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Rating: Good |
The qualities of a vocal genius aren't always evident when she sings classic material. Often, her ability to both personalize and transcend a lifeless song with a magnificent performance reveals the character behind the singer. Both Billie Holiday and Otis Redding excelled in whatever they were recording, whether it was a timeless standard or a studio throwaway.
This collection of Amy Winehouse material, released to commemorate the first Christmas season since her death in July 2011, doesn't contain any strong material. Besides the well-chosen covers, the originals "Between the Cheats," "Best Friends, Right?", and "Half Time" wouldn't have made the cut if Winehouse had still been around to exercise her veto power.
But if the songwriting isn't strong enough to make listeners mistake this for a Back to Black sequel, the production and performances are of her high caliber. Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson handled almost all the production work, while Winehouse's performances are just as strong as those she delivered on Frank and Back to Black. Thanks to Remi and Ronson's work, the album is also remarkably consistent; only the songwriting and the preponderance of covers or "original versions" betray this as a posthumous collection.
Ronson's production on "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" is towering, though he injects a bit more drama into his chart than the song can support, while a bouncy version of "The Girl from Ipanema" (almost drum 'n' bass in places) almost reinvents a tired classic. The recordings span the beginning of her professional career to near the end, but Winehouse's vocals are almost always strong; only on her Tony Bennett duet, "Body and Soul," does she lapse into self-parody.
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