Alicia Keys - VH1 Storytellers (2013) [Full Blu-Ray]

First aired ten days prior to the release of Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys' VH1 Storytellers program featured six songs. While this set expands the set to 11 songs, it does not present the full performance. Heavy editing was involved; certain portions of Keys' dialogue re hacked up, crowd noise is unnaturally lowered and raised in volume, and there is little evident effort to make the songs flow. Keys' first words here, the lead-in to "No One," are "We were at the end of the album, and it was finished, and…" – so it provokes the feeling of walking into the venue as the gig is in progress. Furthermore, much of her intro to the following "Brand New Me" was cut. For all its choppiness, VH1 Storytellers is enjoyably off-the-cuff, with Keys' anecdotes (including an extended tale about the making of "You Don't Know My Name") and remarks ("I love an acoustic guitar!") often delivered as she and her band are playing. The five songs that didn't air are relevant, including a hot "Fallin'" that could have easily been overcooked, and an "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)" that packs a heavier rhythmic punch than the studio version. Ironically, this is less showy than 2005's Unplugged, and it's better for it.

Tracklist:
1 No One
2 Brand New Me
3 You Don’t Know My Name
4 Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down
5 Not Even The King
6 Fallin’
7 If I Ain’t Got You
8 Girl On Fire
• Bonus performances:
9 New Day
10 Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart
11 Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)

Production: RCA | Sony Music
Runtime: 0:53:49
Quality: Blu-ray
Container: BDMV
Video codec: AVC
Audio codec: AC-3, PCM
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 27997 kbps 1920*1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: English LPCM 5.1 / 48 kHz / 6912 kbps / 24-bit
Audio#2: English Dolby Digital 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Audio#3: English LPCM 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit