One of the most eagerly anticipated albums of the year and certainly one that’s had some serious air play over the preceding months, Ronson’s sophomore album, Version, has arrived. A departure from his rap influenced debut, as the title suggests, this is a set of covers of alt-rock anthems, infectious pop songs and alt-country gems. The question is, does it work?

Generally, the answer is a resounding “Yes”. The current single Stop Me is a great example, whilst some people might take offence at its dumbing down of The Smiths original, it’s still an infectious and well crafted updating of an indie anthem. Lily Allen’s vocals on Oh My God transforms the Kaiser Chief’s original into something that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on her debut. The reworking of all these songs with the Stax-influenced music, all 70’s brass with the twist of modern breaks and beats, really transforms these songs. The Northern Soul makeover of The Zutons Valerie that Amy Winehouse makes her own, further raises the bar. Her amazing vocals turning this into something more than the original; a bitter and jaded love song. Then there’s the Beatles-esque makeover of Radiohead’s Just, a twist of psychedelia that makes it all dreamy yet still affecting, the vocals taking on an additional and unnerving meaning. Amy, a forlorn and bitter love song from the inspired pen of Ryan Adams, is also given a reworking. Ronson seemingly content to turn it into a plain pop song it just about works but misses the real heart of the original.

However, for all those hits there are a fair number of misses. The terrible reworking of Maximo Park’s Apply Some Pressure, one of the singles of last year, just dulls and transforms it into some pointless Stax sounding cover, as if it’s been pushed through a machine. The Jam’s Pretty Green has also been turned into some terrible Caribbean steel band nonsense, that completely misses the mark. So to does Robbie Williams’ take on the classic Charlatans song The Only One I Know, he sounds half asleep as he gurns his way through the song. The less said about the instrumental take on Coldplay’s God Put A Smile on Your Face and Kasabian’s LSF the better.

So, a pretty mixed bag then and one that will split listeners right down the middle. Whilst it was an admirable project and some of the results here are genuinely great, the misses just seem to dominate it. They jar so much against what’s good here that you can’t help but reach for the skip button and wonder what on earth Ronson was thinking. Perhaps a more straightforward and differing approach to the songs is what’s needed, shoe-horning them into this Stax-influenced box doesn’t work for everything.
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Links
Mark Ronson [official site] [myspace]