Back to Black

Am Disappointed as it’s made in the EU and not Germany as the Site Stated and yes I would have preferred a German pressing surely 👍🙏🌈

Love this CD!

When I first saw the video for Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good" on MTV, I was genuinely impressed. I heard numerous influences within her vocals and I was shocked that this 23 year old British Girl could sing like that. A mix of Etta James, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin. Just as fascinating was the production captivating the 1950s and 1960 R&B sound. We as listeners and musicians often throw around the notion of neo-soul, but Ms. Winehouse is most definitely more "soul" than neo. BACK TO BLACK in my mind certainly serves as a clear anachronism to 1960. Somehow, it does so in a way that doesn't turn off a younger group of listeners. I mean, somebody is certainly tuning into the multiple plays that the video clip for "You Know I'm No Good" is getting on MTV and VH1.The album opens like a classic Etta James affair with the repetitive (in a positive way) "Rehab" where the "bad-girl" Winehouse sings how "they tried to make me go to rehab and I said no, no, no." The production is classic with acoustic piano, horns, and a classic drum groove. Everything sounds like the 1950s style of R&B coupled with the jazz of that time. Ray Charles would've been proud to hear Mrs. Winehouse shed through this number, or the equally great "You Know I'm No Good". Once again, Mrs. Winehouse's bad girl persona arises as she sings "I cheated myself, Like I knew I would, I told you I was troubled, you know that I'm no Good". Sure, "You Know I'm No Good" still keeps the jazz-influenced R&B sound alive, but there is enough of a modern sound here that it is clear why the clip is resonating with the youth viewing MTV. "Me and Mr. Jones" keeps alive a string of hits. Perhaps most alerting to fans is Winehouse's bad girl attitude (she belts: "what kind of f**kery is this"). If you stretch back to jazz history, one has to look no further than Mrs. Billie Holiday herself to her excesses of drugs and being "one of the guys". Maybe Winehouse isn't that much of a stretch after all. Vocally, she is superb!"Just Friends" isn't quite as impressive as the latter tracks, but it isn't terrible either. It is solid. "Back To Black" is better, and it is one of few title tracks that breaks the trend for a sub-par title track. The production once again stands out with its looped jazz-piano riff. Particularly impressive to me is how the production team managed to not only capture the 50s/60s R&B sound but also how the managed to arive at the same sound and timbre of the recordings of those tracks. "Back to Black" and "Rehab" in particular are great displays of that. "Love Is A Losing Game" is absolutely stunning and it is great to hear Winehouse shed through a ballad. Her vocal facility is nearly flawless; every nuance is perfect and perhaps she is what Holiday was-- technically a limited vocalist (where range is concerned), but she made the best of it and it turned out to make her one of the world's greatest and most important vocalists."Tears Dry On Their Own" doesn't quite feel as authentic, merely because it samples the blatantly obvious Ashford & Simpson penned soul classic "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". It isn't bad by any means as the songwriting is still strong and Winehouse remains at her best. However, the originals sit better here. "Wake Up Alone" gets things back on point with its classicist six feel, harkening back to the doo-wop tunes of the mid-50s. "Some Unholy War" features some stunning background vocal works and subtle organ in the background. Not my favorite, but again, it is very solid. "He Can Only Hold Her" uses a classic soul sample, but does so much better than "Tears Dry On Their Own" (side: John Legend lifted this same sample for his exceptional "Slow Dance" from his ONCE AGAIN album). "He Can Only Hold Her" turns out to be one of my favorites and a nice end to the album (penultimate). "You Know I'm No Good [Remix]" featuring the ubiquitous Ghostface Killah isn't bad either. It is arguable to say whether or not Ghost truly adds any true substance to the remix, but it isn't in my opinion a bad way to end this phenomenal, perhaps MILESTONE album.All I have to say is that Amy Winehouse has it going on and BACK TO BLACK is most certainly the most innovative R&B album of this year and just perhaps of the past couple of years. It screams GRAMMY to me. 4 stars.

Great!

I love music and have a very diverse collection of styles and artists in my cd collection including a lot of artists popular in the UK not known here yet. For some reason I never discovered Amy Winehouse with her superb first release FRANK. Had I, I would have been a huge fan from the beginning. Instead, the same as many, I was introduced to her through the single REHAB which sadly came hand in hand with her strong addiction problems. The paparazzi had a field day with her. And the joke was she was singing about rehab when it seemed she so obviously needed it. Even with her Grammy wins I didn't purchase this album.Regretfully, it took her very sad and untimely death with talk of her unique musical talents and gifts that I bought both FRANK and BACK TO BLACK. I have truly fallen in love with Amy. She indeed was a truly gifted artist. BACK TO BLACK is honestly one of the best albums I have ever heard. She wrote every track and by listening to this cd you can put all the gossip and drama aside and listen to Amy as an artist. It is very important to remember she wrote the lyrics to all these songs and it is obvious the poor woman wore her heart and soul on her sleeve. But for the listener it provided a great gift. The cd is a winner from beginning to end and speaks of love and relationships and all that comes with it. Her style combines retro soul with r&b and jazz with a hint of classic pop. It is a style new, unique and truly inspired. The songs BACK TO BLACK, LOVE IS A LOSING GAME and TEARS DRY ON THEIR OWN are instant classics. ME AND MR. JONES is a stunning and clever album cut. YOU KNOW I'M NO GOOD is also an instant classic and showns much insight into Amy's thoughts of herself. Listen to the words on the haunting WAKE UP ALONE and SOME UNHOLY WAR and you will feel so much what the life of this woman was like.The song REHAB is not a defiant song to those trying to get her help but rather a declaration of how she thought it wouldn't help. She talks of what rehab would give her but she could get the same advice and support at home listening to music like Ray Charles and waiting for the sorrow to pass. In her mind it was all about love and heartbeak. If the sorrow could pass she would not have to use. Addiction is a very serious illness and whatever was really going on we need to acknowledge the very sad fact that this musically gifted person Amy Winehouse left us and this life way too early. For her sake she managed to leave a musical legacy behind with only 2 cds. She will live on through her music and because of her gifts as a songwriter and expressive, superbly diverse singer we will always see her as the person by the music. May you rest in peace Amy and hopefully all your demons have been silenced and you have found peace. But rest assured you will be remembered.

Amy ❤️