Back To Black
- Amy Winehouse
- Band Name: Amy Winehouse
- Record Label: Republic
- Release Date: Mar 13, 2007
- Critic Score
- Most active
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It's precisely Winehouse's lyrics... that raise this expertly crafted set into the realm of true, of-the-minute originality. [16 Mar 2007, p.67]
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There's something beguilingly perverse about the incongruity between Winehouse's trifling lyrical concerns and Back To Black's wall-of-sound richness.
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90There isn't a second's worth of music here that doesn't come mink-swathed in note-perfect retro sound, or a song that isn't worthy of it.
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90Winehouse remains one of modern music's most original voices and is now emerging as arguably the finest soul singer of her generation. [Nov 2006, p.116]
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90A 21st-century soul classic.
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90A guileless, brutal breakup album that can sit with the best of them, set to the sounds of music's finest early rock moments. [17 Mar 2007]
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Back to Black stands in testament to the fact that talent and originality still exist.
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Her efforts have crafted a soul album that is resistant to any claims of mere charlatanism, a record that brings a modern tongue to a classic style.
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80While never musically abrasive, [it] is riddled with enough trademark lyrical barbs and sung with sufficient Eartha Kitt-ish snarl that the listening is never too easy. [Nov 2006, p.134]
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80Back to Black is overflowing with the '60s Supremes warmth that has been fully absent from the "standards" of today's R&B. [Apr 2007, p.108]
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Although Back to Black does see her deserting jazz and wholly embracing contemporary R&B, all the best parts of her musical character emerge intact, and actually, are all the better for the transformation from jazz vocalist to soul siren.
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80It's a superb comeback, and one of the best albums of the year.
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80Back To Black is just a darkly rockin' good time, which will hopefully spark a new trend away from R&B's sickening slickification.
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It works - even though this area of pop culture has been mined remorselessly for the past 50 years - by dint of its clever melody lines and smart lyrics.
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80Back To Black is by far the best popular soul album I've heard this year.
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A wonderfully time-twisted batch of songs. [12 Mar 2007]
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80To put it succinctly, Amy Winehouse has made a really good record.
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80Who needs love when heartbreak sounds this bloody good?
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Damn, it feels good.
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70[It] sounds fantastic--partly because the production nails sample-ready '60s soul right down to the drum sound' and partly because Winehouse is one hell of an impressive singer. [Apr 2007, p.121]
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70She's just as full of herself, but she now has a voice brimming with womanly promise. [Nov 2006, p.149]
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Even if her vulgarity is her main selling point, she's more than just a novelty act.
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70Back to Black finds a fearless artist saying whatever she damn well pleases.
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64Fortunately, Winehouse has been blessed by a brassy voice that can transform even mundane sentiments into powerful statements.
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The tunes don't always hold up. But the best ones are impossible to dislike. [22 Feb 2007, p.76]
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Disappointing, then, that the eight-track 'bonus disc' opens with a cover of a cover: a lo-fi version of 'Valerie'. [Review of Deluxe Edition]
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 83 out of 97
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Mixed: 5 out of 97
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Negative: 9 out of 97
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