia Keys shares her love for her husband, Swizz Beatz, on his special day.(Photo: Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images)

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"Brand New Me" - "It’s been a while, I’m not who I was before," Alicia Keys sings on the gorgeous first song on the album, co-written by Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé. It's the first sign of the changes Alicia's been through since her last album —  marriage, motherhood, maturity — and that she plans on addressing them head-on with Girl on Fire.(Photo: Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images)

New Woman - Alicia Keys flaunts her new swag with her svelte physique and sleek new 'do during a performance for MTV Crashes at Manchester Cathedral in Manchester, England. (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/Redferns via Getty Images)

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"When It's All Over" - Produced by London beat wunderkind Jamie XX — a welcome, unexpected collaborator — "When It's All Over" is one of the most interesting sonic backdrops Alicia Keys has ever graced, building from kinetic, Roy Ayers-inspired jazz fusion to a warm Brit soul dance vibe. John Legend co-wrote the song, another great example of Alicia skillfully mixing and matching big-name talents on the album. Alicia's son, Egypt, makes an undeniably adorable cameo at the end.  (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/Redferns via Getty Images)

Swizz Beatz - Swizz Beatz is the perfect husband...as long as you don't ask his ex wife. Marriage may not have worked for him the first time around, but Alicia Keys certainly got the best of Swizz: devoted husband, doting father and plenty of romantic, gushy PDA. Beatz and Keys have been married two years, but we're betting on these two for the long haul.  (Photo: Fernando Leon/Getty Images for Haute Living)

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"Listen to Your Heart" - Alicia Keys brings co-writing from John Legend and co-production from R&B legend Rodney Jerkins together here, and the results live up to the credits. Alicia updates her classic '70s soul signature with ethereal production that recalls Drake and Noah "40" Shebib's  ambient, barely-there beats. Perhaps Alicia's collaborations with the pair — Drake's "Fireworks," her own "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" — rubbed off.  (Photo: Fernando Leon/Getty Images for Haute Living)

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"New Day" - Alicia Keys again touches on the theme of change with this superstar collaboration between Dr. Dre and her husband Swizz Beatz. The inspirational lyrics can get trite at times, falling back on some earlier Alicia clichés. But the epic, military beat is probably the hardest-hitting she's ever sung over and is another example of the album's overall excellent drum programming. No word on what this song's release means for the alternate (and better) version featuring rhymes from Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, reported to be part of Fif's new album, Street King Immortal.  (Photo: FayesVision/WENN.com)

"Girl on Fire," feat. Nicki Minaj - Sparse piano chords and thunderous, "Big Beat"-sampled drums — a sonic theme on the album, if there is one — anchor this hit single, courtesy of hitmakers Jeff Bhasker and Salaam Remi. It's one of Alicia's most powerful vocal performances, even if Nicki Minaj's gimmicky guest verses distract from her soaring singing. (Photos From Left to Right: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images,Francois Durand/Getty Images)

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"Girl on Fire," feat. Nicki Minaj - Sparse piano chords and thunderous, "Big Beat"-sampled drums — a sonic theme on the album, if there is one — anchor this hit single, courtesy of hitmakers Jeff Bhasker and Salaam Remi. It's one of Alicia's most powerful vocal performances, even if Nicki Minaj's gimmicky guest verses distract from her soaring singing. (Photos From Left to Right: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images,Francois Durand/Getty Images)

"Fire We Make," feat. Maxwell - More fire-starting, but here the titular girl catches a spark from her collaborator, R&B recluse Maxwell, whose stratospheric falsetto hasn't aged a day. Lifted by his incredible performance, an unexpected horn section and searing guitar work from blues prodigy Gary Clark Jr., the song is smoky and sexy, rather than just another quiet-storm snoozer, which all too often have dragged down Alicia's albums. (Photos From Left to Right: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for ABC, Brad Barket/PictureGroup)

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"Fire We Make," feat. Maxwell - More fire-starting, but here the titular girl catches a spark from her collaborator, R&B recluse Maxwell, whose stratospheric falsetto hasn't aged a day. Lifted by his incredible performance, an unexpected horn section and searing guitar work from blues prodigy Gary Clark Jr., the song is smoky and sexy, rather than just another quiet-storm snoozer, which all too often have dragged down Alicia's albums. (Photos From Left to Right: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for ABC, Brad Barket/PictureGroup)

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"Tears Always Win" - With Bruno Mars and his Smeezingtons crew co-writing and co-producing, this song has a nice doo-wop touch, a welcome turn with the album sometimes threatening to veer towards Alicia's middle-of-the-road R&B comfort zone. (Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for City of Hope)

"Not Even the King" - Alicia Keys recruits Emeli Sandé to co-write once again, and the resulting tribute to Swizz Beats wavers between poignant romantic truisms and cloying platitudes. Still, the minimalist touch — just Alicia and a piano — shows off one of the album's biggest surprises: Alicia's singing, which previously sometimes occasionally fell victim to strained pitchiness, has improved noticeably. Her vocal chords are wearing motherhood well. (Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

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"Not Even the King" - Alicia Keys recruits Emeli Sandé to co-write once again, and the resulting tribute to Swizz Beats wavers between poignant romantic truisms and cloying platitudes. Still, the minimalist touch — just Alicia and a piano — shows off one of the album's biggest surprises: Alicia's singing, which previously sometimes occasionally fell victim to strained pitchiness, has improved noticeably. Her vocal chords are wearing motherhood well. (Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

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"That's When I Knew" - Babyface is the king of urban adult contemporary, but even his legendary writing skills don't save this song from the boring quiet storm-isms that often plague the genre. Regardless, Alicia's singing over the pensive guitar backing is once again confident, certain and technically impressive. (Photo: Christopher Polk/Billboards2012/Getty Images for ABC)

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"That's When I Knew" - Babyface is the king of urban adult contemporary, but even his legendary writing skills don't save this song from the boring quiet storm-isms that often plague the genre. Regardless, Alicia's singing over the pensive guitar backing is once again confident, certain and technically impressive. (Photo: Christopher Polk/Billboards2012/Getty Images for ABC)

"Limitedless" - If the title's made-up word didn't turn you off, the lukewarm reggae and dancehall clichés ("mercy, mercy, mercy") will most likely do the trick. It's the album's only real fast-forward fodder.  (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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"Limitedless" - If the title's made-up word didn't turn you off, the lukewarm reggae and dancehall clichés ("mercy, mercy, mercy") will most likely do the trick. It's the album's only real fast-forward fodder.  (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

"One Thing"  - "One Thing" has a beautiful intimacy and the album's most interesting lyrics — no surprise, considering Alicia Keys worked with Frank Ocean and his go-to producer Malay on this track. The album's overall great instrumentation really shines here, evoking Andre 3000's unforgettable funk ballad, "Prototype." (Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for MTV)

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"One Thing"  - "One Thing" has a beautiful intimacy and the album's most interesting lyrics — no surprise, considering Alicia Keys worked with Frank Ocean and his go-to producer Malay on this track. The album's overall great instrumentation really shines here, evoking Andre 3000's unforgettable funk ballad, "Prototype." (Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for MTV)

"101" - The two-part "101" starts as a melancholy piano-and-vocals ballad, but thankfully closes on an inspirational note, with massive drums, strings and Alicia Keys wailing "Halleulah, kick in the door, we gonna make it" somewhat randomly. But the Jeff Bhasker production ends the album with the epic, explosive tone you'd expect from an album with this name — much of the record feels intimate and small instead. Alicia doesn't quite live up to the title's promise, but she's refreshed her sound by incorporating a wide range of outside producers and songwriters for the first time (her long-time collaborator Kerry "Krucial" Brothers" is nowhere to be found). Meanwhile, 10 years after her debut, she's somehow managed to improve her singing. Though she doesn't always break new ground here, and there are a few songs that snooze rather than sp...

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"101" - The two-part "101" starts as a melancholy piano-and-vocals ballad, but thankfully closes on an inspirational note, with massive drums, strings and Alicia Keys wailing "Halleulah, kick in the door, we gonna make it" somewhat randomly. But the Jeff Bhasker production ends the album with the epic, explosive tone you'd expect from an album with this name — much of the record feels intimate and small instead. Alicia doesn't quite live up to the title's promise, but she's refreshed her sound by incorporating a wide range of outside producers and songwriters for the first time (her long-time collaborator Kerry "Krucial" Brothers" is nowhere to be found). Meanwhile, 10 years after her debut, she's somehow managed to improve her singing. Though she doesn't always break new ground here, and there are a few songs that snooze rather than sp...