Not dupe of the previous release. Props to them for getting it out.Different
tracklisting, bonus tracks dont appear in any other release. Past 3 months,
enjoy!
The truest test of Simon Cowell's power within the music industry circa 2008
was not whether American Idol could produce a star in its seventh season or
if its UK cousin The X Factor would have another success in its fifth season,
it was whether he could turn Leona Lewis into the international superstar he
so clearly believed she is. Lewis was the third winner of the X Factor - the
Cowell-driven replacement to Pop Idol in Britian, a replacement that came to
be because he wanted to own a significant piece of the show - and one of the
key differences between Factor and Idol is that the judges can mentor the
contestants and therefore have a stake in the outcome of the show, more than
they do on Idol, where the judges merely comment. Rightly impressed by Lewis'
multi-octave voice - reminiscent of a warmer, earth-bound Mariah Carey -
Cowell continued his mentorship after the conclusion of the show, making her
the first contestant in the whole Idol/Factor enterprise that he personally
shepherded through the major label process. He struck a deal with Clive Davis
- the executive producer behind all the American Idol projects, the producer
who publicly bristled when Kelly Clarkson tried to take control of her career
through her original compositions - and the two launched a grand plan to
break Lewis in her native UK first, then slowly roll her out in the US a few
months later, via an appearance on Oprah and a slightly resequenced and
remixed version of her debut, Spirit.
That US version drops the bonus track of Leona's version of "A Moment Like
This," her first hit single that is not so coincidentally a cover of Kelly's
first big single. If Kelly became a thorn in Davis' side, Leona Lewis seems
happy, even eager, to play the major-label game, singing anything that comes
her way, never lodging a complaint when she has to cut a couple R&B-flavored
tracks to appeal to the American market. These tunes - "Misses Glass" and
"Forgive Me" -- are just slightly glitzier than the rest of Spirit, surely
bearing heavier rhythms but not to the extent that the beats obscure Lewis's
voice, as the whole point of Spirit is to showcase her singing, particularly
those high glory notes that are all the rage on Idol/Factor. Unlike most
Idol/Factor alumni, Lewis can hit those big notes but make it seem easy,
never straining her voice and building nicely to the climax. Unlike most
divas, there is a human quality to her voice, as she's singing to the song,
not singing to her voice. Then again, this was also true of Mariah Carey on
her 1990 debut, which Spirit greatly resembles in how the handful of
R&B-oriented songs camouflages how this is almost entirely a stuffy
middle-of-the-road pop record. Not only that, but Spirit is so old-fashioned
it sounds as if it could have been released in 1990 and compete with Carey's
debut for the top of the charts; her first single "Bleeding Love" opens with
a crawling organ that recalls the muted gospel of "Vision of Love," even if
the skin-crawling lyric "you cut me open and I keep bleeding love" wouldn't
have suited the Top 40 in 1990. That stultifying adult-contemporary
atmosphere may makes Spirit stilted but it's also as savvy a move as you
could expected from Cowell: ever since Mariah has long ago abandoned AC for
the clubs, there is a gaping need for a vocalist like Leona Lewis, a singer
that can belt it out but is safe and tame, having no interest in the perks of
stardom that exist beyond the stage. And boy is Leona Lewis ever that - she
is blessed with a terrific voice but very little on-record personality,
something the very professional, very inoffensive tunes emphasize. Thanks to
this collection of calculatedly commercial tracks - tunes crafted to appeal
to everyone yet no one in particular - Lewis merely comes across as the most
talented and most willing singer to ever play Cowell's game, so no wonder he
loves her. But this also points out the big difference between how Cowell has
taken Leona Lewis under her wing and how Tommy Mottola watched over Mariah.
Mottola married Carey, having both an emotional and financial stake in her
career, but those mixed emotions helped obscure the machinery that drover her
career. Cowell is only in it for the cash with Lewis, so the machinations are
too apparent on this otherwise appealing debut. And that's too bad because
Spirit surely reveals a singer that has a richer tonal quality than any diva
to come along in the past 15 years or so - if she had gotten the tunes to
match her voices, this would have been both a killer record in addition to
the international blockbuster that it was so carefully crafted to be.
::TRACKLIST::
01. Bleeding Love 4:23
02. Better In Time 3:55
03. I Will Be 4:00
04. I'm You 3:48
05. Forgive Me 3:41
06. Misses Glass 3:41
07. Angel 4:15
08. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 4:27
09. Yesterday 3:55
10. Whatever It Takes 3:27
11. Take A Bow 3:54
12. Footprints In The Sand (UK Bonus Track) 4:09
13. Here I Am (UK Bonus Track) 4:50
::DOWNLOAD::
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