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Product Description: A lot has been said about Mark Ronson. Some have called him "a 21st century Quincy Jones," while others know him as one of the worlds finest DJ's with International renown, favored by the decadent fashion cognoscenti, the Hip-Hop elite and anyone in general who likes to party... Now add to that list THE PRODUCER DU JOUR! From his stellar production on Christina Aguilera's multi-platinum "Back To Basics" to his cutting edge contributions on the much buzzed about Lilly Allen album "Alright, Still Back To Black" and the genre bending Amy Winehouse release that's taking fans and critics by storm, Mr Mark Ronson is strutting his stuff, and strutting it well.
With all the production credits for other artists under his belt, he's now turned his attention to his own project, Version, the album the UK critics are calling a Major winner. Version is a beautiful collection of cover songs, re-imagined by Mark. His philosophy on Version was to work with songs he's long loved- while not trying to make them better, he just wanted to make them bounce... From the feel good "Valerie" cover (The Zutons) featuring Amy Winehouse, to the quirky and fun "Oh My God" (Kaiser Chiefs) featurung Lily Allen, to the piece de resistance: "Stop Me" (The Smiths), featuring the soul stirring vocals of newcomer Daniel Merriweather, Version is poised to be the must-have album this summer Amazon.com: Following up his success in helping produce Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, Mark Ronson's second solo project covers a series of mostly British indie-rock songs but with a funky soul remake. The meeting of two styles you ordinarily wouldn't associate with one another makes for some interesting hybrids. The cover of Radiohead's "Just," done with Phantom Planet is unexpectedly excellent but hearing Tiggers and Ol' Dirty Bastard remaking "Toxic" by Britney Spears will probably leave more folks scratching their heads than nodding them. Overall, the balance is positive and should hopefully open up both indie rock and funk fans to both respective genres. In a class by itself is Winehouse's cover of the Zutons' "Valerie," --the best song Paul Weller and Martha Reeves never made. --Oliver Wang Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-08
He delivers the goods in style.
Mark Ronson's a busy man. He's been producing for Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Robbie Williams, yet has still found time to focus on his own studio album.
Comprised of new versions of old classics, it's a very entertaining listen from back to front, featuring the likes of Amy Winehouse, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Daniel Merriweather and Kasabian, all helping Ronson put his considerably fresh and funky twist on familiar tunes.
Highlights include the late ODB rapping to the Britney Spears refix of Toxic, Winehouse making vast improvements on the original with 'Valerie' and Phantom Planet singing an uber cool version of Radiohead's 'Just'.
Impressively suited for a party play through, this is definitely one to pick up for the nearing summer months.
With "Version", super-producer Mark Ronson has set out to prove that pop voyeurism and experimentalism don't have to be bad things using his own unique re-interpretive style.
Hence, he has assembled an album of spectacular cover versions that deliver very alternative versions of modern classics from Coldplay, The Charlatans, Radiohead and The Smiths.
Some listeners will undoubtedly write it off almost instantly as disastrous. Others may take some convincing.
But for many, "Version" is a brave, bold, blast of an album that almost always gets things right.
Ronson, for his part, emerges as a musical artist of the highest calibre -a music innovator whose funk-strewn re-interpretations effortlessly place themselves on the right side of cool.
On the whole, "Version" is a cut above most cover version compilations, as well as a darn fine party album for the approaching summer season. It probably won't impress the die-hard cynics - but for those willing to open their minds, or anyone in search of some expert funk, it delivers the goods in style.
My picks: "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face", "Oh My God", "Valerie", "Pretty Green", "Amy", "Just" and "Toxic". Rating:
Date: 2008-04-26
Ronson
Nice Variety of vocal and musical; in several arrangements, Ronson skillfully blends "big band" and modern sounds in a catchy, distinctive style not common in USA Rating: 
Date: 2008-04-05
This is my Version
I like this cd. The songs that are good are real good but over half of the cd is kind of "what the hell is this". But its a good cover album, its still a good buy. Rating:
Date: 2008-04-01
Enjoyable and fun from start to finish
Mark Ronson has been around for a while but really skyrocketed up the "it" list after producing Lily Allen's "Alright, Still" and Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" to stardom in 2006 (but released in the US in 07), so it didn't come as a surprise that he would put out another album (after 2003's Here Comes the Fuzz).
On "Versions" (14 tracks, 46 min.), Ronson continues the semi-throwback Motown/Stax sound he so aptly crafted for Allen and Whinehouse, only he applies it to covers of other artists, mostly with great result. The first half of the album is outstanding, After the instrumental opener, a cover of Coldplay's "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face", which features the fantastic Dapkins, Ronson calls on Lily Allen for a delightful version of the Kaiser Chiefs' "Oh My God". Even better is an almost unrecognizable version of Britney Spears' "Toxic", which is my book is miles better than the original. Amy Winehouse is called in on a terrific version of the Zutons' "Valerie" and Maximo Park's version of "Apply Some Pressure" ends a fabulous first half of the album, which I rate 4.5 Stars. After a short instrumental "Inversion", the second half starts, and it is intriguing but not as good. The Ryan Adams cover of "Amy" is a bit too close to the original, as is the Kasabian's cover of "L.S.F." I rate the second half of the album 3.5 stars.
In all, "Versions" is an enjoyable and fun album, no more, no less, with not much pretension other than to get people to move to the music, and of that, Mark Ronson does a great job. Rating: 
Date: 2008-03-01
The man's done good
With his smug smirk, his quirky accent (not quite British, not quite east coast American) and his irritating habit of dropping celebrity names into every interview I've certainly seen of him, Mark Ronson is a man I've found difficult to like.
But the producer & DJ to the stars (he played at Tom Cruise's wedding, apparently) makes darn good music, there's no running away from that. He was responsible for half of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, produced a track on Lily Allen's Alright, Still and a track on Adele's 19, which I'm really getting into at the moment.
On this album - a selection of cover versions - he displays an incredible talent for musical reinterpretation. I've been resisting this album ever since it came out but eventually caved in. I'm so glad I did. I feel like I already own it anyway, as I know all the singles he's released from it so far (from the radio) and really love the innovative and thought provoking videos he put out to promote them.
The man is certainly eclectic, going over tunes by the likes of The Zutons, Coldplay, Radiohead, The Jam, Britney Spears, Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian, just to name a few, and reinterpreting their music in ways that I personally find very difficult to categorise. It's good stuff though; modern with a hint of retro with some banging beats. My favourites include "Stop Me" featuring Daniel Merriweather, "Valerie" featuring Amy Winehouse and "Oh My God" featuring Lily Allen. They all sound much better on my system at home than they did on the radio or on MTV Base. His version of Coldplay's "God Put A Smile On Your Face" featuring The Daptone Horns (Ronson definitely loves his horns) is also really cool and currently being used on practically every reality/factual TV programme here, or so it seems, and I also enjoy "Amy" featuring Kenna and "LSF" featuring Kasabian. I thought I'd like "The Only One I Know" featuring Robbie Williams (Ronson is reported to be working on Williams' forthcoming album) but I didn't, no matter how hard I tried to. His version of Britney Spears' "Toxic" featuring Tiggers (and O.D.B.) is certainly hysterical if nothing else and I'm just starting to like his new single "Just", the old Radiohead song, which on here, features Phantom Planet.
The man's done good and has had a very good run. "Stop Me" made it to #2 on the UK Top 40, he won a producer of the year 2008 Grammy the other day for producing his portion of "Back To Black" and won best male 2008 Brit Award - the first time the award has been given to someone who didn't actually sing on the winning album - and "Valerie", which also made it to #2, is currently the longest reigning single in the UK Top 40. It's been there for 32 weeks and currently stands at #13. I think we'll be seeing and hearing more of Ronson in the years to come. I'm sure he'll grow on me eventually ;) |
