Back to Black

Love Amy Winehouse musics and her personality; too sad to lose her.

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.

I bought this on vinyl and it is a great addition to my collection. It's on regular grade vinyl , where as most of my newer vinyl is on 180 gram vinyl or higher, but it sounds as if it is pressed on 180 gram vinyl. The sound of the album is indeed very haunting, in a great way. I noticed that the tracks that Mark Ronson produced sound the best on this album. But they are all great to listen to and it's very sad she became a member of the "27 club".Mark Ronson produced tracks 1,2,5,6,8 and 10. He really knows how to make a song sound great. Most people are more familiar with his DJ sister Samantha Ronson, Lindsey Lohan's ex-girlfriend. I think that he is however the star in the family. Mark has produced many artist throughout his career. He has worked with the likes of Jack White, Lily Allen and one of my all time favorites, Macy Gray. Amy Winehouse is no exception as a favorite either. He also DJ's and has a band called Mark Ronson & The Business Int. His band is worth a listen, as I really like a lot of their music. Not sure if they are still together, but still worth a listen.If you are a collector of vinyl or have a turntable, buy this on vinyl, even if you have the CD or iTunes version, you will not be disappointed. I bought this mostly because it was on sale. I do not know if the deluxe version is available or not, I did not look as I own that version on CD anyway, but the album sounds much better than the digital CD version. I guess everything old becomes new again and I am delighted to see the return and repressing of a lot of the old vinyl album I wish I still had. I think this particular album sound so great because it is the original pressing of the album. A lot of the older, remastered, re-pressings do not sound very well, even the 180 gram versions. A lot depends on the question if and by whom it was remastered. Pete Townshend did a great job with remastering Quadrophenia.A lot of people ask me, "Why spend so much on outdated material, everything is digital now?" One , it sound incredible with the right equipment, and two, it is the format I grew up on. I love albums, there is so much more to look at than a jewel box. I also like SACD's as well, but they are real pricey and hard to find the artist you might like. I own about thirty of these, some where more of a compromise of price and artist, but if you are an audiophile, you can tell a big difference between a regular mp3 and a 24 bit 160 kHz music stream. My DAC is the most important piece of gear I own. Luckily my Blu-ray player plays High Definition SACD's or I would have bought a different one a long time ago.I do think that the audiophile grade pressings, 180 grams and higher, are much better sounding on my system, but they are more expensive than the regular re-pressings. Usually an original, if it has been taken care of sounds the best but there are some exceptions and this one is a great example. I also have to say how much I love Amazons new way of packing albums, much better than the past. Great job on the new packaging technique.

Excellent

I purchased this CD when it was originally issued. Don't know what happened to it. Recently rebought it. Genius comes with its demons. Most of the YouTube videos of Ms Winehouse performing are too painful for me to watch. The majority of the videos don't show what she was truly capable of doing. I believe she was a very shy person possessing a very big talent. I feel she wanted what we all want. True love. Someone who accepts us warts and all. Someone who wants to give as well as take. Not somebody who wants to suckus dry.My heart aches that she never found that. Back to Black still is the connection song for me. The album is otherworldly. Like La Divinia Maria Callas, I hope there was some good mixed in with all the bad.