Her album "Frank," a more stripped-down, jazzy effort released in 2003 in the U.K. and now in the States, finds the edgy British singer rivaling greats including Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt and Lauryn Hill with her silky, smoky voice.

Though the guitar, piano and horn arrangements are top-shelf, it's Winehouse's wit and honesty that set her songs apart. On "Stronger Than Me," aimed at a disappointing lover, she scats convincingly before launching into scathing lines like "I'm not gonna meet your mother anytime/I just wanna grip your body over mine" and "I've forgotten all of young love's joy/Feel like a lady and you my lady boy/You should be stronger than me."

The sparse "F--k Me Pumps" isn't especially interesting musically, but the sarcastic lyrics elevate it: "Without girls like you, there'd be no fun/We'd go to the club and not see anyone" and "Without girls like you, there's no nightlife/All those men just go home to their wives."

Even when Winehouse is caught cheating, her rationalization to a jealous lover is in complete control in "I Heard Love is Blind:" "Don't overreact - I pretended he was you/You wouldn't want me to be lonely."