Back To Black - Amy Winehouse > Reviews > 60s Soul seeks 00s R&B

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Cross - appeal
Disadvantages:	Does she HAVE to profit from my love of music?

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Some albums become classics over time; some albums are classics from word go. Some artists are born to be respected; other artists are undeserving of our respect yet get it anyway. Some divas are immaculate; others are dark and emotional. Amy Winehouse and her "Back to Black" album are the latter of all these choices. The album was and is a classic from the first pressing, Ms Winehouse is undeserving of respect and yet commands it nonetheless and both Ms Winehouse and the album are about as dark and emotional as mainstream music will ever get.

Released in 2006, "Back to Black" is Amy Winehouse's second studio album following on from the lesser known "Frank". Despite it's contemporary date much of the music has the feel of a bygone age and rock chicks of the 60s will feel completely at home with the sounds and styles that emanate from this young, 20-something chick. Visually she's harping back to the past with her signature beehive and dark eyes, musically too she's there with that raspy sound and 50s vocal jazz style but she's better than that. She brings her sound right up to date mixing in blunt hip-hop and R&B and romanticizing that which should be cursed.

Even if you couldn't name any of Ms Winehouse's music off the top of your head if you've had any exposure to the radio and the press over the last year or so you'll certainly be familiar with both her music and her name. Undoubtedly a great musician in her own right much of her celebrity has come not from her talent but from the fact that she's such a troubled icon. In and out of drug rehabilitation, missing concerts or turning up on stage drunk and drugged she's climbed to the top of the media's celeb list for all of the wrong reasons.

It is for this reason that I was deeply unhappy to part with good cash for an album, the proceeds of which would go to someone I felt so undeserving of both the profit and the fame. As a fellow musician and, in particular, one who works regularly with impressionable youngsters, I think that there is a duty to be a positive role model and, no matter how talented, profit should not be made from bad behaviour. That's rock n roll though!

So, to the album.

Amy's style is rather hard to categorise. It's probably best described as soul but not of the Aretha Franklin sort. There's more than a hint of loose R&B in there too. It has a cross-genre appeal and her work with artists from Jay-Z through to Jools Holland, Sugarbabes to Babyshambles shows just how versatile and artist she could be. If there's an artist to whom she could be compared then my money would be on Marc Almond for he shared something of the unique sound that is undoubtably Winehouse and the versatility that she has but without the commercial success that Winehouse has achieved.

The album's opening track "Rehab" will be known to many. It comes across as a rather odd soul gem intertwined with passion and drama. There's something mildly (OK strongly) ironic about the lyrics: "They tried to make me go to rehab I said no no no" for if there was anyone ever in need of rehab then Ms Winhouse is it. However, the track and the lyrics show depth and a deep understanding of addiction and depression and Amy comes across, if she believes in her own words, as someone who knows how to fight the dark devils.

The title track, "Back to Black" will also appear familiar to many. Track 5 on the album this is a haunting yet curiously upbeat song. The depressing theme of "Rehab" is continued and it is in this track that you'll understand me likening Amy to Marc Almond.

In total 5 singles have been released from the album into the UK charts but you'd be forgiven for not noticing them as the album works its way through much of the tortuous relationship between Winehouse and her now-imprisoned husband Blake.

For me, aside from "Rehab" none of the tracks on the album really stand out and yet it's an album I enjoy listening to. The music is dark and the lyrics deeply depressing (not to mention some rather choice language that will cause me to put the album away as soon as my son is old enough to listen and hear what is actually being said!). Winehouse has a talent that can't be ignored though. She is to soul what Lilly Allen is to pop and her foibles and personal shortcomings almost form part of her artistry in much the same way as Ozzy Ozborne was born to bad behaviour. In fact, I think many of her lyrics show that she was in need of help long before she found fame and, for that alone, she can only be pitied.

The album captures all of Amy's soulful, gritty, screw-you attitude and dishes it up with aplomb. It will appeal to soul fans, indie chicks, rock baddies and pop kids in equal measure. I'm none of those and I love it. Radio 2 plays it but so does Heart and Virgin.

If you are at all tempted by this offering then I offer just one piece of advice. Don't buy the regular album but go, instead, for the special edition double disk, for here you'll find some absolute studio gems not only of Ms Winehouse's work, but covers of such greats as Sam Cooke's "Cupid" and Spector's "To Know Him is to Love Him". You'll also get the incredible "Valerie" a collaboration with Mark Ronson (Zutons). For me, the second disc is what makes this album a true classic and worth the struggle with my conscience. That'll be the subject of another review though!

Where Ms Winehouse goes from here is anybody's guess. I'm not certain that another dark, depressing album will cut it in the UK and she may well have to find further inspiration than failed love, drugs and booze. A happy album would be great - channeling some of that talent and ability to mix musical genres.