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Leona Lewis: Spirit

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Sony/BMG Records
Released: 2007.11.09
Time:
 53:39
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.leonalewismusic.co.uk
Appears with: Name
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Bleeding Love (Ryan Tedder, Jesse McCartney) - 4:23
[2] Whatever It Takes (Tony Reyes, Leona Lewis, Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson) - 3:27
[3] Homeless (Jörgen Elofsson) - 3:50
[4] Better in Time (Jonathan Rotem, Andrea Martin) - 3:54
[5] Yesterday (Sam Watters, Louis Biancaniello, Nina Woodford, Jordan Omley, Michael Mani) - 3:54
[6] Take a Bow (Watters, Biancaniello, Wayne Wilkins, Tedder) - 3:54
[7] I Will Be (Max Martin, Avril Lavigne, Lukasz Gottwald) - 3:59
[8] Angel (Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Espen Lind, Amund Bjørklund, Johntá Austin) - 4:14
[9] Here I Am (Walter Afanasieff, Brett James, Lewis) - 4:52
[10] I'm You (Shaffer Smith, Eric Hudson) - 3:48
[11] The Best You Never Had (Billy Steinberg, Josh Alexander) - 3:43
[12] The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Ewan MacColl) - 4:26
[13] Footprints in the Sand (Richard Page, Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Simon Cowell) - 4:09

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Leona Lewis - Lead Vocals, Background Vocals

Tawatha Agee - Choir
Ravaughn Brown - Background Vocals
Robin Clark - Choir
Michelle Cobbs - Choir
Benny Diggs - Choir
Tavia Ivey - Background Vocals
Tammy Lucas - Choir
Cindy Mizelle - Choir
Billy Porter - Choir
Vaneese Thomas - Choir
Vanessa Thomas - Choir
Fonzi Thornton - Choir, Vocal Contractor

Walter Afanasieff - Keyboards
Josh Alexander - Guitar, Keyboards
Dave Arch - Organ, Piano
Louis Biancaniello - Keyboards
Amy Chang - Violin
Jack Daley - Bass
Mikkel Storleer Eriksen - Instrumentation
Stephen Ferrera - Drums
Karen Freer - Celli
Eric Hudson - Instrumentation
Daniel Laufer - Celli
Chris Laws - Drums
Espen Lind - Guitar
Phillip Lowman - Drums
Steve Mac - Keyboards, Synthesizer
Max Martin - Piano
John Paricelli - Guitar
Steve Pearce - Bass
William Pu - Violin
Tony Reyes - Guitar
J.R. Rotem - Instrumentation
Olga Shpitko - Violin
Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson - Keyboards
Ian Thomas - Drums
Wayne Wilkins - Keyboards
Steven Wolf - Drums, Percussion

John Adams - Assistant
Walter Afanasieff - Arranger, Producer, Programming
Josh Alexander - Digital Editing, Engineer, Producer, Programming
Dave Arch - String Arrangements
Dallas Austin - Producer
Matt Beckley - Producer
Haydn Bendall - String Engineer
Tom Bender - Assistant, Mixing Assistant
Louis Biancaniello - Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Programming
Chris Brooke - Vocal Engineer
David Campbell - String Arrangements
David Channing - Engineer
Lloyd Cooper - Assistant
Simon Cowell - Executive Producer
Clive Davis - Executive Producer
Rich Davis - Production Co-Ordination
Craig Durrance - Engineer
Mikkel Storleer Eriksen - Engineer
Geoff Foster - String Arrangements
Chris Garcia - Digital Editing, Engineer
Serban Ghenea - Mixing
Tyler Gordon - Digital Editing, Programming
Aniela Gottwald - Assistant
Tatiana Gottwald - Engineer
Keith Gretlein - Engineer
Mick Guzauski - Mixing
Janne Hansson - Engineer
Nate Hertweck - Assistant
Chris Holmes - Engineer
Eddie Horst - String Arrangements
Josh Houghkirk - Assistant
Eric Hudson - Producer
James Ingram - Assistant
Jaycen Joshua - Mixing
Rouble Kapoor - Engineer
Nik Karpen - Assistant
Chris Laws - Digital Editing, Editing, Engineer
Chris Lord-Alge - Mixing
Carlton Lynn - Engineer, Mixing
Steve Mac - Arranger, Producer
Graham Marsh - Producer, Engineer
Doug Mckean - Engineer
Vlado Meller - Mastering
Greg Ogan - Engineer
Leon Pendarvis - String Arrangements, String Conductor
Dave Pensado - Mixing
Trent Privat - Assistant
Daniel Pursey - Engineer
Tim Roberts - Assistant
Scott Roewe - Digital Editing
J.R. Rotem - Arranger, Producer
Wesley Seidman - Engineer
Robert Smith - Engineer
Chris Soper - Engineer
Billy Steinberg - Producer
Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson - Producer, Programming
Tim Sturges - Assistant, Assistant Engineer
Ren Swan - Engineer, Mixing
Tom Syrowski - Engineer
Phil Tan - Mixing
Aliaune "Akon" Thiam - Producer
Giorgio Tuinfort - Producer
Seth Waldmann - Engineer
Sam Watters - Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Vocal Producer
Josh Wilbur - Engineer
Wayne Wilkins - Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Programming
Steven Wolf - Producer
Emily Wright - Engineer, Production Co-Ordination
Tim Blacksmith - Management
Stephen Ferrera - A&R
Larry Eaglin Jackson - A&R
Harry Magee - Management

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Obnoxiously, Simon Cowell was right - after a year of training and tweaking, 2006's X Factor winner has produced an album that says "actual career" rather than "lightning trip to Number One, then hello Burger King". Engorged with glossy 90s-style production by expensive US names like Salaam Remi and Dallas Austin, Spirit could even win Lewis bona fide stardom in America. And good for her. She has clearly invested every scrap of energy into these songs, and deserves to make it big in the market where no ballad is ever too sincere, no crescendo too histrionic and no lyric too reminiscent of a desperate day at the Mills & Boon factory. But being able to belt 'em out is only half the story, and if there's a personality here, it's well hidden.

Caroline Sullivan
© 2015 Guardian News and Media



If you pine for Mariah as an adult-contemporary queen instead of a cleavage-popping rap moll, Lewis’ debut is for you. The Simon Cowell protégée and winner of Britain’s Idol-like X Factor just broke first-week U.K. sales records, yet her lovelorn ballads achieve a dullness to which normally only Americans aspire. Sure enough, credits reveal the usual Yank writer-producer suspects (Ryan Tedder, J.R. Rotem). Spirit will be issued here in January with some substitute tracks, and who knows — less generic material could yet turn an obvious talent into an artist.

Chris Willman, December 7 2007
Entertainment Weekly



When Leona Lewis slipped from the spotlight after last year's Christmas Number One, there were whispers that maybe she didn't have the x-factor after all. But in reality, Leona was one of the few people to come out of a TV talent show worth investing some time and money in. Not for her a rush-released covers album; instead it was off to the States to work with a host of big name producers like Dallas Austin and Jam and Lewis.

It's almost a shame all that effort went into crafting a bland pop album strong on mid-tempo balladry and spiralling vocal gyrations, but short on hooks, innovation and personality.

With sights firmly set on the lucrative American market, single ‘Bleeding Love’ is an 80s throwback that even Mariah wouldn't record these days. And the attempts at skittering r'n'b beats on tracks like "The Best You Never Had" and the Ne-Yo- produced "I'm You" are also fairly middle-of-the-road.

Elsewhere, "Take a Bow" is a slice of synthy melodrama, "Whatever it Takes" has singalong potential and big ballad "Footprints in the Sand" is a piano warbler that brings Leona's voice to the forefront. It's an amazing voice, no doubt, but if it wasn't for those elastic vocal cords, this could be anyone.

Only on the Leona co-written "Here I Am" do we get a glimpse of the Hackney girl herself, thrown into the pop machine: "This is a crazy world/These can be lonely days.../Who can you really trust" she asks. Otherwise, Spirit is just the sound of a generic diva.

Lyndsey Winship, 2007
BBC Review



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 U.K. 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 Britain, 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, earthbound 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 U.K. first, then slowly roll her out in the U.S. a few months later, via an appearance on Oprah and a slightly re-sequenced and remixed version of her debut, Spirit.

That U.S. 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' 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 expect from Cowell: ever since Mariah long ago abandoned AC for the clubs, there has been a gaping need for a vocalist like Leona Lewis, a singer who 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 calculatingly 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 drove 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 who 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 voice, this would have been a killer record in addition to the international blockbuster that it was so carefully crafted to be.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide



Spirit is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Leona Lewis, released by Syco Music in November 2007 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, followed by a worldwide release during early 2008. After winning the third series of reality singing contest The X Factor in December 2006, Lewis began recording the album in Sweden, the United Kingdom and United States, working with a variety of writers and producers. Critics praised the album for creating a contemporary album using such a variety of producers, and for showcasing Lewis's voice, though criticised her "lack of personality". The release of the album marked Lewis as the first winner of a major television talent show in both the UK and US to be given a major global launch with a debut album.

The album debuted at number one in nine countries, including the United Kingdom, United States and Germany, and peaked in the top five in a further eight countries. It held the record for the biggest digital album sales in a week ever for a new artist. The album was the 6th biggest selling of 2008 in the world, as according to the IFPI. It has gone on to sell over eight million copies worldwide, and was the 4th best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK, where it has since sold over 3.1 million copies and remains the best-selling debut album by a female artist.

Spirit spawned seven singles, including two from a re-release of the album. Lead international single "Bleeding Love" went on to top the charts in 35 countries, becoming one of the best selling singles by a female of all time. It was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Record of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards, and British Single at the 2008 BRIT Awards. Follow-up single "Better in Time" also fared well, charting in the top ten in thirteen countries and reaching number eleven in the US. After a well received performance of Snow Patrol's "Run" whilst promoting Spirit, Lewis recorded a studio version for the re-release of the album, titled Spirit – The Deluxe Edition, which was released as a download only single in the UK, where it charted at number one, going on to be the third platinum selling single from Spirit, following X Factor winner's single "A Moment Like This" and "Bleeding Love".

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