As you all know, this has been the summer of my musical discontent\u2026although more accurately it\u2019s been the summer of my musical contentment and my wallet\u2019s discontent. After my double barreled cd buying of the new Robyn and Madonna cds I was looking forward to a gap in my purchases. The next item on the list is Cyndi Lauper on 5\/27 and to take a listen to the new Al Green that comes out that day to see if it to must be mine. All this said, you can imagine the word I said when browsing through my local discount store\u2019s music section and I saw that the Duffy cd had released. (Hint, starts with f and rhymes with duck.) And with that, I snatched her cd \u201cRockferry\u201d up and tossed it into the cart.<\/p>\n
So ladies, you just realize that your life isn\u2019t right. That the man you love isn\u2019t capable of loving you back the way you wish he would. You need to reclaim your self-respect. To find yourself. You wake up just before the sun rises, pack your stuff into an old duffle bag, toss it into your beat up car and drive off into the rising sun on your journey of self-discovery. What cd do you listen to as you drive away? Duffy\u2019s \u201cRockferry\u201d.<\/p>\n
Not to sound like every music critic on the planet, but it is the best way to describe it, Duffy\u2019s cd sounds like a cleaner, less funky version of Amy Winehouse\u2019s \u201cBack in Black\u201d album. It\u2019s a fair assessment, but for me the two albums are a little like apples and oranges. Whereas Winehouse\u2019s album reeks of self-destruction and self-loathing (God I love that album!) Duffy\u2019s is filled with melancholy demands of self-respect and a desire for self-discovery. Maybe Rolling Stone did get it right when they said that Duffy is like Winehouse\u2019s good girl sister.<\/p>\n
The first single from Duffy\u2019s album is \u201cMercy\u201d which is up tempo tune that makes you want to shake your groove thang. It\u2019s a great song. No other song on the album sounds like it. Not even a little. So do yourself a favor, don\u2019t buy the album based on that one song! I don\u2019t know if her label thought that Americans wouldn\u2019t be interested in her bluesy, 60s songstress stylings or what, but they are definitely trying to pull the patented bait and switch on this one. In my opinion they\u2019re doing the album a huge disservice. Duffy\u2019s \u201cRockferry\u201d album has a beating bleeding heart that draws you in, maybe it\u2019s not an instant smash, but for me it is an instant classic.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the bait:<\/p>\n