On the extended
album, Frank, Amy Winehouse croons
about her three favorites topics — booze, boys and blow. The album's 18 tracks
feature creative instrumentation, vivid lyrics and juxtaposition of musical
genres. With its combination of delicate hip-hop beats, bass grooves and jazzy
brass arrangements, Frank wonderfully
showcases Winehouse's intense whiskey-soaked warble.
Amy Winehouse's appeal is half talent, half personality.
With her signature heavy eye makeup, ratty beehive and sultry, husky croon, she
has created a persona that simply exudes cool. Twenty-four-year-old Winehouse
became a tabloid headliner following the success of her 2006 album Back to Black, and it seems the media
never fails to capture the diva's drunken escapades, sloppy live performances
and bloody squabbles with husband Blake Civil-Fielder. Though Winehouse's
constant mishaps solidify her reputation as one of music's most melodramatic
and volatile personalities, they have yet to detract from her talent; her
powerful and unique vocal ability shines on Frank.
The album opens with a short scat intro followed by
Winehouse's first single, "Stronger Than Me." On the piano-driven tune "You
Sent Me Flying," she casually admits, "I'm just not that into you," proving
that she is an independent woman.
"Pumps" is a party theme that criticizes the ambition of
being a "footballer's wife" and the ambiguity of one-night stands. The majority
of the songs on the album were written and produced by Winehouse herself, and
her lyrics are revealing and personal, as she creates vivid — if sometimes
crude — imagery.
Unfortunately, Frank
falls short with its slew of soporific love songs such as "I Heard Love Is Blind,"
and "(There Is) No Greater Love." Winehouse's talent lies in her vocal
strength; unfortunately, these uninteresting songs contrast too much with her
strong personality. The heavier hip-hop songs, though, are the better ones on
the album, and this inconsistency is Frank's
biggest weakness.
However, Winehouse delivers the attitude on "In My Bed," a
heavier song on which she performs an echoing, virtuosic scat over a saxophone
solo. The sound trembles and cracks, adding to the album's retro vibe.
On "What Is It About Men," perhaps the heaviest song on the
album, Winehouse laments, "My destructive side has grown a mile wide." "Help
Yourself" features lighter percussion and acoustic guitar.
Several jazz songs, including "Moody's Mood For Love" and
"Know You Now," were added to the original version of the album. The best of
these additions is the album's final track, "Mr. Magic (Through The Smoke)," yet
another nod to Winehouse's drug-induced lifestyle, on which she admits to being
"blue without [her] green." The hip-hop song's dissonant, scattered guitar
chords give it a psychedelic feel.
Frank fails to
deliver the hit quality and consistency of Back
to Black, but it's nonetheless a solid debut album, and we already know
that Winehouse has far outdone herself. However, the album's redeeming quality
is this tiny, tatooed songstress's enormous and unmistakable voice. Every song
on Frank proves her strength and
talent as a female vocalist and songwriter. Winehouse may very well end up in
rehab, but the girl can really sing.
3.5 out of 5 stars
