In the six years since she made her recording debut, Alicia Keys has sold millions of records, won an armful of Grammys and racked up a gaggle of hits.

Yet for all of her accomplishments, Keys has yet to deliver the one thing that matters most: a truly great album.

True, her debut, 2001's Songs in A Minor, and her sophomore album, 2003's The Diary of Alicia Keys, contained breathtakingly beautiful songs like You Don't Know My Name and Fallin'. They demonstrated why Keys is among the most heralded talents of her generation.

But it always seemed as if she put all of her efforts in those truly amazing songs, and the rest of her music was decidedly average in comparison.

With her third studio album, As I Am, Keys still hasn't produced a classic. But oh, she's so tantalizingly close.

Once again, the singer-songwriter comes up with some brilliant music. But what's more important is that even the songs that fail to live up to that high standard are, for the most part, pretty memorable on their own, resulting in a near-great, cohesive record.

Working once again with partner Kerry Krucial, along with other collaborators such as producer-songwriter Linda Perry and John Mayer, the songs on As I Am hone in on Keys' specialty: magical love ballads and soulful songs that burn slow but retain their fire throughout.

One song that's an example of the latter: the mournful, yet ultimately hopeful Lesson Learned, about picking up the pieces after heartbreak. You can hear the ache in her stirring voice as she sings, "I was burned, but I call it a lesson learned."

On the passionate, sexy Wreckless Love, one of the CD's best tracks, she gives perhaps her best vocal performance, alternating between a sexy near-whisper to full-out tempestuous growl as the horns and drums reach a crescendo in the background.

The song that will leave you spellbound, though, is the exquisite Like You'll Never See Me Again. The dreamy, melodic groove will draw you in, but Keys' sensual voice that leaves you rapt as she begs, "Every time you hold me, hold me like it's the last time, every time you kiss me, kiss me like you'll never see me again." People will be dedicating this one to their significant others for decades to come.

No other track matches that song's power, but there are other gems, including the rollicking hit No One, which recalls a Bob Marley groove, and Tell You Something, a rousing song that has Keys once again singing about seizing the moment to express love.

There are a couple of subpar tracks, like the lyrically trite piano ballad Prelude to a Kiss, but even those won't make you want to push the forward button. Instead, you'll just wait for the next great track, because you know another is coming. And, more important, once the album is over, you'll want to hear it again in its entirety.

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