Album Review : Radio 1 Live Lounge - Volume 4

Looking at the track listing, it doesn’t look promising for Volume 4.  Four Beyoncé covers, two versions of ‘Bonkers’ and ‘Beat Again’, and a vast array of artists that are becoming synonymous with the Live Lounge albums.  Heck, Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro and Marmaduke Duke features twice!

It feels as if the Live Lounge producers have played it safe with bands and songs they’ve used before, at the loss of the likes of Asher Roth’s version of ‘Boom Boom Pow’, The Fray’s ‘Heartless’ and Paramore’s ‘Use Somebody’ (find them on YouTube to see what the producers missed out).

However, these albums usually have something to intrigue and entertain.  And that’s certainly the case here. Starting with the artists who performed their own tracks, the quality ranges from forgettable to competent to altogether mystifying.

Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’ begins the album and forgetting the video, you’d be forgiven for thinking she was a Vegas showgirl/lounge singer.  Paolo Nutini’s performance of ‘Candy’ makes me think he should only record albums to flaunt his rich brogue.  A personal favourite from this selection is a complete a capella rendition of ‘Raindrops’ by Basement Jaxx.  In a reversal of instruments and vocals, the music is played out by ums and ahs, but the vocal is processed through a synthesiser creating an odd mix that makes this track stand out in the album.

But perhaps the most surprising artist reworking of their own track is Dizzee adding a touch of bluegrass to ‘Bonkers’.  It’s one place in the compilation where the comedy is intentional, in contrast to Florence & The Machine’s take on ‘Halo’.

If I wanted to hear a Beyoncé  track imitated badly, I would have watched the first few episodes of the X Factor.  This comment also applies to Marmaduke Duke’s soulless and weak ‘Single Ladies’. In fact, the only Beyoncé cover worth a few listens is Jamie T’s ‘If I Were A Boy’.  As he takes the track and puts more of himself into it, it’s the only one I wouldn’t dismiss from the album.

As for the rest of the album, there are several unexpected turns from artists stepping outside their expected musical realms, and many with positive results.  Hot Chip have a quirky spin with grime whilst covering Wiley, Paloma Faith turns David Guetta’s ‘Sexy Chick’ into a sombre diva’s melody and ‘Beggin’ (the Madcon revamp) gets stripped down and given the girl group treatment from the Saturdays.

All in all, there are some tracks of utter brilliance within Radio 1’s Live Lounge 4, exactly like past volumes.  There are also some shockers that may well be used as a form of torture by intelligence agencies.  However, infamy about certain tracks has come to be expected of the series.  The only major flaw with volume 4 that has to be addressed is the overuse of certain artists.  Favouritism seems rife with some bands coming back again and again.  There are more songs out there to record and more bands to perform them.  So why has Radio 1 stuck to the same formula for so long?