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Entertainment Weekly

Keys' material is ultimately about the slow reveal, not the instant blitz. If Element asks for patience, it also earns it.

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NOW Magazine

While R&B artists clamour for synth-heavy, layered production by The-Dream, Danja and Jim Jonsin, Keys proves a hit album can still be made using conventional means.

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Billboard.com

Keys delivers a musically understated but richly passionate set of soul paeans to being in love, out of love, lovelorn and pining for her man to return.

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Chicago Tribune

It’s her most consistent album and also her most low-key.

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Los Angeles Times

After the all-too-human ups and downs she's experienced through the rest of the album, ultimately she comes out of it sounding pretty, well, super.

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musicOMH.com

Throughout the album's remaining 13 tracks, the experience is not unlike watching a flower bloom in time-lapse; this one's about Keys stepping away from safety, and the whole thing benefits beautifully from her sense of daring.

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All Music Guide

Keys never gets gritty, she remains reserved, never letting her singing or arrangements obscure the melodies or the classy veneer of the entire proceedings. All this determined detachment keeps The Element of Freedom from packing a primal, passionate punch, but there is charm in Alicia’s enveloping, quiet cool.

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Dot Music

It's surely a compliment to suggest that someone as abundantly gifted as she is can do better than this enjoyable, occasionally brilliant but disappointingly generic record.

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Rolling Stone

On The Element of Freedom, the production compresses her voice, making it sound a lot less like her, especially on the ballads.

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The New York Times

But all that queenliness, and the sameness of the tempo, start to wear you down. It’s not until the 10th track, “Put It in a Love Song,” that the record starts to bristle with a less regal impulse: flirting.

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Vibe

Her fourth, The Element of Freedom, is full of straightforward pleas for affection that are neither outstanding nor run-of-the-mill.

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Boston Globe

After so many highlights, the duds feel inconsequential, easily bypassed. Only when Keys panders to Top 40 radio does the album truly stumble, sounding like a hodgepodge of transparent ideas.

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Slant Magazine

With so few highlights, an unwieldy 52-minute runtime, and a second half nearly devoid of strong material, Freedom doesn't begin to contend with that release--or indeed, even many of those by Keys's objectively less talented contemporaries.

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PopMatters

The Element of Freedom is just really well-made elevator music. It’s boring, soulless, and pretentious.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 34 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Vanessa gave it a5:
As I Am was GREAT, even The Diary of Alicia Keys. The Element of Freedom...not so much. I only like two songs on this album. I'm kind of disappointed.

Ulla gave it a0:
I really don't like this cd, the tempo is good, but almost all songs sound the same as her previous, that's not very creative i think. If you want a cd that thinks outside the box, and a cd from a woman around the same age as miss Keys, you should pic up Shakira's She Wolf, that's innovative!

Nicky gave it a1:
This is by far Keys' worst album, it's not very coherent, and the line-up is totally ruined by one song - Put It In A Love Song, an up-tempo Beyonce-ish song, featuring, no joke, Beyonce. Alicia shouldn't have collaborated with Beyonce, not that she isn't good, but they are so different musically and artistically, that you know, for sure, they just did it for publicity. Miss Keys' is not a publicity woman, she is far more, so shame Alicia, shame!

Smitty C gave it a5:
Her debut album on non-evolving sentiments of love. Every idea has indeed been sung before, and every song keeps you waiting for a heavy dose of her beautiful talent; but fails. A good listen for the high-school teen who "thinks" he or she knows love.

Chris L. gave it a10:
An excellent offering from Ms Keys. She never fails to impress. Adore every song with exception of "Put It In A Love Song".

Love gave it a6:
It's not bad, but it's not good either. Mediocre at best. Alicia did some good things in the past, but The Element Of Freedom gets boring after listening to it twice. Love Is Blind, Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart and Unthinkable are the best tracks. ¿The worst one? Put It In A Love Song (feat Beyonce).

Jerrod L. gave it an8:
So happy Alicia's introduced more pop elements into her music! The Element of Freedom is her first album I've enjoyed in its entirety. Yes, she may stay in a similar mood for the entire album, but it doesn't reach high highs and low lows like her earlier albums. I was never bored on this album--something I don't think could be said about her other works. Definitely worth a listen, especially for fans of mainstream R&B and pop.

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