Mark Ronson, like mentioned in the Grammy post, is a producer. More than that, though, he has successfully made the producer-artist crossover, something of difficulty considering the case of Swizz Beats' sad release.
Ronson gained much attention after the success of his best creation: Amy Winehouse's Back To Black, "Rehab" probably being one of the biggest British hits in America in recent years. Version, his sophomore album, encompasses a list of covers, or, as the track list reads, "Revisited Versions". These revisited versions include Ronson's touch, which include particular attention on the drums and horns, which often, but not always, take attention from the vocals of the featured guest.
This mid-2007 release debuted at number 2 in the UK Albums chart, just under Avril Lavigne and has spent 30 weeks in the chart, which usually sees albums slip after a couple of weeks. Disregarding the charts, the album itself is one of 2007's best works. The album begins with an instrumental of Coldplay's "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" paving the way for the focus on the horns throughout the album. Next in the list are the album's best songs: "Oh My God", "Stop Me", "Toxic" and "Valerie". The first of these features fellow-Brit Lilly Allen, whose interpretation of the Kaiser Chief-original brings a light, laid-back tone. "Valerie" features non other than Winehouse, who comes back to return the favor. Interestingly, this song would peak higher than any of Winehouse's solo career.
"Stop Me", the song which received the most attention in the US (due to the appearance on Jimmy Kimmel), is also the album's best track. Everything seems to work on this track: the drums, guitar, bass, horns, etc. It is not a mistery why this would be the first single. Lyrics are a medley of "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" by The Smiths and "You Keep Me Hanging On".
The other half of the album is put together by a cleverly named trio of interludes:"Inversion", "Diversion" and "Outversion". What's left in between is "Just", a Radiohead cover turned hip hop-rock thanks to the collaboration with Phantom Planet's Alex Greenwald. "The Only One I Know" with Robbie Williams, shows that the flop of "Rudebox" was a mere bump.
After a listen to his album, which easily tops Soulja Boy's catchy anthem (I danced it too), it is interesting to see how Ronson's name is practically invisible in any US chart. "Stop Me" which, apart from the UK, also charted in Australia and Italy, did not even touch the Hot 100, merely reaching number 4 in the dance charts. I guess it will be up to sources like mtvU (and this blog) to invest time in promoting acts like Ronson, until mainstream music catches on.
Rating: 9.2 (More covers from Americans would appeal more)
Best: "Stop Me" ft. Daniel Merriwether
Charts: #2 UK, #129 US
Downloads:
Stop Me Download (at evilshare)
Valerie Download (at evilshare)
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