{"id":41285,"date":"2008-12-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/back-to-black\/"},"modified":"2008-12-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-30T00:00:00","slug":"back-to-black","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/back-to-black\/","title":{"rendered":"Back To Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forget for a minute that she\u2019s clocked up a considerable amount of time at the British courts or that she\u2019s probably on par with Paris Hilton as the queen of tabloid rags. Forget that her blood at this stage is likely to consist solely of cocaine; Amy Winehouse exudes talent. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

A string of stints in rehab might lead people to believe that Winehouse will always be a celebrity first and foremost rather than an artist. Her trademark appearance comprising of a backcombed extreme beehive, eyeliner that looks like it was applied by finger-painting and pin-up girl tattoos doesn\u2019t exactly herald such a soulful contralto voice, but don\u2019t let this put you off.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

After the success of her debut album Frank<\/i> in 2003, Amy Winehouse\u2019s follow-up Back To Black <\/i>managed to <\/i>cement her position as a versatile and revolutionary British vocalist. Her second album carries influence from genres across the board including soul, jazz, ska, R&B and rock as well as the obvious nods to Motown and \u201860s girl groups. Produced by Mark Ronson, this album substantiates Winehouse\u2019s capabilities as a musician and a songwriter, proving that, despite all the surrounding eye-rolling controversies, she is someone worth talking about.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Leaving behind the lighthearted approach and R&B sound that was crystallized on Frank <\/i>with songs such as \u201cFuck Me Pumps\u201d and \u201cYou Should Be Stronger Than Me,\u201d the tone of Back To Black<\/i>, as the title suggests, is far more somber and deals with the rock and roll trifecta of love, drugs, and dead-end relationships.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The album\u2019s opening track, the now infamous \u201cRehab,\u201d still manages to survive and maintain as a great song despite a torturous amount of radio play. Darkly humorous, \u201cRehab\u201d sets the tone for the rest of the album; it\u00a0 contrasts an upbeat brass sound alongside Winehouse\u2019s bittersweet lyrics, the initial sarcastic refusal \u201cThere’s nothing you can teach me \/ That I can’t learn from Mr. Hathaway\u201d eventually bending to the frail \u201cHe said ‘I just think you’re depressed\u2019\/ \u2018This me, yeah baby, and the rest.\u2019\u201d Coupled with a voice echoing Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald (particularly on Back To Black<\/i>\u2019s title track) and lyrics that drip with soul, it\u2019s easy to forget that Amy Winehouse was only twenty-two at the time of recording her second album. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cTears Dry On Their Own,\u201d which features a sample of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell\u2019s track \u201cAin\u2019t No Mountain High Enough,\u201d is a perfect fit and probably the peak of the album. The sultry \u201cYou Know I\u2019m No Good\u201d and the affecting title track come a close second. \u201cSome Unholy War\u201d is the only track on Back To Black <\/i>that seems to miss the mark but can be skipped over shamelessly to leave you with an all-around fantastic album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":29686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8315],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41285","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-amy-winehouse","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41285"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}