Album Description: Hailed by Newsweek Magazine as a cross between Billie Holiday and Lauryn Hill, British soul singer Amy Winehouse's U.S. debut, Back To Black hits the US amid a flurry of accolades, radio and TV buzz unprecedented in recent years for a young siren.
Her brassy mix of emotive vocals tinged with 60's girl-group stylings, sly funk, and anguished jazz, sparked the New York Daily News to crown Back To Black a "marvelous debut that would do Etta James proud" while New Yorker Magazine called her "a fierce English performer whose voice combines the smoky depths of a jazz chanteuse with the heated passion of a soul singer," and Spin Magazine affirming "there's never been A British star quite like her."
Back To Black smolders with a bristling fusion of old school doo-wop/soul inflected uprisings, (the charismatic singer/songwriter wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album) brewing instant classics such as the Shirley Ellis influenced "Rehab," the Supremes tinged title song "Back To Black," the aching "Wake Up Alone," and the album's closer, "Addicted."
From Amazon.co.uk: Amy Winehouse's second album, Back to Black, is one of the finest soul albums, British or otherwise, to come out for years. Frank, her first album, was a sparse and stripped-down affair; Back to Black, meanwhile, is neither of these things. This time around, she's taken her inspiration from some of the classic 1960's girl groups like the Supremes and the Shangri-Las, a sound particularly suited to her textured vocal delivery, while adding a contemporary songwriting sensibility. With the help of producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, "Rehab" becomes a gospel-tinged stomp, while the title track (and album highlight) is a heartbreaking musical tribute to Phil Spector, with it's echoey bass drum, rhythmic piano, chimes, saxophone and close harmonies. Best of all, though, is the fact that Back to Black bucks the current trend in R&B by being unabashedly grown-up in both style and content. Winehouse's lyrics deal with relationships from a grown-up perspective, and are honest, direct and, often, complicated: on "You Know I'm No Good", she's unapologetic about her unfaithfulness. But she can also be witty, as on "Me & Mrs Jones" when she berates a boyfriend with "You made me miss the Slick Rick gig". Back to Black is a refreshingly mature soul album, the best of its kind for years. --Ted Kord
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - I love it
I absolutely adore this album. I am not too crazy about Amy Winehouse herself and her real-life rehab experiences but this album is just amazing. All the songs are so heart felt, so real, so full of emotion. I prefer some of the less popular songs to the ones that had huge commercial success.
Rating: - Forget all the dissection...it just sounds so damned good.
I have grown so weary of people dissecting this album for flaws, repetitive beats, retro-ness, and the like. And I am especially sick and tired of people confusing this amazing artist's life with her art. Is Van Gogh's work any less important, or is it in any sense less amazing, because he had such bad emotional problems that he cut off his ear and shot himself in the chest twice--killing himself at 36? NO, NO, NO!
I don't care how the artist, producers, button pushers, chalkboard scrapers, or anyone else involved in the making of the recording achieved the sound when it is this ... Read More
Rating: - What a voice!
This is a great CD. I received it over a year ago and still listen to it. What makes this CD all the more interesting is the troubles that Amy is going through. When I first got the CD as a gift, I didn't know who she was or what she was about. But as soon as I heard the first few notes from her voice...WOW! She is incredible!
Unfortunately, Amy is going through a lot of issues. When a singer goes through what she is, most people want to toss the CD aside and figure, "yeah, I ripped it for my iPod, it'll go to craigslist soon." But with this CD, you want to keep it. You want ... Read More
Rating: - Old school big voice
I have recently discovered Amy. Yes, she's in the tabloids and I've heard of her, but I've recently discovered her MUSIC.
The first thought that I had when I heard the title song, "Back to Black," was, "That sounds like an old Motown song from around 1967!" This whole disc has that old school sound, and to tell you the truth, I was impressed by the rhythm section and how they laid down a stone cold groove. The next thing I noticed was Amy's voice, and how much she sounded like one of the old time singers. You can tell that she's studied and learned to emulate not only the Motown sound but ... Read More
Rating: - LOVE that jazzy voice of Amy Winehouse
What a wonderful CD. I absolutely adore Amy Winehouse's voice. Her songs have so much meaning (although a bit brutal at times...hmmmm like life is I guess). If you love jazz, then you will LOVE this CD. I cannot wait until she writes more songs. All of her songs are so heartfelt...you can almost FEEL the pain and emotion coming from her. You will NOT be sorry when you purchase her songs and her DVD "Live from London".
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