Weāve seen some tenuous compilations in our time but Cooking Songs may top them all. The three disc release contains 54 songs that should help you pass the time whilst master-chefing in the kitchen. Included with the release are a selection of recipes from top celebrity chef Gino DāAcampo to help inspire some magic in your culinary efforts.
Scanning over the tracklisting itās hard to see how these songs were deemed the right ones to cook by but weāll go with it. Obviously music is a very personal and subjective thing so if commercial chart-friendly fodder isnāt your favourite genre then you probably wonāt enjoy cooking along to these songs at all.
The order of the day here seems to be mostly uptempo, pop music from the last twenty years or so. There a few exceptions of course such as The Weather Girlsā inescapable hit Itās Raining Men and Dolly Partonās classic 9 to 5. The album kicks off with Olly Murs and Flo Ridaās number one collaboration Troublemaker (which still sounds like a Maroon 5 homage if you ask us!) before hurtling through a poptastic journey that will satisfy most pop lovers.
There are plenty of pop highlights across the compilation to justify your hard-earned cash. The ever-present singalong that is Journeyās Donāt Stop Believinā is included, as is The Banglesā Manic Monday, Shakiraās Hips Donāt Lie and Outkastās infectious Hey Ya! Other highlights include Will Youngās Leave Right Now, Lady Gagaās Poker Face and Kelly Clarksonās anthem Stronger (What Doesnāt Kill You).
Thereās a few welcome surprises on the collection. Trainās Drive By is an unsung gem as is Amelia Lilyās quietly fantastic You Bring Me Joy. Weād also forgotten how brilliant Natasha Bedingfield used to be before she flew off to the US never to be seen again.
Weāre a little unsure as to why some of the slower songs were included. We like Celine Dionās Because You Love Me but would we want to bake a delicious cake to it? Probably not.Ā Similarly are we going to make the best Beef Stroganoff whilst sobbing away to Leona Lewisā Bleeding Love? We doubt it.
All-in-all Cooking Songs is a fairly arbitrary collection of songs but itās decent enough to keep our attention and get us singing. Whether or not we actually play it in the kitchen remains to be seen but thereās no denying itās a fantastic tour around the world of pop. We fear weād spend too much time dancing and singing rather than cooking if we did put it on in the background.