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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Review of "Echo" by Leona Lewis, November 17, 2009
'Echo' is the follow-up album to the highly successful debut, 'Spirit'. In many ways, this album titled definitely lives up to its name; this album seems more by-the-book and sticks to a strict pop music formula, making it something of a weak imitation of her first album. Don't get me wrong, 'Echo' has some tracks that show off Lewis' impressive vocal abilities. At the same time, it lacks the personality and "spirit" that made her first album resonate with so many listeners. Lewis had a hand in writing and developing more tracks on this release than her last but after a few listens, I don't at all have a sense of who she is beyond having the ability to hit a few high notes that'd make Mariah Carey watch her back.
The Good: 'Echo' sticks to what could be called Lewis' area of expertise; songs about heartache and love backed with melodramatic, sweeping, epic productions. Certain tracks sound as if they came directly from the previous album. "Brave" has the expansive, epic vibe that made Leona Lewis stand out from her competitors. With this song, it's not the production but her voice that is on display. "Broken" is another song that, production and quality wise, sounds as if it's taken from 'Spirit' and features Leona Lewis' great vocal talents and ability to deliver an emotional performance and not just sing pointless words and lyrics as many artists do. As with any successful follow-up, Lewis does venture into new territory. 'Echo' has Lewis' music experimenting more with uptempo tracks and venturing away (just a bit) from the standard emotional heartbreak that made 'Spirit' a bit dull after a few listens. "Can't Breathe", my favorite track from the album, blends an impressive vocal performance that has her hitting all sorts of notes while having a fun, fresh instrument backing that is unlike anything being played on the radio now. "My Hands" is perhaps the best produced track on the album as it sounds like a follow-up to 'Spirit' track "Better In Time". The beat paired with the Justin Timberlake track "Don't Let Me Down" was unexpected and served as a great contrast to Leona Lewis' singing style. If there's one strength in 'Echo' it's that no track sounds like the other; Lewis and her producers did a great job of experimenting with many different styles and played with her vocals so that not every track has her trying to hit high notes as expected.
The Bad: Half of this album just bore me as a listener. With the exception of "Can't Breathe", the first half of the album had me truly wondering if things were going to get any better. The problem with tracks like "Happy", "Love Letter" and even the Timbaland track "Outta My Head" is that they sound like average pop songs and do nothing for her as an artist. The album has a strength in that it isn't afraid of experimenting with different sounds. On the first half of the album though, this experimentation is more of a weakness because the focus appears to be put more so on the beats and instrument while leaving her voice at the side, unattended to. Some of these songs feature some complex, busy, beats and instead of singing, it feels as if she's more focused on out-singing or overcoming the distracting beats than delivering a vocal performance. Tracks that suffer from this the most are "Outta My Head" and "Brave". There were certain tracks produced specifically for the U.S. market and among them, "Fly Here Now" sticks out like a sore thumb because it sounds under-produced and doesn't vibe well with the majority of the album with its 1980s pop music flair. The overall weakness of 'Echo' is that unlike the first album, this one lacks focus and sounds more like a hodge-podge collection of songs that were produced by different people and slapped together on a disc.
In all, 'Echo' is average. The later half of the album is definitely better than the first half. The album feels out of focus and all over the place creating something of a mess. Instead of showcasing what makes her stand out as an artist in this market, being her great voice, this album's focus on the beats and instrumentation leads to an album that features some shoddy and unimpressive, rather average, vocal performances.
Listen To These: "Can't Breathe", "My Hands", "Alive", "Lost Then Found"/"Stone Hearts" (Hidden Track).
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An "echo" of her debut, November 17, 2009
Apparently Kelly Clarkson was rather upset with singer/songwriter Ryan Tedder as she says the song he wrote for her "Already gone" was a rip off of Beyoncé's "Halo", which he penned. It would be interesting to know how Leona Lewis feels as she's got two on her new CD "Echo". Lead-off single "Happy", and "Lost then found" (featuring Tedder's group OneRepublic) sound so much like the afore mentioned song.
The funny thing is, despite supposedly being composed and produced by an armada of songwriters and producers, much of the album is more of the same. Not bad, but nothing special either. I guess they decided to play it safe and not tinkle too much with a winning formula, seeing as her debut sold some 6 million copies worldwide.
Fortunately, some songs rise above the anonimity of the rest; "Broken" is a beautiful power ballad, "Stop crying your heart out" is a delicately sung ballad and a cover of an Oasis song (much like "Run" on her debut was a cover of a Snow Patrol hit), "Don't let me down" (a nice throbbing song with shuffling beats and a slight Timbaland feel, produced by Justin Timberlake's production trio the Y's), the power ballad "Alive", and the hidden beautiful piano ballad "Stone hearts & hand grenades" with simply beautiful dreamy harmonies and choppy strings in parts.
She does attempt some sonic variety on the upbeat synth-driven Donna Summer/La Roux-style "Outta my head", and two perfunctory Rock songs, "Love letter" and "Broken".
A good record which offers nothing beyond the anticipated. I still await the day Leona comes out from underneath mentor Simon Cowell's shadow and releases a CD more befitting of her stunning voice. As it is, this is merely an "Echo" of her debut.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Second album syndrome, December 2, 2009
Thanks to the dud lead single, 'Happy', the 2nd Leona Lewis album is set to under-achieve. Does it deserve to? Well, it's not far removed from her debut, 2007's 'Spirit' meaning that it's mainly a collection of dull ballads with an 'interesting' cover thrown in. Trouble is, 'Spirit' had 'Bleeding Love', a rare great song that Lewis stumbled upon. It's still really her only true worldwide hit. BL gave people the illusion that the dreary, ballad heavy 'Spirit' might contain similar tracks of such quality but they were to be disappointed. Thing is, will they be fooled twice? I think not.
Let's be upfront. 'Echo' has no 'Bleeding Love'. 'Happy' really is as good as it gets. Writer Ryan Tedder (rapidly becoming the new Diane Warren) provides a by-the-numbers 'dramatic' ballad for Lewis to oversing and then repeats the process several times. Lewis is a massively over-rated vocalist. Far too busy cramming as many notes as she can into the songs, her phrasing is sloppy and she has little respect for the melodies in general. I also think her voice has a miserable, depressing edge to it. Meaning that even on the (few) upbeat tracks, she still manages to bring you down.
Her cover of 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out' should be a showstopper, but you're sick of it a minute in. She sounds uncomfortable singing it as given the structure of the song, she can't just sing any old rubbish and has to adhere (for the most part) to the (original) tune.
Even the sleeve artwork is poor. It looks like it took 10 minutes to prepare and is remarkably cheap looking considering Lewis's starpower (up to the release of this at least).
After 2 weeks here in the UK, the album is already sinking down the charts. As far as I can hear, there are no possible singles here to revive it. At least this gives Lewis a chance to record a few (hopefully) better songs and then release the whole thing again in a few months as a 'special edition'!
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