Back To Black - Amy Winehouse > Reviews > Amy Winehouse, a burnout rebel

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Good music, good voice
Disadvantages:	That's up to you to decide

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

So now Amy Winehouse is the product of the week?? I would say she rather is a product of the music business - squish, wring and spit out with broken bones.
When Rehab came to the radio charts in winter I quite liked the song and checked more about Amy Winehouse, because back then all references were positive and I was on the verge of admiring such a young but mature-souding female singer.
I already don't like the title (Back To Black), the first link it made in my head was to Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics. Black could be referred to as a basic, classic, elegant, blabla, so even if it probably was a paralel process and not any intention, I didn't like the resemblance.

I reckon this review should be about the album, but come on now. Can you review an album without evaluating also the singer/writer? I'm convinced you can't, especially when there clearly is a visible link of the author's experience and life influencing (or let me even say building) the face of the album. So this is not just about Back To Black, it's also about Ms. Winehouse.

In the good old times being an artist meant being on the outskirts of the society, travelling in your battered old trailer around as much world you could, so that you wouldn't come twice to the same place. I guess this was because you always had to trick the locals somehow and if you managed to set off without them realizing, you were glad and you wouldn't step twice into the same river, because that would be a sheer provocation which could cost you dearly. So you were a sort of outcast and even if people craved for what you had to give them, it couldn't be overdone else they'd hate you. This thin the line between admiration and hatred.
Good old times are long gone however and today we have this modern age, where everything is allowed. It's started at the turning point of the 17th century with bohemian writers, people who openly lived in a gutter but they were considered outstanding and valued for their individuality. They were "in" and if you didn't know them it made you an outcast, but they still had to make it to the spotlight.
That's where they are nowadays. Most of them we call celebrities, but they have no manners nor quality to be worth of the name. They are people who haven't done anything special themselves nor for others, they don't have brilliant education, haven't reached anything else but money, usually loads of it. The only thing that made them famous is being rich so that they can spend their lives
1) shopping
2) drinking and clubbing
3) being visible thanks to nr. 1 and 2
That's how much you need to be a celebrity nowadays.

Young Ms. Winehouse, who truly lives up to her surname, is just a little bit more than a certain heiress of uberfamous hotel family. She has talent and great potential, seems like the music biz swallowed her too quickly and she couldn't handle it. She had a rocket start, she gave a major sparkle and has become a star who exploded soon afterwards. We can only wait to see if all that'll be left of her will be a red dwarf or a black hole.

Back To Black is an album telling the whole thing, no fairy-tales for barbie girls, it's plain and rough reflection of one side of the adult world. It's easy to see Amy's rebellion against the idealistics of preceding pop deeds, shallow gulps that mostly go happy-end, but a rebellion itself isn't a thing to praise, especially taking in consideration Amy's way to "be different". One thing is the reality of life and it's a complete other thing how do we deal with this. I don't like Ms. Winehouse's way.

If Amy's good or not, that's not a question. The question stands what we like and dislike to be told, what we can accept and tolerate, where is the limit.
I'll be a little contradiction to myself and will recommend Amy. She's a great performer and if she manages to get out of the sanatorium and grows up, I'll be happy to hear more about her. Quid pro quo, Amy.