Leona Lewis - "Echo" Era (17th NOV 09)

[Midgeymite-Pookanooka]

Nov 13, 2009 11:21:37 GMT -5 ©!nful said:

Multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Leona Lewis has come on board with Square Enix to provide the theme song for FINAL FANTASY XIII. The song is entitled "My Hands," and is featured on her highly-anticipated second album ECHO (J Records/Syco Music) set for release on November 17th. Leona Lewis took the music world by storm with her 2008 6x platinum debut album Spirit which features her chart topping, biggest selling single of 2008 "Bleeding Love," and mega-hit "Better In Time.”

"When Square Enix approached Leona about including her song, "My Hands," in FINAL FANTASY XIII, she was honored to be partnered with such an iconic and groundbreaking video game series," said Tom Corson, EVP/GM, RCA Music Group. "Leona is a natural fit with the game’s powerful themes and strong female protagonist. We’re delighted to be part of this effort, bringing great musical artistry to FINAL FANTASY XIII which is a riveting and dynamic gaming experience."

Introducing new worlds, memorable characters and extraordinary stories with each new installment, the FINAL FANTASY series has continued to reinvent itself over the last two decades and has shipped over 85 million copies worldwide. The series is defined by a constant evolution, offering nothing less than the finest creative vision, graphical quality and gameplay system of its generation with every installment, and FINAL FANTASY XIII will be no exception to its legacy.

news.teamxbox.com/xbox/21478/Final-Fantasy-XIII-Release-Date-Trailer-Screens/

That's a pretty big deal actually. Wouldn't have put them together but people do use her songs a lot in FF vids on youtube.

Yeah, yeah. I've noticed this aswell! Really strange. I asked a friend who plays all these games and he just said that her voice and music suits this type of thing. Weird... But yeah, there are loads of Final Fantasy/Leona soundtracks... lol

[switch]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Final Fantasy and its music. The game has such a huge following so this is great for her. yay for Leona.

[muzikfeak]

Congrats to Leona! I'm not even remotely into Final Fantasy but it is most def. a great achievement!

[Hefty Hanna]

Just listened to 'My Hands' and it's an astonishing record. Why did they release 'Happy' again? ???

[kjw518]

I just listened to the album and I must say i'm very impressed..

I thought that it had pretty good variety and the order of the songs was great, too.

There were so many better songs than Happy!! ]:

[Stephen]

Lewis has a voice like a monolith; a shiny, towering monument to perfect sound. But it can be difficult to connect with the woman who wields it, even with the help of pop-chart pros like Max Martin, Ryan Tedder, and Justin Timberlake. Too much of Echo is mired in soppy balladry and standard-issue dancery that seem meant to be consumed with a box of drugstore Chablis. When it works, however, as on the soaring ''Happy'' and feathery, synth-laden ''I Got You,'' all is (momentarily) redeemed. C+

Download This: Listen to the song Happy at last.fm

www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20319053,00.html

[LeonaLewis]

Nov 12, 2009 10:48:23 GMT -5 Felicia said:

'Naked' reminds me of 'Torn' by Natalie Imbruglia and I don't know why, What a great track! Loving that song, 'Outta My Head', 'Can't Breathe', 'Alive', 'Broken', & 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out'. 'SCYHO' is so underrrated. It's one of the album highlights for me.

'Naked' reminds me alot of Jessica Simpson's 'With You'.

[BrokenArrow]

Nov 14, 2009 0:02:10 GMT -5 Stephen said:

Lewis has a voice like a monolith; a shiny, towering monument to perfect sound. But it can be difficult to connect with the woman who wields it, even with the help of pop-chart pros like Max Martin, Ryan Tedder, and Justin Timberlake. Too much of Echo is mired in soppy balladry and standard-issue dancery that seem meant to be consumed with a box of drugstore Chablis. When it works, however, as on the soaring ''Happy'' and feathery, synth-laden ''I Got You,'' all is (momentarily) redeemed. C+

Download This: Listen to the song Happy at last.fm

www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20319053,00.html

This is just weird, EW trashed Happy on the single review. ???

[S_Bunny]

Newsday Review Grade: B

Leona Lewis shows some subtlety in 'Echo'

November 13, 2009 By GLENN GAMBOA [e-mail]

Leona Lewis used her big voice on big ballads like a battering ram to bust open America. Luckily, she didn't have to keep pounding, keep-keep pounding us. On "Echo" (J/SyCo), Lewis shows some subtlety and - gasp! - fun. "Love Letter" grooves like a Pink rocker. "Outta My Head" is up-tempo Europop, while her collaboration with Justin Timberlake, "Don't Let Me Down," reflects his recent Timbaland days. Yes, "Echo" is still too ballad-heavy, especially the droopy single "Happy," but, with Eastern tinges on "Brave" and the upper-register wails of "Breathe," she keeps it interesting.

LEONA LEWIS

"Echo"

THE GRADE B

BOTTOM LINE Finding life beyond big ballads

Digital Spy Review 4 Stars

If any contemporary popstar doesn't deserve to be socked in the chops at a book signing, it's Leona Lewis. Since winning The X Factor in 2006, she's radically recalibrated the potential career trajectory for any talent show star, topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, selling more than six million copies of her debut album Spirit, and giving us a bona fide modern classic in the form of 'Bleeding Love'. The Hackney lass's only flaw? That she's tended to show all the charisma of a toddler taking a cat-nap.

However, there's no faulting her ability to belt out a big old pop song - something which Echo, her eagerly-anticipated second album, delivers in abundance. As befits an artist with Lewis's industry slump-defying sales figures, it features production from the cream of contemporary hitmakers, including Ryan 'Bleeding Love' Tedder, John 'Patience' Shanks and Max 'Bloody Everything' Martin, while Justin Timberlake co-writes, co-produces and contributes backing vocals to the lovely 'Don't Let Me Down'. Echo leans more towards soft rock than her R&B-tinged debut, but it's no less bombastic, filled with beefy beats, swelling strings and epic crescendos. The (melo)dramatic high point? Lewis wailing "Saaave me!" over a ludicrously overwrought, choir-assisted climax on 'Broken'.

But it's not just the production that's a tad O.T.T. - the songs themselves are full-to-brimming with emotional excess. Lewis bags co-writing credits on nine of these 14 tracks - seven more than on Spirit - and for a woman in a long-term and by all accounts loving relationship, she's remarkably preoccupied with breaking up. And breaking up in such tumultuous fashion! A selection of typical lines from Echo: "I cannot function with you." "My heart it beats, but inside I'm freezing." "There's a heartbreaking chill running through my bones." That the album features a hidden bonus track called 'Stone Hearts and Hand Grenades' pretty much says it all.

Subtle it ain't, but there's no denying that Echo is effective. The likes of lead single 'Happy', the Middle Eastern-tinged 'Brave' and 'I Got You', with its swooping chorus hook, are as compelling as midtempo, MOR pop music come. A cover of Oasis's 'Stop Crying My Heart Out', meanwhile, is as satisfying as a sponge pudding on a winter afternoon. Several songs slip into blandness, and a certain saminess does creep in at times, but even the less memorable moments are salvaged by Lewis's consistently impressive vocal performances. Best of all, Echo features a genuine surprise in the form of 'Outta My Head', a Eurodancey floor-filler with a "F**k you!" lyric and a chorus Cascada would sell their singer for.

It will be interesting to see how Lewis - still remarkably callow as a live performer - tackles these grandiose songs on her first arena tour next year. Until then, this most unassuming of superstars should congratulate herself on a job well done. Echo may lack a moment as transcendent as 'Bleeding Love', but it's more cohesive, more consistent and more contemporary-sounding than her debut. A few staging lessons with Brian Friedman, and perhaps some kind of an agreement with Big Tony, and she'll be set fair.

www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/albumreviews/a186590/leona-lewis-echo.html

[S_Bunny]

Times Online 4 stars

She may possess a mighty set of pipes and huge celebrity wattage, but Leona Lewis conveys a strong sense of remaining grounded despite her fame. The Lily Allen/Stephen Fry nexus, forever spanking the brand and squealing for our attention, or petulantly rejecting it, is clearly not for her, which made the punch in the face Lewis received recently from a troubled fan all the more jarring. The caution and discretion with which the X Factor winner approaches her career could so easily translate into pop by committee, with not a hair out of place; yet, while there are battalions of songwriters on board here, Echo succeeds because Lewis manages to assert her own talents, rather than being airbrushed into blandness. Tracks such as Happy, Outta My Head and Brave are immaculate and calculating chart-pop, certainly, but with a pulse.

entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article6912477.ece

[JORDAN]

This album is very solid. MUCH better than her debut. I love "Brave" so much!

[S_Bunny]

NEW TRACK

Pulse didn't make Echo, might be a b-side sometime



Its ok, the chorus is kinda catchy. I'm happy it didnt make Echo.

[starr]

"Happy" debuts at #2 in the UK and #3 in Ireland!

#2 The Official UK Top 40 Singles Chart (11/15/09)
#3 IRMA (Ireland) Top 50 Singles Chart (11/12/09)

[BeyoncéDC]

NoShout Version

defpenradio718.com/blog/leona-lewis-pulse/

[tsw2008]

Pulse sounds good should've made the album.

[BrokenArrow]

Now released in the UK.

#1 on Amazon, HMV and Play.com new release charts.

It took around 1 hour to hit #1 on Itunes.

[©!nful]

First Final Fantasy... now Avatar? :o

"AVATAR: MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE" will be highlighted by the film's end title song, "I See You," performed by multiple Grammy® Award-nominated singer Leona Lewis, and produced by James Horner and Simon Franglen, the team behind "Titanic's" blockbuster theme song, "My Heart Will Go On." A companion video -- directed by Jake Nava (Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Shakira) -- is currently in production.

www.marketwire.com/press-release/Atlantic-Records-1076978.html

[Junkiex]

OMG Final Fantasy??? Really??? That's AWESOME! I love this game and I am sooo anxious for its release. Good for Leona, now I'm gonna have to listen to the song.

[S_Bunny]

Nov 16, 2009 9:19:39 GMT -5 ©!nful said:

First Final Fantasy... now Avatar? :o

"AVATAR: MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE" will be highlighted by the film's end title song, "I See You," performed by multiple Grammy® Award-nominated singer Leona Lewis, and produced by James Horner and Simon Franglen, the team behind "Titanic's" blockbuster theme song, "My Heart Will Go On." A companion video -- directed by Jake Nava (Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Shakira) -- is currently in production.

www.marketwire.com/press-release/Atlantic-Records-1076978.html

:o Just read this on the Official. I'm so happy for her! I'm dying to hear the song aswell, this is a big deal.

[biltong]

Nov 16, 2009 11:25:39 GMT -5 S_Bunny said:

Nov 16, 2009 9:19:39 GMT -5 ©!nful said:

First Final Fantasy... now Avatar? :o

:o Just read this on the Official. I'm so happy for her! I'm dying to hear the song aswell, this is a big deal.

Good for her, that's no joke right there.

[monroe (II)]

Sorry, but 'My Hands' is 'Bleeding Love' part II

[StarSprinkles]

I don't think this has been posted here yet, but the two Live tracks on the US iTunes version of the album are:

"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" live at the Hackney Empire

and

"Brave" live at the Hackney Empire

[S_Bunny]

Echo Itunes positions, numbers in brackets are where another verison of Echo's charting

UK- 1 (6)
Greece- 1 (48)
Ireland- 2 (9)
Luxemburg-2 (71)
Germany- 4 (16)
Austria- 4 (18)
Portugal- 4
Switzerland- 4 (19+23)
Finland- 7
Italy-8 (45)
Sweden- 8 (42)
Denmark- 10
New Zealand-10 (47)
Norway- 12 (32)
Belgium- 16 (73)
Netherlands- 17

[starr]

Leona's album is available now for free streaming at AOL.

music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/3

[starr]

"Happy" is #26 on the US iTunes Top Songs chart. "Happy" is featured in the TV commercials for the new feature film, "Precious." So that's why there is a renewed interest in the song.

I think J Records should send "Happy" to Urban and Urban AC radio.

[Alex]

I'm not a h8r, BUT this album sucks so bad.

The songs are even blander than the tracks on her debut. I hate the CD so much! She should have went the R&B route and did some Beyonce/Mariah type songs. Whatever. Her career in the US is over! The only remotely good songs are I GOT U and BROKEN.

[grouper6]

Nov 16, 2009 14:47:47 GMT -5 starr said:

"Happy" is #26 on the US iTunes Top Songs chart. "Happy" is featured in the TV commercials for the new feature film, "Precious." So that's why there is a renewed interest in the song.

I think J Records should send "Happy" to Urban and Urban AC radio.

You are kidding rigth! there is no way that urban radio will touch this even if it is on the trailer of a Black movie. If Mariah is not doing well with IWKWLI at urban ac, Leona sure won't.

I am amazed that ac radio or hot ac hasn't touched Happy. This song is geared for their format and if 'already gone' by Kelly Clarkson could get aiprla on top 40, then it is puzzling why Happy is losing spins and out of top 40 on mediabase charts.

The song has great vocals but no emotion or connection for me but that is just me. It is weird what's going on with her music here.

[starr]

Nov 16, 2009 15:45:15 GMT -5 grouper6 said:

You are kidding rigth! there is no way that urban radio will touch this even if it is on the trailer of a Black movie. If Mariah is not doing well with IWKWLI at urban ac, Leona sure won't.

I am amazed that ac radio or hot ac hasn't touched Happy. This song is geared for their format and if 'already gone' by Kelly Clarkson could get aiprla on top 40, then it is puzzling why Happy is losing spins and out of top 40 on mediabase charts.

The song has great vocals but no emotion or connection for me but that is just me. It is weird what's going on with her music here.

No, I'm not kidding. I think Urban and Urban AC audiences will love this song. "Happy" is number 26 on US iTunes Top Songs chart so obviously the people who love the "Precious" movie love this song.

Also, J Records sent "Bleeding Love" to Urban radio.

Leona is NOT Mariah or Kelly. She is her own artist.

[Alex]

Leona will NEVER have another hit in the US again. She is releasing WAY TOO MANY ballads back-to-back.

[©!nful]

I find it funny how the song has like no airplay yet is #26 on iTunes months after release. I also remember it reaching #11 on iTunes when first released. Could've been a hit if radio had given it a chance, but whatevz.