According to popular chart analyst site HitsDailyDouble, UK singer Leona Lewis‘ second studio album is set bomb on next’s weeks US chart tally. The record, ‘Echo’, is projected to sell a dismal 60, 000 units, completely missing the top spot. In stark contrast, Leona’s first LP, ‘Spirit’, debuted on the Billboard 200 with over 205, 000 units; more than triple the numbers that ‘Echo’ is expected to ship in it’s first week.
I am in no way shocked by this news. There has been almost zero public interest in the album, with the first single, ‘Happy’, failing to even get pass #50 on the Billboard Hot 100. Leona did experiment with a few new sounds with this project but with the lack of passion in her music and being frankly devoid of an actual personality, I found myself bored with almost the entire record. ‘Brave’ is the only interesting track on the entire album. I sense that it’s high time that her label stops trying to recapture the magic of ‘Bleeding Love’ and trying to create the next Mariah Carey. Rather, they should focus on allowing her to find her own voice in the industry.
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She has no soul to her voice and i struggled to get through her music. I found the album bland and boring. They could have least given her a few songs with some nice beats to it. The album is a complete snoozefest. I actually liked ‘breathe’. I thought that was the most r*b track.
Actually 60k less than 1/3 of her debut sales. This album won’t go gold here.
Trent, u’re killing me. Love your post title- love the play on words. 🙂
Just heard the album “Echo” in it’s entirety. Although Leona is probably the most technically gifted vocalist of this generation her voice is emotionally vacant. The album does contain beautiful vocals and excellent production, but leaping three octaves in one note doesn’t necessarily equate heartfelt singing. She does seem to have Whitney Houston’s knack for appropriating other artist’s songs. Her version of Oasis’s “Stop Crying Your Heart Out” is just as moving as her cover of Snow Patrol’s “Run” if not more. Kudos for moving away from her ballad-filled debut and trying new sounds but after two albums just who Leona Lewis is outside of her gorgeous voice is still a mystery to me. A decent sophomore effort but certainly not the international blockbuster that “Spirit” was. As Simon Cowell might say, there’s simply no “X” factor.
This is the same for mariah, if the music is not up to par, then u gna fail…
THE ALBUM IS NOT THE ISSUE. the marketing and handling of it is. leona’s had no promo in america until last night. she had no bleeding love to sell the album on like she did with spirit. she needed a better 1st single & she needed better promo machine. her album is FANTASTIC however.
Her album is so bland i previewed it on itunes and my god it was soo boring!!! its enough to drive you to drink… i like her voice but its just the songs they give me nothing.
Hah. The next Mariah – what-what! Mariah may not be as hot as she used to be but there will never be another. Sorry B**** bye. Until you an write, produce, sing, sell, and have 18 # 1 singles you’ll never be the next Mariah. Anywhoo, I’ve always found Leona boring didnt see what the hype was about her at first then had to admit she could sing but she’s still boring as hell. She needs try something completly new and fast if she wants to stay relevent.
Its Amy Winehouse all over again. She bombed with only 50k first week sales.
Thoughts ?
Pretty dumb article, it has nothing to do with the quality of the album. It has to do with the lead single Happy not taking off on radio and failing to create interest in the album. Lead singles are crucial for an album’s success.
Commercial pop artists don’t sell unless they have a hit. Last time she had a monster hit single to drive sales and Spirit sold well, this time she doesn’t have a hit so sales are poor in comparison. This doesn’t reflect the quality of the album though which is stronger than Spirit.
It has nothing to do with “a lack of passion in her music and being frankly devoid of an actual personality” it’s nonsense, it’s the same nonsense haters repeat time after time and this is yet another chance to unload. Some people have from the start made those claims against her and it didn’t stop Spirit from selling 6.5 Million copies.
Had they released one of the many potential hit singles from this album like ‘I Got You’ , you would’ve never wrote this silly article which completely misses the point.
Again the rules are simple in the commercial pop world: With a hit single you sell and without one you don’t . Nothing more and nothing less.
I’M NOT SURPRISED HER ALBUM BOMBED, THERE WAS NO PUBLICITY 4 IT , THE SONG WAS KINDA LAME, WELL UP UNTILL THE POINT WHEN IT WAS USED ON THE ” PRECIOUS” PREVIEW, THE ONLY GOOD SONG ON THE ALBUM AND NEXT RELEASE GOOD WAS ” I CAN’T BREATH” EVERYTHING ELSE WAS A BUNCH OF GARBAGE THAT SHE JUST THREW TOGTHER, SORRY LEONA IT’S BACK 2 THE STUDIO 4 FOR LP 3):
Leona is An Amazing Singer and can compete with the best of them , But I agree that she has no personality, She Lacks The Attitude that Mariah & Whitney Had, I feel that her songs only showcase the voice she has but thats about it, no soul no emotion.
I also agree that her record company needs to stop trying to make her the Next Whitney or Mariah because that will never happen, what whitney and mariah did in the 90’s no singer will ever achieve that., and aside from great voices both mariah and whitney had the soul and emotion as well as the personality that Leona lacks.
I Love Leona but she needs to be herself and show that shes more than a great Voice.
The album isn’t bad. To be honest it’s pretty much on the same level as ‘Spirit’ so take from that what you will – I don’t think there has been any down-grade in quality. I do think the first single is a bit too like Bleeding Love and has come across as fairly uninspired and ignored. The album needs a big promo push and it’s not getting it. It deserves to do fairly well but the songs could have hit a bit harder. I agree with the article, she needs to be allowed to spread her own wings and create her own brand instead of belting out songs for the sake of it. I reckon ths album will not match the success of Spirit and I hope they come up with something more inspired for the third album (or re-release) as Leona is a huge talent and deserves credit within the industry!
bloody hell that article reads like a press release from Mariah Lambs Anonymous!! Good to see Trent refusing to change his spots.
Was anyone expecting big numbers? There’s been no promo at all in the run up to the release yesterday + the first single did nothing on radio. I doubt if many people know it’s even out.
As for the album it’s excellent. Some really interesting tracks and a vocal tour de fource. And can we please give the tired next Mariah Carey thing a rest – the only one making these comments are those using it to cash Leona.
The lead single isn’t that interesting. The video is weird, too.
But she’ll be #1 in the UK. If she didn’t get that, it would be a disaster. I hope she can record a great album next. Her voice is too good to go to waste.
So people know, this report is b*******. The reputable and trusted showbiz site DigitalSpy.co.uk reports that the album has already shifted over 75,000 copies creating “a comfortable lead” over her closest rivals JLS (55,000). We’ll see.
THE SONGS SUCK! END OF.
IF THE ALBUM DELIVERED THEN IT WOULDN’T MATTER ABOUT PROMO. THE ALBUM WOULD HAVE SOLD ITSELF.
MARIAH DONE LOADS OF PROMO AND STILL FLOPPED. THE CONTENT SUCKED, PERIOD.
I LOVE LEONA, BUT I JUST COULDN’T WITH THIS ALBUM.
WAITING ON THIS TO BE CALLED A *BUZZ ALBUM*
Oops lmao. I thought you were talking about Leona’s UK sales. Oh well I couldn’t care less about her US sales, Happy wasn’t great as a lead single, not different enough, but still good. Outta My Head would have been the safest lead single.
I agree with the above comments from Gareth.
This album is a stellar collection of vocal prowess that cannot be touched by anyone else in the industry. Mariah and Whitney were great in their days but to be frank neither is really much to look at for the moment. Of course ‘Echo’ is going to be difficult to sell to the American market because there are already fantastic Ballad-singers such as the MC and Whitney. Most important is her UK achievement – a well deserved number 1 album.
Crucially there error was assuming that Leona didn’t need to re-promote herself in America. Its been so long since she released anything in America that im not surprised the buzz has died down. She should have promoted her single much more in America. The x-factor alone was enuf to get it to number 2 in the UK.
The second error? Releasing another average Ryan Tedder production. “Happy” is too similar to “Bleeding Love”. Personally i would have liked Leona to have released “I Got You” as the lead single. And then instead of releasing “Outta My Head” (as Simon Cowell wants to as stated in Radio 1 interview) release “My Hands” instead as this is much more organic sound. Oh well… when do large record labels ever listen these days?
Im sorry but Ryan Tedder productions are so dead now… “Happy” probably sounded awesome back early 2009 but by the end of the year it sounds lame, already heard before and uninspiration.
Oh and for all the haters she IS A SINGER-SONGWRITER. Less comparisons to Whitney and Mariah’s attitude from the past (MC is vapid now, Whitney is calmer now) would also help… gosh no one understands grace and poise.
Just because Leona’s music isn’t played in clubs were people grind on each other don’t mean she isn’t awesome. You haterz should go and listen to some s***** music like Cassie in those dirty backstreet clubs and leave the stunning live performances to the likes of Leona (she kicks ass with recent mariah and whitney performances).
ADAM U DUMB ASS, THE ARTICLE REFERS TO THE UNITED STATES CHARTS.
BTW, JLS’s ALBUM SUCKS EVEN HARDER!
Sorry ADAM.
btw, the US market is the one to watch, The Uk charts don’t mean ish.
Agree with Danny.
JLS’ album is like wtf ??? its totally not their style of music. Sounds like a load of old studio leftovers from the Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Five and Blue which have all being given an electro-pop remix to try and make them sound trendy. They’ve been styled like a 90’s tribute to 112 or Boyz to Men.
She is a UK artist, she has to please them first!!!
🙂
^^^ I can’t believe you guys even wasted your time listening to JLS’s album just from the two songs i heard on radio i knew the album was gonna be nothing but a bunch of medicore crap!!
“Can’t Breathe” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Uk artist need to please uk first? Is that the same rule with anastasia n kelly rowland in the usa?
I agree tho, she shud please the uk, as they voted her to win, but at the end of the day the US is where the credibility, money and big stars are! A uk hit dnt mean ish compared to a US number1.
Come on now, jls has 2number1s, cheryl has… The uk charts dnt mean ish.
Leona has too many fillers n not enough hits!
the funniest part of this BULL that this dude just spoke
is that the new album is completely different to the sound of the First one..
so i dont know what type of new mariah carey they’re tryna create..cause this record isnt as sweet and commercial as the first one…
its way edgier than a mariah record.. and spirit infact.. though i dont prefer it.. i do give her credit for straying from the sound people tried to initially create.. though id much rather her go back to it.
but in no way does this album try to mariah-rize her..
its totally a different direction.
Well to Leona’s defense, people should know that it’s not that easy to cement your place in the industry these days in the u.s. market, especially not being from the U.S. So many albums tanked this year(including Mariah’s).
Atleast she HAS a fanbase here. hopefully she gets #1 in the U.K.
I agree Leona has a boring personality and thats probably why she is not selling.
She has a beautiful voice one of the best we have right now.
I love Can’t Breathe its amazing.
Leona is great. She has a good personality. Other artists promo their song by take their clothes off.
That’s what she gets for releasing a s***** ass first single. If you are coming off a successful album and your first single is not working – MOVE TO THE SECOND SINGLE!
Can’t Breathe is the best track on this album and I can see this being a big hit atleast in the US. Pop will play it, and smash live performances couldn’t help. It’s not over for this album or her career, she just needs to reinvent herself.
“I agree Leona has a boring personality and thats probably why she is not selling.
She has a beautiful voice one of the best we have right now.”
her personality has nothing to do with anything. Her personality is no different than it was during ‘Spirit’ and that album sold 6.5 MIllion copies around the world including 1.6 Million in the US.
It has everything to do with a very poor lead single that flopped.
ALbum is good.
Lead single was bad, end of.
I personally think its one of the best pop albums of the year and given time it will sell better than spirit, nearly every reviewer has given it 5 stars, but of course what seems to be a common occurence on this site is that if its not beyonce its not good…Bored now yawn!!
I think promo is part of the reason, but mainly the people who are saying that Pop themed albums don’t sell without a big hit are right. So many albums great and go unnoticed because radio won’t pick them up, and people don’t give the album a chance. This was the case for Ashanti’s 2008 effort, ‘The Declaration.’ Great album but people didn’t listen to it because radio wasn’t playing “The Way That I Love You.”
I reviewed the album, it is a snooze fest if you expected uptempo Electro/Dance hits, there are a few but not enough to satisfy that listener. If you expected a bunch of mellow ballads then you may actually like the album.
My favorite song off of the album was “Can’t Breathe.” I love in the third verse when she was chanting, “I’m coming up/coming up for breath/coming up/coming up for breath…” made the song that much more better. “I Got You” was OK too. I don’t see the second official single “Outta My Head” catching on quickly in the US but since it has that Electro/Dance feel it may eventually. It should easily become a hit over in Europe though.
number1k9.b*******.com/
@number1k9
MM83
November 18, 2009 at 4:42 pm
^ this, f****** THIS.. the album is sick
This album is brilliant, but i agree with the fact that Happy fails to do for Echo what Bleeding Love did for Spirit. The biggest shame here is that there are plenty of great tracks that would have been more adequate for even a US only release as the first single (i.e. Can’t Breath, Outta My Head, I Got You). I think that Leona should be up around Norah Jones’ predicted sales of 150 – 170k and should definately be beating the new Kris Allen album… It does however seem that with the big promo push that is planned over the next couple of weeks, Echo might prove to be a grower; also, it should be noted that Happy is making a resurgence in the iTunes charts (I believe in the high 20s at the moment). I live in Australia and her album probably isn’t going to make Top 30 here, not that that really matter LOL
THE ALBUM WAS FULL OF FALSETTO…..
MARIAH, REGINE, CELINE OR EVEN ASIA’S REGINE VELASQUEZ ARE THE BEST BELTERS IN THE WORLD…. WE WANT TO HEAR A HIGH NOTES POWER VOICE FROM HER AND NOT A FALSETTO SO THAT WE CAN MEASURE HOW SHE EXCELLED HITS EXTREME HGH NOTES COMPARED THOSE 4 GREATEST BELTERS AS MENTIONED….
GOSH! I REPEAT.. THE ALBUM WASS FULL OF FALSETTO AND NOT A BELTING…………
THE ALBUM WAS FULL OF FALSETTO…..
MARIAH, WHITNEY, CELINE OR EVEN ASIA’S REGINE VELASQUEZ ARE THE BEST BELTERS IN THE WORLD…. WE WANT TO HEAR A HIGH NOTES POWER VOICE FROM HER AND NOT A FALSETTO SO THAT WE CAN MEASURE HOW SHE EXCELLED HITS EXTREME HGH NOTES COMPARED THOSE 4 GREATEST BELTERS AS MENTIONED….
GOSH! I REPEAT.. THE ALBUM WASS FULL OF FALSETTO AND NOT A BELTING…………
well s*** i love it..people sayin its boring but not every song was slow….guess thats what happens when have the world wants a techno album and not a ballad and lyrical heavy one..but i love it!
Shayne Ward is much better than Leona!
Bring on his 3rd album next year! He’ll show Leona how it’s done.
It is 100% the album.
Forget anyone who says different. The album was not good enough to sell any more than that in the US. Its not the artist. The lead single has the same problem as the rest of the album.
The producing/songs/her voice all make the album sub-par
the album u guys hate soo much is 2 x platinum in the uk. over 600000 copies sold.
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