Amy Winehouse - Frank

With her debut album Frank, Amy Winehouse proves to be one of the most original, honest, and brave singer/songwriters to emerge in recent years. Over the course of the 13 songs, she manages to do everything required of a classic album. This is a stark piece of work, comprising husky, frequently sexually charged vocals, painfully honest lyrics and soft trumpets, laidback beats, and sparse guitar work. It seems that soulful jazz doesn't always have to be bland--it can also be playful, twisted, and arrogant ("Amy Amy Amy"). "F*** Me Pumps" charts a seemingly guilt-free act of infidelity: "What do you expect when you leave me here alone?" she asks coyly, as if by way of justifiable explanation. "You wouldn't want me to be lonely," she adds. You can't help warming to her, despite what she's saying. A unique sense of humour (how rare in music now) and a no-bull attitude make for an interesting, compelling debut. Frank? Yes, but refreshingly so. You wouldn't want her for a girlfriend, but as a life companion she may yet prove indispensable. --Cortman Virtue From Amazon.co.uk

 Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant!
The first time I saw Amy Winehouse was in the "You Know I'm No Good" video from her "Back to Black" CD on VH1. I was stopped in my tracks by the sheer cleverness of the music and the soul deep passion in her voice. So when I found out that Back to Black wasn't her first CD I was ecstatic. I was excited to see the beginnings of this fascinating woman.

I wasn't disappointed. I was blown away.

I thought the use of an updated fifties girl group sound in Back to Black was brilliant. But Frank was something altogether different. There were sounds and rhythms I hadn't ever heard before, some sounds, fast and slow, that I had heard, but done up in new and surprising ways. She wrote most of the material for the album about a failed relationship and you find clear examples of what this guy was like. "Stronger Than Me," is one of the smartest songs I've ever heard. It's a straight forward slap across his face because he just wasn't man enough for her. She takes the theme of her dissatisfaction even further in "I Heard Love Is Blind," her attempt to explain away an affair, but then she chastises her shortcomings later on when she asks herself, "What is it About Men."

Winehouse has all sorts of personal problems and it distresses me to no end that she, as an artist, seems to require her own self-destruction in order to be brilliant. I pray she finds her way back to the studio and to her muse, because she is a uniquely stunning singer and astonishing writer, who unfortunately is on the fast track to being a tragedy.
May 8, 2008

 a glowing and powerful debut from Amy Winehouse.....
Amy, Amy, Amy.....(to quote a song from this album)
FRANK, the debut by the wildly talented Amy Winehouse, released five years ago, is a fusion of 1940s and 1950s jazz/blues and contemporary soul. These songs were released when Ms. Winehouse was nineteen and filled with worldly insight. Yes, most of it's pretty bitter and uncensored accounts of her bad experiences with men, the infamous subjects of her song "F-Me Pumps," who are aging golddiggers, and frank observances about substance abuse and sex.

The band is tight and seamless here. The combination of a soaring horn section, soulful percussion and Amy's sultry vocals make the album as technically brilliant as it is entertaining. I found myself giggling, because her lyrics are just so honest and real! Amy doesn't pull any punches. I particularly love "Amy, Amy, Amy" which is a grand nod to the great jazz and soul bands of the 1930s and 1940s. Damn, that horn is seductive. Also, she penned all of the tunes on this album herself, with the exception of her beautiful, reggae-inspired cover of "Moody's In the Mood For Love." You really can't compare her to anyone! One of a kind.......Brilliant, wonderful and bitingly intelligent.......... May 3, 2008

 Awesome Amy
I absolutely LOVE Amy's "Frank" cd. I purchased it after buying Back to Black and after listening to bits of it on Amazon. I found Frank a little lighter than Back to Black and it kinda has a slight hip hop/R&B feel. I can honesly say I LOVE every song except one, and that one isn't that bad. My favorite song is Stronger Than Me. Amy always tells it like it is...lol. I am totally an Amy fan. I pray that she gets her personal life together. It would be a waste of a God given talent to lose her. She's awesome. Get it together Amy!

AJ May 2, 2008

 Can't stop listening to this...no, no, no
I'm addicted to this album...no pun intended...ok, maybe intended.
What a creative awesome mind. She's got the Shirley Bassey beat and voice with a modern vibe. I can't stop listening...it's my new fave April 25, 2008

 Top Notch
This is actually her 1st release and is a few years old--it wasn't available in USA until recently. I think this is the better of her 2 cds. It is absolutely top notch; incredibly amazing to listen to. April 19, 2008

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