Leona Lewis - Spirit

UK singer and songwriter Leona Lewis will release her debut album, Spirit, in America on April 8, 2008. For the first time, Clive Davis and Simon Cowell teamed up to sign Lewis to J Records/SyCo Music (Cowell's joint venture with Sony BMG), and are both actively involved in the recording process for Spirit. Lewis, a 22-year-old London native and winner of the hit TV show the X Factor, a British talent show, has broken all-time sales records there with Spirit entering the album chart at Number One and becoming Britain's fastest-selling debut ever. Spirit has scanned more than two million copies worldwide since its release in November. In addition, Spirit's lead-off single "Bleeding Love" -- co-written and produced by OneRepublic frontman Ryan "Alias" Tedder -- was the U.K.'s best-selling single of 2007, claiming the Number One spot for seven weeks. Ushering in 2008, Leona received four prestigious Brit Award nominations, the UK equivalent of the Grammy Awards. Leona is currently in the studio recording two brand new tracks for the U.S. release of Spirit - "Forgive Me" by singer/songwriter superstar Akon and "Misses Glass" from the cutting edge producer/writers Madd Scientist and Rock City. Spirit is a mix of fresh pop and R&B, filled with "songs with a contemporary edge," as Lewis puts it, ranging from soulful up-tempo numbers ("I'm You," "The Best You Never Had," and "Whatever It Takes," which Lewis co-wrote) to ballads ("Better in Time," "I Will Be," and "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" -- a song that Roberta Flack made famous). Tracks were written and produced by an array of top-notch hit-makers, including Tedder, singer/songwriters Akon and Ne-Yo, songwriters Josh Alexander and Billy Steinberg, and songwriter/producers Dallas Austin, Stargate, J.R. Rotem, and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald -- all of whom have worked with some of the biggest names in pop. In addition to gracing the covers of UK fashion publications like Harper's Bazaar, US media are touting Leona as the artist to watch in 2008: People Magazine labels her "the UK's hottest star in an "Introducing" piece," Vogue presents her in their "People Are Talking About - The Vogue 25 Cultural Highlights of 2008" and Entertainment Weekly declares her one of "8 To Watch in 2008." Album Description

 Solid start to a long career
Ms. Lewis has a powerful voice, a very sexy voice, and she can put a lot of emotion into her songs. `Bleeding Love' is an amazing song, and Ms. Lewis puts everything into the song. I did feel Ms. Lewis putting emotional singing in some other songs, `I Will Be,' `The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,' "Take A Bow," "Footprints In The Sand." However, most of the rest of the songs are just generic, light pop songs. I really do not feel her emotion or energy. I tend to think it is not her fault, it is the song choices. Having four-five solid songs on an album is still notable. So I think this is a good album to start an incredible career. I just hope her next album she has more, better written songs that she can really connect with and put in her emotions. I eagerly await her second album. May 8, 2008

 AMAZING
This is one of the best CD's I have heard in a long time. I am not a huge CD purchaser, but this one was worth it. May 8, 2008

 Enjoyed it a lot
I enjoyed this a lot but didn't love it. I wanted to like it more, maybe with so more listening but it didn't grab me the way Carrie Underwood's CD did or Mariah's debut for that matter but still very good. May 7, 2008

 Beautiful Voice
Probably one of the best voices i've heard since Christina Aguilera. One of the best albums i've heard since Mariah Carey's Butterfly. May 6, 2008

 Leona Lewis- "Spirit"
Leona Lewis is a good singer that can be described as a cross between Tina Arena and an early Mariah Carey. There are some nice melodic "standout tunes" on this album but there is nothing that's really original here. The USA version has 2 exclusive tracks: "Forgive Me" (which is a pleasant uptempo number that sounds a bit like Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape".) Also "Misses Glass" (the other exclusive track- also uptempo) is ok but nothing really special. Most of the album is made up of melodic mainstream pop ballads. Some of the songs are excellent and show that this singer has a wide vocal range. The 16 track Japanese pressing is probably the best version to get as it includes the Leann Rimes favorite "A Moment Like This" and an amasing Alisha Keys style song called "You Bring Me Down". (The UK version also has the Leann Rimes song.)
I rate the album as 3 stars. It's a pleasant album that you will enjoy listening to. However, don't play it too often or you may find yourself losing interest. Having said that, I think with the right material, this singer could soar to the top and be around for a while as she does have an excellent voice with an amasing vocal range. May 6, 2008

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