Amy Winehouse - Live DVD and "Back To Black" Deluxe Edition

So, I'm in Asda (ie WalMart UK) minding my own business and I stumble on two new Amy Winehouse releases - life is good!

Better still, one of the items is a live DVD of a concert I attended back in May :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Winehouse-T...1-6380668?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1194719050&sr=8-4

It's out in the US next week:

http://www.amazon.com/Told-You-Was-..._bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1194718953&sr=8-4

It's a great gig - apart from the band rushing a couple of tracks ("Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good") - you also get a decent 45 minute documentary about Amy's path from obscurity to writer/performer on the best album of modern times.

I'm even visible in a few frames of the concert footage - I'm the guy that appears very briefly in the battom left corner of the screen wearing a baseball cap during her amusing spiel before launching into "Love Is A Losing Game"

One thing I really liked about the gig was her between song banter - I was pleasantly surprised to find it all present and uncut on the DVD!

Here's a pic I took at the gig (29th May, 2007 - Shepherds Bush Empire, London):



Also on the shelves was this rather cool looking Deluxe Edition of my favourite album of recent years:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Back-Black-...6380668?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1194719050&sr=8-3

It comes with a second disc collecting together various studio cuts that have been available either on her singles or other compiltaions. Exclusive to this set is a great demo of "Love Is A Losing Game".

What a great couple of finds - I had no idea before entering the store that either had been released

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'll pick up that DVD.

 

I'm on this.

 

No offense but is she sober or coherent for this performance?

 

Pretty much

Her voice is a bit horse during this performance - or in her words it sounds "all $hitty" (she apologises about it during the gig - however that her self-effacing style right there). She seems to get more inebriated as the gig progresses

However, what's great about this DVD is that it is a raw "warts 'n' all" representation of the gig. I was there and this DVD is exactly how it went down

If you want to see what Amy is really like then get this DVD - for those who want a Celine Dion type of "well behaved" performance then maybe it's not for them......

 

I picked up a copy of "I Told You I Was Trouble" DVD a couple of hours ago...

Best Buy was sold out and I scored the last copy at Future Shop.

I got a date for tonight.

 

Her debut album, FRANK, gets released in the U.S. next week as well.

 

it's a sad commentary on society if the best album of modern times is basically just 60's motown, recycled. in order to do anything good, we have to sample and cover songs from 30-40 years ago? by all means, sample. but do something NEW with it. not just make the same song with different words.

plus, she's exhibiting signs of developing the britney spears problem. she's more famous for her trainwreck of a personal life than for her music. it overshadows the music. don't get me wrong, i do own a copy of back to black, i just don't think it (or she) is really the greatest thing since sliced bread.

 

Well, one solution to the "Britney Spears problem" is to not consume gossip media. The only time I hear about this stuff is here in the threads, when people use personal or marketing issues to dismiss music they don't like anyway.

To my ears BACK TO BLACK is the real thing, as opposed to an impressive simulation like Joss Stone's SOUL SESSIONS. Does the Deluxe Edition of BACK TO BLACK have a US release? I'd probably pony up for the extras, since that's about been my favorite album of the past several years and the reviews of some of those off-the-album tracks have been terrific.

 

Back To Black is much more than "basically just 60's motown, recycled" and it most certainly is not samples and cover songs from 30-40 years ago. This album is a standout of recent times, and is one that will define the sound of 2007 for me, musically.

I'll be picking up this Deluxe Edition as soon as I find it; the only copy I have is an iTunes download that I bought for my wife earlier in the year. I'll be happy to get the physical product, with bonus material. Hopefully this will get a US release, just for the song "Addicted".

As far as the unnecessary "trainwreck" and "Britney Spears problem" quotes, all I can say is you need to spend less time watching "Entertainment Tonight" and more time embracing your cd collection.

By the way, the Amy Winehouse live DVD is only $7.99 at amazon.com:

Amy Winehouse "I Told You I Was Trouble" Live DVD - Amazon

 

Personally, after seeing what she looked like with all of the gross tattoos, I couldn't really listen to her. If I didn't know what she looked like I probably would have liked her music.

 

As for the "60s Motown" thing - I've never heard the album that way at all. Apart from "Tears Dry On Their Own" which is a strange rip-off of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and - I don't really hear much in the way of directly "recycled" Motown. I hear some Ronettes in "Back To Black" and some other classic 60s soul sounds here and there but it's blended with all sorts of other musical styles and ends up sounding pretty darn original to me.

If you haven't heard Frank (Amy's 2003 debut album) then you must give it a listen - that should disuage anyone from pigeon-holing her as a copycat artist

By the way, for some reason amazon lists the live DVD as being 4:3 (1.33:1) - but it's 16:9

 

To repeat what I said above, you need to spend less time watching "Entertainment Tonight" and more time embracing your CD collection.

There's already been one Amy Winehouse thread shut down here due to comments about appearance and personal life; can people just comment about the music, in particular the live DVD and cd-reissue in this one? I'd appreciate it.

 

"disuage"?!

Of course, I meant "dissuade"!

It's late - I should go to sleep......

 

Man some of the posts here smell like week old fish. You guys are something else. Always bitching about "no good new music" and we finally get someone that's refreshing and you crap all over it. May your noses grow large warts that ooze.

 

How's the sound? I'll take a guess and say the 5.1 is a standard concert mix?

 

Yeah I base all my music listening on how the person looks. After all who cares about the talent level. Just give me some eye candy.

 

There's a wide range between "eye candy" and absolutely a turn-off to even look at. I find tattoos abhorent. I find tattoos on women doubly so. Whether you like it or not, an artist is selling a package, not just how they sound, and they do not have to look like models but not looking disgusting is preferable as well. I listen to practically no modern music and seeing someone with an appearance like that just reinforces that attitude. Sorry, but I'm not going to support something or someone that is so far removed from my values, no matter what they sound like.

 

Never personally thought much either way about tattoos in relation to music. I felt that your comments were thread-crapping and really didn't need to be brought up in this thread. Over and out.

 

...but it sounds like motown. mixed louder to give it more "edge." i'm not saying you're wrong -- there was a period there when swing and big band was suddenly the big thing again. we just didn't pretend it was new and innovative. it was swing. and big band. it was retro not modern. amy winehouse is retro, and that's ok.

i own her album on vinyl. and i do embrace my vinyl collection, quite thoroughly. the point is that her celebrity status overshadows her music. by a long shot. and at some point, it detracts from the music, unless you've effectively secluded yourself from things like TV and the internet, or friends that use their vocal chords.

britney spears had the same issue. what's she known for? it's not her music, either. the effective difference is that amy winehouse isn't as famous, and made an album i felt was worth spending money on. but it's the same problem.

the first single i heard, "you know i'm no good," didn't click the motown thing for me. but when i listened to the album... motown. listening to again, at this very moment, somewhere in side B... it's motown.

if i find a copy, i might give it a listen.

as the person who "crapped all over it" i don't believe i ever said there was no good new music. my record collection would certainly speak otherwise. and all i was trying to say is that a) it isn't exactly all that new, and b) it's certainly not the "best album of modern time." not that it was crap -- i own that album. if i thought it was crap, i wouldn't have bought it. in fact, i believe what i was trying to say is that there is better modern music, and released this year too. even as far as recycled 60's music goes, too. the beatles remix album love by george and giles martin has gotten many, many more spins in my house and car than her album.

i wasn't speaking about tattoos. i couldn't care less about appearances. i was referring to sensationalism of the tabloid media that follows her around broadcasting every torrid detail of her life that frankly i'd rather not know. that interferes, cognitively, with a person's perception of an artist. maybe that's unfair; ok it is. but that's life. when i think of her, lots of stuff comes to mind before "musician." blame the media, but it's bad publicity. and there is such a thing.

dood, you can see one of her tattoos on the album cover. if you got all the way through her album without noticing that, well.

 

you sure do have a way with words Dave!! Oozing nasal warts huh? Couldn't agree with you more about the "no good new music" comment too. Amy Winehouse is one huge talent and a great voice. I sincerely hope she manages to overcome her personal demons because Id LOVE to hear more stuff from her as good as "Back To Black".
Cheers

Steve

 

I just hope she will stay around long enough to make another album. I like her music.No , to me, it isnt some great revelation but it sure does groove .I have even managed to get somewhat past the weird sounding mix( I know I know.. thats the sound she wanted).

Hey talent is talent. Tatooed talent too. I have a bad habit of separating my values from my music I guess. Shame on me Im so bad .Then again it isnt like she's 2Live Crew or something.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up on the DVD Mal maybe I will check it out.

 

that weird sounding mix is probably a slight hip-hop influence. at least it sounds that way to me. i have no problem with that at all -- i'm the sorta person that likes a bit of boom in their bass. that's part of what makes it groove, i think.

 

I have this album on vinyl, and yes the effect is similar even on vinyl.

Good album. I've got Frank too (not on vinyl of course). I think I'll check out this live DVD. Sounds v. interesting