Amy Winehouse's 'Back to Black' Gets 20th Anniversary Reissue with Live Concert, Demos and Unseen Photos
Amy Winehouse's Back to Black will be reissued for its 20th anniversary on October 23, featuring the original album alongside B-sides, demos, a full live concert recording, new liner notes and previously unseen photographs, according to Rolling Stone. The reissue arrives as both a triple-CD and a clear triple-LP vinyl set.
Disc One reproduces the original 11-track album: Rehab, You Know I'm No Good, Me & Mr Jones, Just Friends, Back to Black, Love Is a Losing Game, Tears Dry on Their Own, Wake Up Alone, Some Unholy War, He Can Only Hold Her and Addicted.
Disc Two collects B-sides, bonus tracks and demos. Among the highlights: Valerie (Live at BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge), Monkey Man, To Know Him Is to Love Him, a You Know I'm No Good remix featuring Ghostface Killah, and original demo versions of Rehab, Back to Black, Love Is a Losing Game and Fuckery. Several alternative takes and bonus cuts round out the disc.
Disc Three is a 14-track live recording from Winehouse's February 8, 2007 show at Paradiso in Amsterdam — a gig from the tour cycle that took Back to Black around the world.
The reissue also includes new liner notes with commentary from producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, both of whom shaped the album's sound. Ronson, who said he made six contributions to Back to Black, contributed images of Winehouse's handwritten lyrics from his personal archives. Previously unseen photographs by Mischa Richter and Alex Lake — whose work appeared in the original album packaging — are also included.
Beyond the triple-disc editions, the original album is being reissued as a "zoetrope" LP (a vinyl format with animated-style artwork) and an Amazon-exclusive CD.
Back to Black was released in the UK in October 2006. It debuted at Number Three on the Official Albums Chart before climbing to Number One, and has been certified 15-times platinum by the BPI — a certification reflecting 4.5 million units sold in the UK. In the US, the album peaked at Number Two on the Billboard 200 and is certified double platinum by the RIAA, denoting two million equivalent units.
This is not the first deluxe treatment for the album. A Deluxe Edition 2CD was released in November 2007 containing a bonus disc of B-sides, rare tracks and live recordings, and a half-speed master vinyl edition has also been available through Winehouse's official store. The 20th anniversary set goes further, pairing the deepest collection of rarities yet assembled with a complete live show and new contextual material from the people who made the record.
For fans, the appeal is straightforward: the demo tracks offer a window into songs that became staples of 2000s pop, the Amsterdam concert captures Winehouse on stage at a creative peak, and the handwritten lyrics and liner notes place the album's creation in the words of its collaborators.
