Preparing to go out of state for a journalism convention, I felt new music was only appropriate for what would be an eight hour bus ride. Eager to load new songs onto my iPhone, I opened the iTunes store to find an icon advertising pre-orders for Amy Winehouse’s new album. The problem? Amy Winehouse passed months ago.
To my dismay, Lioness: Hidden Treasures is a compilation of previously unreleased and alternate versions of popular tracks and covers by the legendary British singer. The notion of this album instantly took me back to Michael Jackson’s Michael. Released nearly a year ago, this album is a mixture of unreleased songs recorded by the iconic artist who passed years prior to the album’s release.
Many might be quick to assume that it is a positive idea to celebrate an artists’ unreleased works. Whether it be to feed the hungry fans still craving more, or simply on the basis of the belief that greatness deserves its recognition.
In spite of all of this, I strongly believe that when a talented artist is taken from this world, their work should be left just as they had left it. To seemingly scrounge up a compilation of unfinished and incomplete recordings and prepare them for release without an artist’s consent is just wrong. The work of an artist as brilliant as Winehouse should lie solely in that artist’s hands. It’s unfair to the deceased musician to finish something they had started; no one could possibly finish a piece with the same amount of quality put in by the original artist. Or perhaps they weren’t pleased enough with it to complete it at all.
Additionally, releasing albums after the passing of an icon only puts their well-deserved reputation at risk. Without the artist there to call the shots, the content may not live up to their standards. If a fan base recognizes this lapse in superb work, it might alter their opinion on the artist they had come to admire.
Morally and ethically, publically releasing the works of a deceased legend such as Winehouse is disrespectful and in bad taste. Quite frankly, eerie as it is, I can’t listen to Jackson’s “Hold My Hand” featuring Akon without wondering how much of Michael is really Michael.
