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Version

EMAILPRINTby Mark Ronson

Mark Ronson reviews
63
7.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >

Album Info

Label: RCA

Release Date: 12 June 2007

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Electronic

Summary

The second artist album from the acclaimed DJ and producer (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen) is filled with covers, as Ronson takes on works by artists as diverse as Radiohead, The Smiths, Britney Spears, Coldplay and Ryan Adams. Both Winehouse and Allen guest, along with Robbie Williams, Phantom Planet and Kasabian.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

83

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Most of the time... Ronson's big-band arrangements play like smart glosses on the albums he made with Winehouse and Allen, with waggish horn lines and supple guitar-bass-drums interplay throughout.

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80

Spin

A stylishly sweaty summer party. [Jul 2007, p.102]

80

Sputnikmusic

All of these tracks are listenable and easy to digest- some are just notably better than others.

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80

Under The Radar

Ronson just went off and created one of the most enjoyable records of the year. [Summer 2007, p.84]

80

musicOMH.com

Version is destined to become one of the great party albums of the summer - just playing it once is guaranteed to cheer you up.

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80

The Guardian

Occasionally, the combination of parping horns with perky indie melodies means the sound slips its moorings and drifts into another genre entirely: the kind of jolly, vaguely saucy-sounding easy listening found on the soundtracks of 70s sex comedies.... More often, however, the formula works perfectly.

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75

Stylus Magazine

Version has its share of undeniable clunkers, but its successes are so immediate and so animated that no reasonable listener could possibly begrudge Ronson for forcing them to rely on their track-skip button.

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70

Q Magazine

At 14 tracks Versions is too long... At its best, though, it's a blast. [May 2007, p.124]

60

Rolling Stone

An audacious set of... left-field covers (Radiohead's "Just," the Jam's "Pretty Green") turned into dance-soul tracks.

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60

Mojo

A coffee table record. [Jun 2007, p.114]

60

New Musical Express

His choices are faultless and his sense of fun is very apparent.

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50

Dot Music

Why the hell is Ronson being applauded as a wunderkind for basically recycling big beat and hiring some horns?

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50

Hot Press

Ultimately, the greatest achievement of Mark Ronson’s genetically modified Version is to demonstrate the superiority of the organic source material.

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33

Pitchfork

Slapping a brand new bag on these pasty-white-dude tunes more often bombs than not.

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30

PopMatters

Version is proof that you can’t just slap a bunch of horns and old-time R&B beats on rock songs and turn them into soul songs.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Dan B. gave it a6:
Pleasant. Unnecessary. The version of The Only One I Know is... not as good as the original, no matter how you slice it.

elmo . gave it a3:
Version starts off feeling fresh with the horn reworking of coldplays "god put a smile upon your face" but from there the album slowly tails off in quality and you become increasingly aware that the songs he has chosen were best left alone.the high point is the bombastic version of valiere sung by amy winehouse. The low point of the album is the offensive version of radioheads "just".

johnny b. gave it a10:
EXCELLENT! This album will absolutely make Mark Ronson a huge star in America. The album was well done and recorded beautifully.

Evan S. gave it an8:
The sheer bliss of the brass and grove on this album is worthy of the praise alone. Ignore Pitchfork, they need to get a sense of humor.

Mycroft W. gave it an8:
Do not take too seriously, but worth it alone for the Daptones playing a Coldplay song. And yes Robbie Williams does do a really terrible version of The Only One I Know

Simon J gave it an8:
Its good to see a different take of some great songs

[Anonymous] gave it a2:
pipped at the post by Rythms Del Mondo

Read more user comments >

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