Cracked up or all she's cracked up to be? She's both!Following the Grammy Awards, I decided to fall into their master plan and bought Amy Winehouse's Back To Black disc a few weeks ago. Winehouse spearheads the current neo-soul movement of artists by mixing old school R&B with modern bass lines. Her persona as the bohomian drug addled heartbroken soul scorcher gets her headlines even when she isn't doing any music. A lot of questions pop up when you consider Winehouse, such as is she a lasting talent? How high is she at any given point in the day? When will she finally go to jail instead of rehab?
Most of the questions can't be answered on her CD, but what can be said is that she has enough talent to make at least one convincing album. Back To Black is a great blast of retro soul telling the story of a bad girl breaking up. It kicks off with the hit "Rehab" where she announces she won't go go go (she eventually did) and follows with "You Know I'm No Good". If the one-two punch of these songs serve as a manefesto for her as the tunes that follow illustrate her wounded tough girl attitude. "Back To Black" brings the self pity to a peak in dramatic fashion with its slow pace and ominous strings. The highpoint is the Philadelphia soul of "Tears Dry On Their Own" a breezy shot of recovery.
It's obvious at this point that Winehouse is too cracked up to capitalize on her career momentum and will likely never record anything good as this disc. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Sharon Jones, but nonetheless Back To Black is a nice ride into some honest soul music.
Amy Winehouse "Tears Dry On Their Own"
6 comments:
I think she's really more like Whine-o. I really don't like this woman's music. But I did enjoy your post. You really have a knack for this writing stuff, honey.
Thanks for the Wino link.. never heard her music and not sure I'm glad I did? I don't like the mix of soul with whatever she is.. I grew up with soul.. and somehow she's not what comes to mind..
That said plenty of totally whacked out people have made really good music despite their destructive behaviour. She just isn't my cup of tea ;)
I agree, my friends. This chic just doesn't do it for me. Mr. Mike does have loads of talent at this, tho, doesn't he? I always enjoy his blog, even if I don't always comment on everything. Keep em coming, Mr. Mike.
Thanks Everybody! Your comments are very nice and the next post will be Wino-free. Poor Wino, how will she be able to afford more crack if you don't buy her music? Somewhere there's a British crack dealer going hungry because of this. Not feeling guilty? Good, because crack is wack!
Oh Mr. Mike! You crack me up. Ahhahaha
I see Mr. Mike is channeling his inner "Whitney" :p
Post a Comment