Lioness – Hidden Treasures is no more an album than the name of the album, a clumsy, uncomfortable, hobbled together branding, is a name of an album. Instead it is exactly what I said it would be when I first heard about it: somewhere between post-humus tribute and cash in.
Producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi scoured their tape decks and glued together this album, barely 40 minutes if you take away the already released "Body And Soul" . If you take away the "nice to have but cmon this is meant to be an Amy album", it is much shorter. 12 minutes of absolutely must owns: "Between the Sheets" and two songs that deserve to be considered among her best, "Like Smoke" and the Donny Hathaway cover "A Song for You"
If you are feeling generous add "Our Time Will Come", "Half Time" and "Best Friends, right?" And you're at 22 minutes.
Three versions of songs we already know and two covers close up the album, one of which, "Will You Still Love me tomorrow" is not only useless, it appears to have had the music added in after the fact.
So, this adds very little to the Winehouse legend. A month ago I wrote "Is it too early to say I hate it?" I guess I was wrong, I don't hate it. But 12 minutes don't an album make.
Grade: B-