Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" PK LP (2019)

Details: Amy Winehouse (pink) vinyl variant - Target retailer version. Republic Records, repress, 2019. New stock, sealed. 

Description: "Winehouse didn’t sugarcoat things. On Back To Black, her storytelling slices through the jangling ‘60s pop melodies with frank observations that feel bone-deep and real. (He said, “I just think you’re depressed”/ This me, yeah baby, and the rest.) She speaks of truly disquieting feelings through songs you can turn up loud and belt out in your car; like the realization that rejection is only one part of your problems. (Why do I stress the man/ When there’s so many bigger things at hand?) She leaves her body, and looks at herself with cool objectivity. (She’s so vacant, her soul is taken,/ He thinks, what’s she running from?) Back To Black contains no true optimism or solution. There are moments of clarity, but no epiphany. Discounting “Addicted,” a bonus track about annoying dudes who smoke all of your weed, Winehouse’s final words on the album are: He tries to pacify her, but what’s inside her never dies.

These lyrics are worth noting, not to make a spectacle of Winehouse’s suffering, but to shine a light on her truly original songwriting. In the footage unearthed for Amy, she spoke frankly about how music was her therapy for depression; the subject material was genuine, and that honestly was palpable. Winehouse’s longtime producer Salaam Remi told Billboard that this was part of her bond with the rapper Nas. “They had a mutual respect for what was real,” he said. Winehouse, whose idols were Donny Hathaway and Billie Holliday, was a truly distinctive pop writer of her time.

...Remembering Back To Black as a brilliant pop album, a brave story battling depression, and a rare combination of the two is difficult but necessary. It’s difficult to remember what happened to Winehouse in plain view of us all, how consumption of her explicit pains makes us complicit in her death; but remembering is essential, to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Winehouse deserves to be remembered as a truly groundbreaking artist, rather than a tragic story. This collection of empathetic, raw songs lives on as the worthiest treasure she could have left behind: an album you can blast on blue days, to make you feel a little less alone. “Tears Dry On Their Own” is the kind of bitter yet joyful song that I’ve turned to at low moments. Its tambourine shake helps me move again, even as it speaks plainly to loneliness and self-destruction. (I shouldn’t play myself again/ I should just be my own best friend.) Sometimes, that’s exactly the comfort you need."--Fader

Grade: M (New stock)

TRACK LISTING SIDE A:

A1. Rehab
A2. You Know I'm No Good
A3. Me & Mr. Jones
A4. Just Friends
A5. Back to Black
A6. Love Is A Losing Game

TRACK LISTING SIDE B:

B1. Tears Dry On Their Own"
B2. Wake Up Alone
B3. Some Unholy War
B4. He Can Only Hold Her
B5. You Know I'm No Good