Adele

[cremetangerine82]

Jan 23, 2023 13:05:19 GMT -4 chiqui said:

I could never get past Amy Winehouse's image to like her music.

I always though Adele's "just a regular lass" bit felt calculated, which made her feel like the version of Amy Winehouse whose music or "private" life couldn't offend anyone (save my music snobbery that hates bland mediocrity). Also, who knows how much of Amy's "image" derived from the notoriously brutal British press? I'll still stick to my opinion that for all of Amy's troubles, she's the superlative singer.

I just hope Adele doesn't win another AOTY Grammy (especially over Kendrick or Beyoncé again).

[chiqui]

I meant Amy Winehouse's visual image. The eyeliner, the hair, the ballet shoes, the tattoos. It came across as very calculated to me, like she was trying to express how much she hated herself. That she was so hung up on that Blake guy didn't help either. Her music is all right, but whenever I hear it, I see her, not whatever is likeable about the music. Some people have the same reaction to Michael Jackson's old songs.

[tiggertoo]

I like Uh-dele (lol). I saw her in concert a few years and she was awesome. May be schtick but she does it well.

[Ladybug]

I saw Adele on her last tour also and she gave a great performance. I played her first three albums all the time, but this last one . . . eh. I listened once and it just underwhelmed me. I'd still go to her Vegas show if I had the opportunity. She's extremely funny and is a great storyteller.

I loved Amy Winehouse in spite of her outward image. She was clearly struggling with addiction during the early 00s when the tabloid media and paparazzi laser-focused on troubled young women because it made them a lot of money. She was not in a state of mind to make healthy choices for herself. Her death still makes me really sad because I did find her so unique and talented.

[cremetangerine82]

Jan 24, 2023 13:15:01 GMT -4 chiqui said:

I meant Amy Winehouse's visual image. The eyeliner, the hair, the ballet shoes, the tattoos. It came across as very calculated to me, like she was trying to express how much she hated herself. That she was so hung up on that Blake guy didn't help either. Her music is all right, but whenever I hear it, I see her, not whatever is likeable about the music. Some people have the same reaction to Michael Jackson's old songs.

Amy was a huge fan of 1960s girls groups (especially The Ronettes), so it felt more like a homage that a rote retread, such as having tattoos usually associated with sailors or tough guys. Also, her cat eyeliner really highlighted her green eyes. I can't mind-read the dead, but her look was designed by her to stand out. The worrying thing was not her physical aesthetic, but her other various disorders that went untreated and bullied by strangers. Before I get blow back, she was physically violent, but how much of that was influenced by a divorce, absent father, substances, mood disorder(s), bulimia, stage fright, the stressors of fame, enabling/exploitative parents when fame happened, a garbage-ass partner, the death of her grandmother, and a rapacious media who savored her every failure?

Also, I'm not casting aspersions on Amy's undeniable talent because of her POS ex-husband/leech; you could easily say the same about Ronnie Spector (R.I.P.) or Tina Turner or Aretha Franklin (R.I.P.). In fact, Aretha's first husband/manager left visible bruises on her.

Anytime she would perform with just a voice and a live band or duet with Tony Bennett and hold her own, you knew she was the real deal - no industry plant or nepo baby or someone who needed AutoTune. She was also an excellent songwriter, she won three Ivor Novello Awards for excellence in songwriting.

I'm a Black American woman who side-eyes any white British woman who sings traditionally black music and gets excessive page for it, but Amy was too good to dismiss (also, R.I.P. Dusty Springfield). Again, I just feel those who want to "leave Britney alone!" are OK with still mocking a deeply talented woman who life was cut too short. You are missed, Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011). May her memory be a blessing.

P.S. - Ladybug, I wish I could like your comment more than once!

P.P.S. - chiqui, I agree with you on Michael Jackson: I couldn't stand his singing, I couldn't stand his speaking voice, mystified by his "sex appeal" (where?), and his public image (at best) was an adult man who spent way too many sleepovers with young pubescent boys, so his death remains unmourned by me. Plus I grew up in a Prince household, so Rest in Purple, Mr. Nelson.

[forever1267]

Jan 24, 2023 17:22:16 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

I played her first three albums all the time, but this last one . . . eh. I listened once and it just underwhelmed me.

I wondered about that, because I've only heard ... "Go Easy on Me" and nothing else from the album. Did they just decide one single was enough? The last two had four or five singles.

[cremetangerine82]

Feb 1, 2023 18:43:12 GMT -4 forever1267 said:

Jan 24, 2023 17:22:16 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

I played her first three albums all the time, but this last one . . . eh. I listened once and it just underwhelmed me.

I wondered about that, because I've only heard ... "Go Easy on Me" and nothing else from the album. Did they just decide one single was enough? The last two had four or five singles.

I guess that was probably a management decision not to flood the market with too many singles at the same time (*coughDrakecough*). People know Adele more, so she doesn't need the multiple singles from one album. Plus, I get to hear her voice less!

P.S. - Praise the Universe, Adele didn't win AOTY! *Nelson Muntz laugh*