Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Alicia Keys: "No One" (Stripped version)

Here's an awesome, stripped version of no One as performed by Alicia Keys.


video uploaded in youtube by user gleicarol

I got a link to this video from one of the forums I visit and I thought it was awesome. I think Alicia's voice, as great as it is, sounds quite strained in the album version of "No One". Her voice in this live performance, however, is clearer and more effortless. Much better than the recording IMHO.

But what makes this number stand out for me are the amazing back-up singers. At 3:23, they do these incredible descending scales that sounds so smooth and flawless that you think it's pretty easy to do. Then I tried singing it myself and I realized it was NOT as straightforward as I initially thought! Those back up singers are truly awesome!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ha! What a coïncidence.This is one of my favourite performances of her too. I agree she sounds more effortless, but it's the whole concept of the Band that gives it a more natural, more organic feel. It's stripped of all the nonsense electronics and all. This is real music. And indeed, the background singers are amazingly good. You can hear especially how good they are in a short version-performance of Empire state of mind LIVE On The View anounced by Woopy Goldberg (Dec. 16 2009). It's on You Tube. The backing vocals remind me of the vocals of the Beatles-Live performance of Hey Jude. You can't get it any better.