Leona Lewis - ECHO lands on top of the charts in UK!

Leona Lewis - ECHO Track-by-track review

Having lived with the album for the past ten days, listening to it non-stop, listening to it and it only for ten days, I think I am ready for an in-depth review of the album. I will review every track that appears on both the standard version (UK) and the North American version. Here it is:

Happy - Lead single of the album. Had a good start but never made an impact on this side of the Atlantic. Many say it was a poor choice having Happy as the lead single. Since this a review of the album and not a report of numbers and charts, I will stick to just Leona and the songs and nothing else. Back to Happy. This song is EPIC in the way is builds up from the soft vocals to the big chorus and in the last 1.5 minutes of the song leona gives it all with a vocal run that is OUT OF THIS WORLD and an explosive ending that gives me chills every time I hear (Keep in mind I have heard this song around 200 times now).

I Got You - A lighter side of Leona. A song that caught everyone's attention when part of it leaked back in july. The chorus is the star of the song, it is catchy, something you'll remember after just one listen. Again true to Leona's signature, the song builds up in the last minute with strings and a big explosion of massive vocals and add-libs. Had this been the single, it would have been no.1 worldwide by now. Sheer pop genius.

Can't Breathe - I did not have not much feelings for this song at first. Yes, Leona's vocal skills shine like a star in a dark cloudless night, but I felt the chorus is a bit much, with the falsettos on and on and on. HOWEVER, after a couple days with the song, The almost "annoying" chorus got in my head and I kept going back to it. This is much like the situation with Bleeding Love. A lot dislike the chorus for its repetitiveness of "keep bleeding keep keep bleeding love" but it is exactly this that made the song a worldwide mega hit/classic. I feel that this song will be a single down the line and it will do well on the charts.

Brave - Another song that got leaked back in july. The production and some of the lyrics are different in the final version. I did not love the song when it got leaked. After hearing the album version, I fell in love with it. It got a darker, rock feel to it as opposed to the pop ballad it was a few months ago. It sound edgier which is why I am feeling it this time around. Possible European single.

Outta My Head - This is probably the most talked about song before and after the album got released. The reason being the song is an uptempo dance floor anthem which is safe to say is completely out of Leona's comfort zone. This being the only true dance/uptempo track on the album shows that it is a winner. From the catchy hook to the booming chorus, this song has hit written all over it. And a hit it will be as it is chosen as the 2nd single of ECHO.

My Hands - Like Can't Breathe, I did not go head over heels for this song. This changed after I paid attention to the lyrics. Then it all came together, lyrics, melodies, production. It is a song that has very deep meaning. With it being so deep, it landed as the theme song for the european and north american release of the hit video game Final Fantasy XIII. This song will help Leona gain a lot of publicity and it should act as an album seller.

Love Letter - One song that didn't get a lot of positive feedback when the 30 second snippet came out. Many said that it's bland, generic and an album filler. I have to admit I was one of those who had such feelings. When I first heard it in full, my feelings did not change. It is not a track I would go back to listen constantly. However, this changed when I started playing the album from start to finish any time I got a chance. The song is. in my opinion, an album filler in the sense that it gives listeners a chance to take a break from big ballads and big sounds. It is placed before Broken for a very good reason as Broken is THE ballad of ECHO. I won't say I love the song but it's not one that I would skip.

Broken - Where do I even begin with this song? When I first heard the preview for this song I was in awe of it. This immediately became THE song that I looked forward to the most hearing in full. The verses are well written, the chorus is grand and the last 1.5 minutes of the song is probably the BIGGEST finish to a ballad from ECHO. The song emotes that heart broken feeling to a tee. Hands down this is one of my favourite songs of Leona ever.

Naked - Like Love letter, for me is an album filler but definitely in a different league. Naked can be single worthy if released at the right time. Again, this song is placed after Broken to give us a chance to regroup for another big ballad. The song is catchy and I like it a lot.

Stop Crying Your Heart Out - Leona's cover of Oasis track. I have heard the original before hearing Leona's. This is another Run, if you will, that will cause war between Leona fans and Oasis Fans like the one with Snow Patrol. I have to say Run is superior to this song not because Leona didn't do a good job, but the song itself is not as epic as Run. The first half of the song showcases Leona's lower register, something we don't get to hear a lot. All things considered, Leona does a fantastic job making it her own.

Don't Let Me Down - Another track that got leaked a while ago. Not my favourite from the beginning, still not my favourite track right now. I have to say, though, I like it more now than I did when it first leaked. The album version is better produced, has the ending shortened. Again, for me not a standout track, but I won't skip it either.

Alive - Produced by John Shanks, who also worked on Broken. This may be the reason why I love this song. It has an rock edge to it which I have heard Leona do before. The song's melody is simple and the lyrics are easy to connect with. This is one track that I would go back often and repeat.

Lost Then Found - A duet with OneRepublic. I don't Love the track but I have to say Ryan and Leona's voices really work well together. A decent album track, not sure if it's single worthy. I think I would like it more if the structure of the song wasn't so constricted. They each sing a big chunk and then move on to the chorus which is again in chunks. If they had more interactions, the song would've been much better.

Stone Hearts & Hand Grenades - Hidden track of the album. I don't understand why they didn't just make it an actual album track. It would make sense as a hidden track if it's only for, say, amazon version only. If they are going to put it in all version, they might as well just make it track 14 so we don't have to wait through 3 minutes of silence to get to it. To me, the song is strong enough as an album track. Yes it's another ballad but it builds up very nicely. Probably ones of the best ballads in terms of the build up to the last bit of the song.

You Don't Care - One of the two track that appears only in North American version. Another Tedder track as you can tell from his signature drums. The first 3 quarter of the song is not very special. not something you would purposely go back to listen. This changes in last minute of the song when Leona belts out notes that are out of this world. The last minute is where the magic of this song comes in. I wish they made the middle bit more interesting instead of just have the last bit explode. Al in all it is a great album track.

Fly Here Now - This is the other track on the NA release. I have to say this is my least favourite track in ECHO. I am not sure why I don't like it. I think it has to do with the fact it is not a very melodic driven song. The verses are so fast I couldn't even hear what Leona is singing. The chorus consists of two lines and the melody of the second is a repeat of the first. I just find this song a bit boring even though it's a beat driven mid-tempo. This song is the last in my ECHO track list for all the reason i just stated. Even though it is my least favourite, I can say that it's still better than some of the songs that are on the charts right now.

This concludes my in-depth review of Leona's Lewis' sophomore album ECHO.

Leona Lewis - ECHO Overall Review!

Yes, the moment has finally arrived. The most anticipated album of the year (for me) has surfaced. After 9 months of recording, Leona Lewis is ready to take on the world by storm again with her voice with her sophomore album ECHO. Her debut album SPIRIT sold over 6.5 million copies worldwide. With a feat like this, the pressure is definitely on for the songstress the second time around. From the demos that were leaked during summer, it is apparent that Leona wanted to do something different. With Spirit, the album was overwhelmed by big ballads and did not have enough edge for most young listeners today. In general, most criticized it for being very bland. For me, I am a ballad person so that was not a problem for me. Having said that, I feel that album had quite a few of fillers that I would tend to skip and rarely listen to. ECHO is without a doubt a BIG step up from her debut effort. ECHO is still ballad driven but it's not overwhelmed by bland ballads. There is that edge that was missing from SPIRIT's ballads. And of course there is the most talked about song OUTTA MY HEAD, an uptempo song that is very outside of Leona's comfort zone, which is Leona's way of telling the world she is not a one-trick pony. I am not going to do a in depth song by song review until I have had enough time with the album. My general impression is that the album is well balanced, the song order flows very well (an often underestimated element of an album) and most importantly, Leona's vocal has improved and it shows in ECHO, from low notes to belted notes to head-voices and falsettos, she does all of them effortlessly.

Rating: 4/5

Standout tracks from first listen: Broken, Outta My Head, Naked, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Alive

Leona Lewis - ECHO album cover + Tracklist + Promo photos released!

1. "Happy"
2. "I Got You"
3. "Can't Breathe"
4. "Brave"
5. "Outta My Head"
6. "My Hands"
7. "Love Letter"
8. "Broken"
9. "Naked"
10. "Stop Crying Your Heart Out"
11. "Don't Let Me Down"
12. "Alive"
13. "Lost Then Found" (featuring OneRepublic)

overdue update!

It has been almost three months since my last entry. I guess this just slipped out of my mind as a lot has happened. One major event is that my desktop PC got infected with some sort of virus. Although it wasn't so severe to the point where I couldn't use it anymore, it did cause the antivirus program to give me alerts that won't go away. Long story short, I did attempt to format it and reinstall XP, things just didn't align for me to do so. As a result I had to rely on my macbook as my main computer for a few weeks. As much as I love it, using it as a desktop for long term as it is just didn't work for me. I then decided to plug in my old pc keyboard and mouse so i wouldn't have to rely on the trackpad and keyboard from the macbook. Still, something was off, it was the screen. The angle and the height of the macbook was just weird to be a desktop, for my desk at least. Since I have a monitor leftover from the virus-infected pc, I decided to use it and not let it go the waste. I went the the apple store and bought a vga adapter and it worked like a charm for me. Then I noticed my speakers which I love is just sitting there not making any sounds, so I unhooked all the wires from the pc and connected to my macbook. Today, after 1 month into school, I had to do some heavy duty typing for school and I realized how inconvenient it is to type without the shortcut keys I used to have so I got an apple full size keyboard to replace the old one. Now I have a very different desktop computer compared to just 1.5 months ago and I have to say that I love it better than what I had before. It's true what they say: Once you go mac, you never go back!

My comeback + Jordin Sparks BATTLEFIELD

Oh my, it's been close to two months since I did my last entry! Well as my comeback I'll do a review of Jordin Sparks sophomore album Battlefield, which I have already placed my order for! This is probably one of the albums that I have paying CLOSE attention to ever since the lead single Battlefield came out. From clips of demos and unfinished tracks to fully mastered leaked tracks, I have been listening to those non-stop because the songs this time around are more true, organic and very Jordin.

Jordin is planning on making a bigger impact than she did with her debut. Her sophomore effort, "Battlefield," is filled with more emotion, r&b, and dance than her debut. Songs like "It Takes More," "Watch You Go," and "No Parade" are hits waiting to happen, while songs "S.O.S." and "Emergency" will get you dancing in no time. She brings out her most emotional vocals tracks with "Was I The Only One" and "The Cure." In short, this album is a bigger smash than her debut. This will be the album that gets Jordin to the top of the charts. ~9/10 overall~

Review of each track:

"Walking On Snow" -- Perfect song to get you ready for the album! I love the light rock vibe in this song. This is a fun song that I love to drive to on a hot summer day! Her vocals are perfect here! 8.5/10

"Battlefield" -- I fell in love with this song from the first moment I heard it. It's an AMAZING first single. I really hope this song will keep climbing up on the charts!! 10/10

"Don't Let It Go To Your Head" -- This song isn't doing much for me at the moment. It will make its way up on my list once I listen to it more. Having said that, I have to say I prefer Jordin's version to the original version by FeFe dobson. 7.5/10

"S.O.S. (Let The Music Play)" -- A fun song.. great for the clubs!! haha. I love Jordin's attitude in the song. She really delivers, and this song gets you dancing. Much better attempt in uptempo style than the ones from her debut album. 9/10

"It Takes More" -- If this song gets released as a single, it will make an impact! I don't see how it wouldn't. The song has "hit" written all over it! I love how Jordin's voice sound in this track. 8.5/10

"Watch You Go" -- Just like "It Takes More," this song should be a single and would probably be huge on radio. I fell for this track when I heard it from the album sampler. I was a bit afraid how T-Pain would affect the track and Jordin's vocal but after hearing the full version I have to say this song is at the top of my list right now. I would have love to see a bit more put into the chorus, but overall, LOVE. 9.5/10

"No Parade" -- This song starts off as a beautiful piano ballad. This song builds up to a beautiful ballad filled with heartbreak and you can definitely hear the pain in Jordin's voice. This will be a fan favorite, I can see it now. This song also has single potential. Near the end of the song when she goes into her upper range and back into her lower falsetto range, it just reminds me why I rooted for her during idol in the first place. 9/10

"Let It Rain" -- This was a fan favorite from the beginning when it was leaked. This song was one of the songs that I wanted to hear in full as soon as I heard the leak. As much as I love it, I wouldn't have it as a single. There are much better ones on the album. I guess this track did not really live up to its hype. 8/10

"Emergency (911)" -- I love this song!! This could be a fun summer hit. But it's a great song! It's so fun! Jordin's attitude comes out in this one too. This one is the one you will want to turn all the way up with the windows down and just drive. I think some club remixes will be made of this song. Can't wait for those! 9/10

"Was I The Only One" -- I can't even express how I felt about this song. The production is simple and beautiful, and Jordin's voice also had minimal production. I got chills listening to this song. Having said that, this probably won't be a single, but it's definitely one of the standout tracks on this album for me. 9/10

"Faith" -- I love this song because it doesn't sound like Jordin's voice was produced AT ALL. Plus, there aren't many instruments in it. So her voice really shines through. It's an intimate song. At one point, it sounds like an orchestra joins her on this song. Near the end, when the song builds and a full band joins her, it's so powerful and the emotion really pours through. Once again, it won't be a single but I sure Jordin is really proud of this track. 9/10

"The Cure" -- This song is probably Jordin's best recorded song. I got very emotional sitting in my chair listening to this song. I got chills. This song touched me. I can't describe this song. Just listen for yourself and you'll feel what I felt. 9.5/10

now in love with kris allen's "brand new shoes"

If someone told me a month ago i would be playing kris allen's pre-idol album Brand New Shoes today i would laugh my ass off cuz i really did not feel his thing back then. i now take that back b/c i think this album is one of the most emotional album i have heard this year. it's sooooo him (cuz he basically did it by himself with 2 other people). he's a much better singer than i though he would be. This album explains why he was chosen by millions of people to be the current american idol! i can't wait for his official debut album!! btw, No Boundaries is actually a pretty good song. It's growing on me after a few plays. I still stand by my opinion about Kris' version being better than Adam's version!