Leona Lewis Spirit CD Review
British Singer Releases Debut CD in US with Number 1 'Bleeding Love'
Apr 8, 2008
Leona Lewis releases her debut album, Spirit, in the US after huge worldwide success.
As the first British female to hit number 1 in the US since1987 and only the third to do so with her debut single, the arrival of Spirit has been hotly anticipated.
While none of the tracks equal “Bleeding Love” in power or originality, several tracks such as “Whatever it Takes” and “Better in Time” brazenly scream ‘hit’.
Leona Lewis’ Spirit in America
Spirit unfortunatly suffers from an overwhelming lack of personality. Industry moguls Clive Davis and Simon Cowell wanted to create a star and hired today’s most relevant songwriters (including chart-toppers Ne-Yo, Akon, Stargate and Max Martin) to pen lush, semi-hip hop, semi-pop ballads that sound great on the radio and look spectacular in videos without revealing too much about the singer.
While one or two ballads set a softer mood to an album and showcase a singer’s range, too many similar-sounding cuts drag an album down.
“Homeless”, “Yesterday”, “I Will Be”, “Angel” and “Here I am” chug along with little variation or originality. Each one starts slowly, builds to a cataclysmic peak without going over the top, then sums everything up neatly after 3 minutes.
Ironically, Cowell, Lewis’ former X-Factor judge and mentor, warns contestants on “American Idol” to perform tracks that break them out from the pack. Yet the aforementioned “forgettable” tracks add nothing to establishing Lewis with her own sound and style.
Better Spirits in Time
Luckily Spirit contains “Better in Time”, a watered-down ‘I will survive after a bad break-up’-themed track. Yahoo Music UK called this cut “Soap Opera Songwriting” but even with clichéd lyrics such as “It’s been the longest winter without you” Lewis pulls it off without working her pipes into a frenzy as many divas (Christina, Mariah) tend to do.
Near the end of the album, Lewis tackles the classic “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”. Covered by everybody from George Michael to Celine Dion, the original Roberta Flack track remains the one by which all others are measured.
Lewis neatly covers the song without changing too much from the original or adding anything of her own, yet it works - even better than some of the originals.
“Footprints in the Sand” closes the album. This pretty ballad, one of the more pleasant tracks about lasting friendship, has already hit the top 3 in the UK.
Unfortunately, just as the sea washes away footprints in the sand, erasing them from memory, so too will time do away with this album.
“Bleeding Love” and “Better in Time” will become radio mainstays, but Spirit does nothing to change the face of music.
Leona Lewis has the x-factor - great voice, great looks. Maybe, like Kelly Clarkson before her, on subsequent albums she'll be able to break free from the tv personality mould that has cast her and become the true star she was born to be.
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