Back to Black

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 also reaches much further back into original Rhythm and Blues, Jazz, and Blues. "Me and Mr. Jones" is a prime example of this; the background singers' vocal harmony is reminiscent of a style popular in the 1930's and through the 40's.
I was blown away by Amy's voice. Not only does she have great power, but also has fantastic control. Some of her vocal acrobatics really are top notch, without being too showy. She can sing an entire lifetime of grief, loss, and desire into one phrase. Raw emotion comes through in songs like, "Love is a Losing Game," and "You Know I'm No Good."
Having retroactively listened to some of "Frank," I would say that her songwriting skills really improved on "Back To Black." There's not a bad song on this disc, and these days, that's saying something. I highly recommend this CD to anyone that's open to listening some some old school music, with a touch of some modern naughtiness.

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".

There's no hiding the anguish Amy Winehouse must suffer as evidenced in most the music on this album. Brilliant lyrics and a mature powerful voice. I have the earworm problem after listening, can't get her music and lyrics out of my head. I hope she lives long enough to explore and expand her talent. She's so young, she should have at least a decade left to create, but the drug thing....it's a crap shoot. Oh, I love her music by the way.

Only three real good songs on this record, but we`ve heard them all before. This is nothing new, the entire record is kind of a Motown soul replica, and could have been made back in the early 70`s.

Amy has a cool voice though, and the lyrics aren`t too bad, but the production quality is so unimaginably crappy you couldn`t believe it. The bass are boomy, there are distortions in Amy`s voice, and the arrangements all over are poor and monotonous. Therefore it gets more and more boring to listen to this record after a while. The production crew should have been punished for this.. Better luck next time!

Amy's first CD is still great, may the best of the few she has released.