Back to Black

by

Amy Winehouse

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In U.K. Amy Winehouse has been a tabloid regular recently with tales of anoxeria, addiction, and drunken TV appearances, but she really should let her music speak for itself . . . especially when it's as good as this.

Her debut, "Frank", was sometimes stodgy and definitely over praised, but no praise is too high for this unashamedly retro, but beautifully observed and realised take on classic girl group pop and Motown soul.

The 11 songs all sound like great lost classics from the 60s, snappily written with a mix of bitterly caustic lyrics and finger popping tunes, then delivered in a voice that alternates sexy smouldering with dismissive contempt.

She started last year amid criticism from all corners over her dramatic weight loss and ended it heralded as the new queen of UK cool; with hair messier than a sleepover with Pete Doherty, a mouth like a drunken fish wife and an album swelling with the kind of lump-in-throat emotional soul last heard sometime in the late 70s, somewhere in Detroit

Hence it was somewhat of a surprise when it reared its sultry head again in 2006. With near genius production from hip pop mainstay Mark Ronson (who also had a finger in the tasty pie that was Lily Allen's debut), stomping, romping punk-rock-jazz was the order of the day as Ms Winehouse showed everyone what being a real lady is all about.

THIS REVIEW DEALS ONLY WITH THE EDITING OF CURSE WORDS FOR THE CLEAN ALBUM.

I bought the clean version of this album because she uses the "f" word in several songs on the other version and I have young children. The edited version is a disappointment. The curse words are clumsily half-blotted out, leaving an awkward space in the songs, while the phrase, "You don't mean [...] to me" remains untouched. I will still have to press the skip button, which negates the whole point of buying a clean version! If the Black Eyed Peas and Jay-Z can come up with alternate lyrics for some of their edited songs, then certainly Amy Winehouse's handlers could have done the same.