Duffy is just one of the acts to make an appearance
Radio 1's live Lounge is back with their third album and what a corker it is! Boasting everyone from The Script to Girls Aloud to Pendulum to Dizzee Rascal this album is guaranteed to have something for everyone.
While the live tracks are undeniably good their likely to appeal more to hardcore fans of the particular bands. It's when an act takes on someone else's music that things really get good.
Kicking of these covers are The Ting Tings, turning their hand to The Gossip's Standing In The Way Of Control. Mixing in Snap's I've Got The Power gives the track a great edge and really allows the duo to put their mark on the former number one. Katie's familiar throaty vocals sound great on this one.
Dizzee Rascal then turns the tables on The Ting Tings given his own treatment to That's Not My Name. For a song that was played so much over the summer, Dizzee's version keeps it fresh and different.
Further down the track list is a version that on paper really shouldn't work but somehow, in practice it manages to. Electronic artists Pendulum take on Coldplay's Violet Hill and turn it into something totally different but enjoyable. The electronic effects turn this into something completely different - who'd have thought you'd be able to jump around like a mad man at a rave to a Coldplay song!?
Mike Skinner reminds you that this is a Live Lounge album when he reminds himself, "No Swearing, no swearing" throughout the Street's live version of blinded by the lights. When they pick the pace up towards the end and add a bit of a Jamaican twist the song turns the corner into amazing and is definitely one of the highlights of the album.
Following that comes one of the disappointments on the CD when McFly perform Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl. You would expect better of McFly and they don't really put their own stamp on the track. They could have even given it a comedy edge changing the lyrics to 'I Kissed A Boy' but no, they leave it alone.
Girls Aloud, don't really step out of their comfort zone when they take on Robyn's With Every Heartbeat but they still do the song justice turning the dance track into a beautiful ballad.
Another disappointment comes courtesy of Elliot Minor who sing Rule The World. The band could have put their own stamp on the Take That song but it was really nothing special.
Elbow are one of the acts who stand out when performing their own song. They sing a really touching version of their hit One Day Like This.
A great bonus of this album is that you get the chance to hear Ironik's Stay With me without that bloody chipmunk voice. The song has some really touching lyrics and could be a fantastic ballad but the single version is hampered by the chipmunk vocals. When he looses them for the live version it makes the song one hundred times better.
All in all a fantastic double album.
Female First - Jessica Watson