Lioness: Hidden Treasures
by Amy Winehouse
  • Record Label: Island
  • Release Date: Dec 6, 2011
Metascore
65

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 28
  3. Negative: 2 out of 28
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  1. Mojo
    May 31, 2012
    60
    [Amy Winehouse had] something compelling, human and wonderful, and it surfaces just enough on this compilation to make it worthy of her name. [Jan 2012, p.91]
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  2. Q Magazine
    Dec 22, 2011
    60
    An admirable tribute if frequently deafened by the echo of its tragic catalyst. [Jan 2012, p.121]
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  3. DJ Booth
    Dec 13, 2011
    60
    Her talent and voice makes up for the fact that Lioness isn't really an album, but more like a collection of unfinished business.
  5. PopMatters
    Dec 12, 2011
    60
    Half of the dozen tunes here are good enough to make this release essential listening for Winehouse fans, but if you are not one already, buy one of her other releases first.
  6. NOW Magazine
    Dec 8, 2011
    60
    With an emphasis on covers, the overall mood is frustratingly lighter than Winehouse's two studio LPs. It's missing the pointed wit, energy and hard-fought candour that marked her best material, but her considerable vocal swagger is unmistakable.
  7. The Observer (UK)
    Dec 5, 2011
    60
    Covers make up the backbone of this perfectly enjoyable, but tame release.
  8. BBC Music
    Dec 2, 2011
    60
    Leaves listeners sadly wondering where a less-troubled Amy might have been able to take her incredible talent.
  9. The Guardian
    Dec 1, 2011
    60
    There are early recordings that would probably never have seen the light of day had the artist lived.
  10. The Independent (UK)
    Nov 30, 2011
    60
    While "Lioness" is a far better posthumous collection than Michael Jackson's Michael, from almost exactly a year ago, it's a poor substitute for the high-octane musicality of Frank and Back To Black.
  11. The Telegraph (UK)
    Nov 30, 2011
    60
    It's a pleasure to hear her scatting her way through moods and melodies, sketching vocals out, even when they don't work.
  12. The A.V. Club
    Dec 13, 2011
    58
    The result is a collection so clean-scrubbed that it sometimes seems to be eulogizing an entirely different singer than the one fans remember.
  13. Slant Magazine
    Dec 5, 2011
    50
    "Lioness" adds nothing of substance to the Winehouse narrative, nor do its individual tracks showcase the best of her writing or singing.
  14. The Independent on Sunday (UK)
    Dec 5, 2011
    40
    "Lioness" reinforces what we already knew: Winehouse was, in every sense, wasted.

Awards & Rankings

78
#78 Most Discussed Album of 2011

User Reviews

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User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 63 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 63
  3. Negative: 4 out of 63
  1. Funkymonk
    Dec 7, 2011
    1
    Winehouse was horribly overrated but surly even Amy fans will fell ripped off but this cheap cash in of B-sides and unfinished recordings.Winehouse was horribly overrated but surly even Amy fans will fell ripped off but this cheap cash in of B-sides and unfinished recordings. Enough said.… Full Review »
  2. aarondu
    Dec 7, 2011
    3
    This is not an 'album', it is a collection of hazy b-sides and hastily re-produced recent demos released just in time for the Christmas giftThis is not an 'album', it is a collection of hazy b-sides and hastily re-produced recent demos released just in time for the Christmas gift shopping season. It's not an album to please her fans (though it's nice to hear the great new track "Between the Cheats", the best track here by far) and as such, it seems like a coarse and disappointing way to cash in on the recent interest in Winehouse's music after her early death. There's not a single weak track on the singer's touchstone album, Back To Black--there's a real sense that that album was planned to be as strong, cohesive, and distinctively Winehouse as possible. With the late singer drinking herself to death and only able to record a couple demos post Back to Black, Ronson (the producer here) has no such editing privileges: he's obviously grasping at straws, including mostly material from Winehouse's Frank era and demos from Back to Black. (Frank, by the way, is decidedly timid compared to Back to Black; with Winehouse's vocals especially nasal and her pronunciation a little too polite.) So on Lioness, we're left with a Winehouse cover of "The Girl from Ipanema" that's orchestrated all wrong for her voice, too fast and high; a limp version of "Tears Dry on Their Own" that makes me feel like I just downed a bottle of Nyquil; and a lovely version of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" that was already released...in 2004! Overall, a desperate and disrespectful attempt to wring one more album out of a dead and incredibly talented drunkard. It would have been better to end her discography on Back to Black.… Full Review »
  3. musicben
    Jun 9, 2022
    10
    This album maintains a specific and recognizable sound. It seems to me a fun and deep album at the same time. The best compilation album I'veThis album maintains a specific and recognizable sound. It seems to me a fun and deep album at the same time. The best compilation album I've ever heard.… Full Review »
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