Amy Winehouse - Back to Black [PA]

Really good. Back to black excellent .

I'm so tired of listening to new music that turns out to be a boring pastiche of the past. This is the album that made me wake up. Back to Black is totally addictive in the best way. It flows. It's succinct - short tracks, vinyl record span - and every track is great. I can't stop playing it. It has a great authentic sound, beautiful vocals, real instruments, top notch backing vocals, gritty real life lyrics, brilliant hooks that don't let you go. The album tracks mix up all the best of 60's soul from Ashford and Simpson Motown to Dusty (in that Amy is a musical fusion too but not a copy-cat), Baby Washington?, with a touch of early '60s Spector and I even hear Sharon Forrester?, Dinah Washington? But this is not a paint by numbers pastiche, it's totally original. This is an artist and a connoiseur at work - it's not manipulative producers pushing young talent aside as is becoming so boringly the case nowadays. Amy is soul, pop, reggae and jazz for the 21st Century; she brilliantly fuses all these genres and becomes unclassable. This IS a modern classic. Treat yourself - buy this and listen over and over. 'Tears Dry On Their Own' is my favourite track and I was glad to see the Ashford and Simpson credit. The thing about this track is it's as good as it's reference - Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell's 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'. The track is strong in it's own right; it borrows but doesn't steal. This album knocked me out for 10. Shame I can only give it 5 stars.

First thing I noticed about this Album was the fact that it was just thirty-five minutes long - a plus for me, since I'm so tired of over-long and boring Albums geared to make us think we are getting more for our money... (more rubbish perhaps!) This Album does anything but bore the Listener, and Amy Winehouse certainly knew the key was to have short bursts of quality instead of 'gimmicky' over-long trash! Like many I suppose, I am not ashamed to say I purchased this Album since her death - but not for that reason alone; I had in fact been on the point of purchasing it for some time, but her constant feature in the News for all the wrong reasons, I guess I held off. However; as the saying goes; something good always comes out of something tragic, and I imagine that there will be many more who did not know or appreciate Amy until her untimely death... Packed with eleven great catchy numbers which simply spell 'talent', 'quality' and 'pure listening pleasure'. As someone old enough to recall several decades of different styles of music; I feel Ms. Winehouse probably born out of her time. Her sound and style would have been perfectly at home had she been around during both the sixties and the seventies - proper songs with choruses and verses, and with some just over a couple of minutes in length - lovely - and just how I like it! At just half an hour- this Album is utterly perfect and will be played often by many! God Bless Amy.

A well recorded album, the standouts are the vocals and snare drum. The recording captures an intimate live feeling and its atmosphere. There is excellent instrument placement and an overall feeling of warmth I have not set out to write reviews of the music content as “beauty is in the ears of the listener”. These reviews are about the quality (or not) of the recorded sound. To read about how the reviews are done please see my profile. • Clarity – OK but vocals occasionally get swamped • Channel separation - good • Channel balance – very good clear with stable instrument placement • Sound Stage – ok, quite wide and rich. The good channel balance and stable instrument placement help create a warm, realistic and intimate sound stage • Distortion – On the whole none but occasionally some on the vocals as they push into the higher registers • Compression – good dynamic range brings the recording alive • Atmosphere – an intimate atmosphere like a small club • Bass – low frequencies – reasonable, the bass guitar and kick drum are little muted but remain tight • Treble – high frequencies – the cymbals are excellent and resonate very well sounding life like. The horns are distinct and lifelike. • Vocals – very clear and well articulated without being at the expense of the other instruments. There is good dynamic range. As a general rule of thumb recordings from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s are nearly always better on the original vinyl. Remasters often fail to please as it’s just not possible to make a silk purse from a sows ear, i.e. the original recording lacks the necessary detail to be processed digitally and show an audible improvement. Indeed such processing can make the sound worse. Modern recordings which have been processed digitally from start to finish can be as good as vinyl. CD’s are often unfairly criticised for being poor quality. This is not the case, it is the original recording or the process which is to blame. Modern “remasters” can both enhance and degrade a recording. The statement GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) is the limiting factor. Ignore this at your cost.

Great music brings back the memories of Amy

Having just seen on a well known streaming channel, the bio-film of Amy Winehouse,, my son-in-law loved the film and it's soundtrack, so I decided to treat him to the c.d of the soundtrack for an up coming birthday of his. I know he will love it and can play it anytime he wants to. I have this c.d myself and it's a great piece of music. Delivery very quick and the package in tact.

Exactly what I required. Delivered on time with care.

Years after Amy's death, I still listen to this and marvel at the texture of Amy's voice, the depth, the range, the musicality, the charisma. I also marvel at the wit, humour and kitchen sink reality of some of her songs. I wonder, sadly, what music she would have gone on to offer the world if she had not died when she did. There are obvious highlights here, from the fantastically catchy 'Rehab', to the wonderful and iconic 'Back To Black', but there is also no obvious 'filler', rather, every song here has a character and mood of it's own. The witty 'Addicted' and 'Me and Mr. Jones' both have charima and humour, 'realness' and vivacity. This album was landmark, but that scarcely needs to be said - a listen to it all the way through will convince anyone who appreciates brilliant vocals. They are often deep, sometimes even earthy, yet always perfectly compliment the array of musical instruments which appear here. Amy is sadly missed by her fans, yet this album will undoubtedly be discovered by future generations.

Debo decir que tras ver el aviso de alerta que da entrada a los comentarios de los usuarios, dudé bastante en si, pedirlo y arriesgarme a tenerlo que devolver yo también o pedir otro disco distinto pero... Realmente me interesaba este cd 'Back to Black' y no me interesaban recopilaciones más densas u otros títulos. Así que me arriesgué y anoche, lo pedí pese al aviso de Amazon. Y debo decir que hice muy bien y no me arrepiento en absoluto. El cd fue pedido anoche, antes de las 0.00 y esta tarde, a las 14h, ya lo recibía en mi casa. El cd tiene una presentación impecable, ha llegado en perfecto estado y tiene un sonido exquisito. Ignoro si es la musma recopolicación original de los cd de la artista o es una copia de el original. Para mi, es el primer cd de la malograda artista. Pero sea original o copia, la selección es buenísima y la producción , segúm figura es de, 'Universal Records' con edición en EEUU. Así que , en apariencia es original. Ignoro porque ha sido devuelto repetidamente pir otros usuarios pero yo, me lo quedo y muy satisfecha con la calidad y la compra. Espero haber sido útil. Gracias!

L'album più bello di Amy Winehouse

良い

Great

Excelente disco