Rockferry

See Larger Image	List Price: £16.99 Our Price: £8.98 Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Manufacturer: Polydor Group Average Customer Rating:


Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0602517564237 Label: Polydor Group Manufacturer: Polydor Group Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Polydor Group Release Date: 2008-03-03 Running Time: 38 Studio: Polydor Group
Related Items 19 Lessons To Be Learned Seventh Tree Little Dreamer Melody
Editorial Reviews: Rockferry, the Welsh singer's lovingly constructed debut album, has already succeeded beyond expectations, and although Duffy may not quite be the ingénue portrayed by a clever press campaign (she nearly won a local television talent show a few years back while a single credited to Aimee Duffy is still available on iTunes) she is surely the most appealing of the current flood of young soul sirens. The astonishing title track, co-written by Bernard Butler, sounded like a lost transmission that had taken decades to get through as soon as it hit radio last year. But the gently rolling soul ballad "Stepping Stone", that strapping, inescapable monster hit "Mercy", the ice cool "Serious" (the one time she really does channel the spirit of Dusty Springfield) and the wistful, elegant "Warwick Avenue" are similarly effective. Suggestions by some that Rockferry is little more than sixties pastiche are churlish. Butler's previous work with David McAlmont (featured here as a backing singer) showed his skill at writing and arranging the dramatic, while her other collaborators such as Steve Booker and the team of Jimmy Hogarth and Eg White are hardly lightweights. But despite some wonderful orchestral settings, it's Duffy's terrific voice that makes this so satisfying, even overpowering Butler's exquisitely underplayed guitar work on "Rockferry" itself. Growling the blues on "Syrup & Honey" or belting it out over his lovingly arranged wall of sound on "Distant Dreamer", she sets the tone throughout, several of her songs dealing with escape, both physical and romantic. The sound of someone singing herself to stardom, Rockferry is at times genuinely amazing. Steve Jelbert
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Simply stunning Comment: I bought this album as a chance puchase based upon a magazine article that I had read about her. I was unaware of the hype and as they don't play very many of her songs on Classic FM and Radio 4, was also unaware of her music!! The melodies are soulful and her voice mature beyond her years. I just love this album: sad but uplifting - how's that for an oxymoron. Yes it took me back to my childhood in the 60s. I would love for her to cover "Ferry 'cross the Mersey". Comparisons to other artists such as Dusty Springfield are understandable but unfair. To me she sounds like ... well Duffy Customer Rating: Summary: Not exactly duff but not great either Comment: The girl is a talent, proudly celtic, and I wouldn't kick her out of bed, as they say, but hmm, sorry, the material, for me is just too unoriginal sounding. She seems to fancy herself as a Dusty revivalist but it's just all too obvious for me. She's got the voice and the looks, but I can't help thinking, after hearing this album that she's also got the style manager and the music manager. I think the woman is every bit as produced as her music, and boy, isn't her music produced! I'd like to see her throw off the shackles of her 'owners' and find her own style and her own sound and forget the Dusty thing now. Find your own voice, Duffy, and I'll listen to you again. At the moment, your'e too much of a package for me. And on the Dusty thing, which has obviously got a lot of focus since Duffy's emergence, I really don't see a great deal of similarity in the two voices. Dusty's was incredibly warm and rich, a dark chocolate or coffee voice with a drop of Irish whiskey, but Duffy's is much more a Bicardi and coke voice, it has power but is a little sharp, it does not have the depth at all that her heroine's had. To me, it sounds far more like the voice of Lulu. When she realises this I just hope she doesn't dye her barnet red and start laughing a lot. Be yourself luv (and I can't see why you wouldn't want to be). Customer Rating: Summary: That hideous vibrato..... Comment: Duffy seems to be a likeable young lady and can sing in tune - but, in truth, her voice is extremely thin and harsh, and somebody has told her that it is OK to end every, and I mean every, line with a slow-motion vibrato. Duffy, it's just horrible, and the recent live apperance as a Jools Holland special was just unlistenable for that very reason. Why y y y y y do do do do do you hoo hoo hoo hoo doo doo doo doo i i i i i t? Rockferry is by far the best track: the hit Mercy is pretty bland. The backing is really odd - the instruments are fairly distant and the girl is deliberately forward in the mix, which sounds like a cross between old Merseybeat and Tamla Motown circa 1968. Nothing wrong with that, it's just odd. One reviewer wrote that it is the best record they have heard in about 30 years: well, I suggest that if it's female singers you want, try anything by Judie Tzuke with her amazing harmonies (Welcome to the Cruise, Sports Car, The Cat is Out Live DVD), Phamtasmagoria and Air Cut by Curved Air with Sonja Kristina, anything by Kiki Dee, anything by Dusty, anything by Judy Henske, anything by Paula Cole and so on (see my reviews on Amazon, who stock all this great stuff). I'm really sorry, but Miss Duffy is just not in that league by a very long way. I suppose she is a relief from the awful antics and monotone of Amy Winehouse (Ruth Archer - nooo, nooo, nooo), who truly is unbearable, but that does not make her great, just a relief. I am sure that we all wish her luck, but the voice needs a really good coach and that numbing vibrato needs to be completely eliminated - it serves only to highlight the voice's thin sound. Customer Rating: Summary: 24 going on 44 Comment: When I first heard 'Mercy' I didn't like it because I thought the background riff sounded too much like the one from 'Stand By Me' and, for me, it didn't quite work. Also, it is too easy to compare the latest female singing sensation to Dusty Springfield or Amy W which isn't fair on anyone concerned. Then I heard 'Warwick Avenue' and my interest was piqued (I had just split up with someone who lived in that part of London). Still I was waiting for something more. Then I head 'Stepping Stone' and I knew I was going to buy this album, and I have not regretted it one bit. In fact, I think I like some of the album tracks better: 'Serious' is what the Supremes might have sounded like had they gone disco, smooth and funky with all the right squeals; 'Hanging On Too Long' which builds slowly with a soft guitar riff and begins to let rip about a third of the way through; 'Distant Dreamer', one of the best album closers I have ever heard, bold and brassy. Then there is the title track 'Rockferry' (a strange choice for a first single) which build up some Dusty-style yearning for a long-cherished place a la 'Goin Back'; the unadulterated mayhem of 'Mercy' which sounds a lot better in the context of this album and rightly earned its Number 1 spot earlier on this year. 24 going on 44, Duffy is a talent to be reckoned with. Customer Rating: Summary: Not Bad Comment: I've been thinking about getting this CD for a while now. Kept up to date with all the reviews etc. Have to say average to good. It's ok, just overall a little 'down' sounding and samey. I agree with most that Mercy is far and away the outstanding track, and Duffy's voice is fantastic, it could just do with some better material, so five stars for Duffy, but four for the CD. More Reviews