Lioness: Hidden Treasures [VINYL]

I have all the rest of Amy's available recordings but delayed purchasing Lioness until now expecting something very much second league, not on a par with Back To Black. If you too have deferred buying this posthumous release, I'd urge you to invest in it now as you'll probably deem it much better than the mixed reviews led you to believe. There are a couple of weaker tracks - to my ears, 'Girl From Ipanema' and 'I Only Want To Be With You' but even these are not without merit. A less than stupendous Amy product is, after all, likely to be about ten times superior to a 'failed' album by any one of her contemporaries.One thing I really liked about Lioness is the way in which to me it seems to foreshadow what the more mature Winehouse vocal approach may have encompassed had she lived. If you believe that in singing there's no room for less than perfect diction or phrasing or whatever, well tell that to Robert Zimmerman. Where the word sounds are less than crisp, on Lioness I reckon what comes out strong and balances it all up is raw and real emotion - still controlled but at times seeming impressionistic, like a painting, an abstract of how it feels to be alive. The voice becomes truly an instrument, all centred on the sound and less directly upon its meaning.'Best Friends, Right?' is a searingly honest account of a one sided love gone west - it will make you wince. There is humour here too - as always with Amy. There is a very rich seam of Amy to be mined here. All it takes is for you to open your ears and your mind.In this increasingly cynical world where the 'right' response is sadly all too often the sneer, I actually believe those responsible for producing this album did so entirely for the right reasons. They were keen to give something to Amy's many fans but I think they also cared very much that her rightly stellar reputation as a vocalist should not be sullied by the release of a sub-standard album. Here we have the voice but also an intimation of Amy's vulnerability. In my view, it is that vulnerability which so informs her work to raise it to levels unsurpassed by any vocalist of recent times.You could say I like this a lot. Listen to it, don't compare it to Amy's other albums. You might like it too.

Great

Love Amy, Great Album.Gone long before her time so sad.Beautiful Girl, Beautiful Music so talented.

The posthumously released ‘Lioness: Hidden Treasures’ contains 12 previously unreleased archive recordings selected by producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi. It was released in December 2011, timed for the first Christmas season following Amy’s death.While this collection does not claim or pretend to be Amy’s ‘third album’, it’s more than just barrel-scrapings of unreleased bits and pieces and does gel together as a listenable whole. A few of the recordings are true vintage and pre-date the ‘Frank’ sessions, notably a slightly over-the-top rendition of ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ completely absent the mellow vibe of Jobim & Gilberto’s original, and Amy’s own early composition ‘Half Time’ from 2002.Standout tracks are Amy’s ‘Between the Cheats’ confessing her infidelity in song, a stripped-down and frankly superior alternate take of ‘Valerie’, a magnificent cover of Garson & Hillard’s ‘Our Day will Come’ and a duet with Amy’s 85-year old jazz icon Tony Bennett ‘Body & Soul’.So overall this is a fine collection of leftovers, selected and produced with care and skill by Ronson and Remi. While not quite up to the overall high standard of ‘Frank’ or 'Back to Black’ it’s more than just OK and a fitting tribute to a great jazz talent. What a pity Amy didn’t have a more positive attitude to rehab; she might still be with us and have had a singing career as long and successful as her idols Sinatra and Bennett.

Amy Winehouse cd her music is full of Soul.Excellent Superb

Great bought it for the first track really, but proved to be ok, few nice tracks on it.

Okay I am not sure what people were expecting with this but if you like Amy you have to own this CD. The version of Valerie is worth the price of the CD alone. Producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson have done a great job, there is a certain rawness to it but to be honest that enhances this CD. It is like being in a small venue with Amy live. I am 55 years old and Amy was the best singer songwriter in my lifetime. There was so much more to come. She was a musical icon. This CD is a fitting tribute to her genius. It completes my collection and makes a trio of three albums that tell the story of a brilliant singer. Don't hesitate buy it!

I have bought this vinyl in 2011. The number of times I enjoyed listening to it: zero. Sorry, my record player only works at 33 rpm. It is not indicated anywhere on this product that it is 45 rpm. So I downloaded it and listen to it on my computer.Music 5 stars, information provided 0 stars.