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Alexandra Burke - Heartbreak On Hold

Luner13Luner13 Posts: 2,968
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in Music #1
I usually don't listen to products of X Factor but I finally got around to listening to this 2012 flop album.

Its actually not bad at all and I much prefer to Overcome.

Elephant was clearly the wrong launch single should have been Heartbreak On Hold or Fire both killer dance anthems.

Tonight (feat. Dj Smash) is my fave song on the album though GREAT tune.

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    Zack06Zack06 Posts: 28,304
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    #2
    This album was rush recorded to replace an album she had finished in 2011 but which was never released for unknown reasons. One of the songs on that album was Don't Wake Me Up which RCA subsequently gave to Chris Brown.

    It's not a bad album. I think people's views are tainted by its commercial performance, but Elephant was a top 3 single and Tonight (feat. DJ Smash) was a #1 hit in Greece and popular across Europe. As a result it was later covered by Inna, due to the song's popularity.

    Her 3rd/US debut album will be a departure from the sound of this album though. She's going in a more urban/R&B route similar to her first album Overcome. :)
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,268
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    #3
    Let it go is probably my favourite song from Alexandra Burke. Should have been bigger!!
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    kryskryskryskrys Posts: 3,322
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    #4
    I feel like it could do with a couple more mid-tempos/ballads to give it a bit more balance, but that said, I think every song on the album is pretty great.

    My favourite tracks are probably Heartbreak On Hold (should have been the lead single), Let It Go, Love You That Much, Between The Sheets, Tonight, Beating Still and Sitting On Top Of The World.
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    NicoleRichNicoleRich Posts: 2,107
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    #5
    Such an underrated album. Let It Go and the lead single were my jams in 2012.
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    Master OzzyMaster Ozzy Posts: 18,937
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    #6
    I love her, but I don't think it's a very good album at all. Overcome was a really, really good debut considerign she was an XF winner. Her second album should have been a step forward, however instead it was a step back. It was just bubblegum pop by numbers. Just sounded like cheap pop. All the songs have a very basic structure. However, it's not her fault. There were a lot of label politics going on behind the scenes which resulted in her having to release the second album not as it was originally intended. On the original second album she had worked with some big names, top producers. Her decision to leave Simon and Syco resulted in a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. She made the right decision to leave that label though...she would have been put on the back burner forever just like most Syco artists and she knew that. She spends most of her time in the U.S now, is signed to a U.S label and has a fanatstic team around her. She's recently finished recording album three. Going back to album two though, Alex herself knew she shoudn't continue releasing singles from it....Elephant did well but the album wasn't selling well and the second single performed badly. There was supposed to be a third single which I think she was contracted to release (can't remember what song it was) but thank god it didn't get released as it would have flopped. She finsihed the era and moved on...right decision. No point trying to flog a dead horse. She's in an incredible position right now and they're are so many exciting things going on.
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    AdzPowerAdzPower Posts: 4,861
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    #7
    I actually really loved that album, many people don't think this but I thought the disco-diva-dance anthems suited her perfectly, she has the chops to pull them off, not to mention it really is a cohesive and well structured album, every song feels like it belongs which is rare these days.
    I think it suffered mainly because the UK public seemed to turn against her for some stupid reason, not to mention whilst the two singles were pretty good, there were far better songs on the album that she could have released, add to that the lack of promo, the poor music video's and unfortunately it's not hard to see why it flopped.
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    LMLM Posts: 63,509
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    #8
    Total mess of an album. Considering there was a three year gap between this and her debut, it sounded like an album put together in about 2 months

    I remember reading interviews with Aly Burke, and she said she was given a lot of control over this record. This album and era is an example of why some artists shouldn't be given control over their music. Her label let her run riot and have potentially killed her career. It's been nearly two years since this awful album was released and she still hasn't redeemed herself. She needs to get her arse in gear. Maybe it would of been best if she hadn't turned down doing The Bodyguard Musical.

    Elephant's video was a poor imitation of Rihanna's we found love video. I can imagine her watching the video when it came out and saying "i wanna do an album full of tracks like that". It backfired big time. She's talented. She has more versatility and a lot of layers than most of the XF contestants. I hope she returns very soon.
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    cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    #9
    Tonight should really have been a single!
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    Luner13Luner13 Posts: 2,968
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    #10
    cnbcwatcher wrote: »
    Tonight should really have been a single!

    I'd have made it

    First single - Heartbreak On Hold

    Album release

    Second single - Tonight

    Third single - Fire

    Fourth single - Let It Go
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    KieranDSKieranDS Posts: 16,545
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    #11
    It's rubbish. Let It Go is quite good though.
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    Master OzzyMaster Ozzy Posts: 18,937
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    #12
    little-monster wrote: »
    Total mess of an album. Considering there was a three year gap between this and her debut, it sounded like an album put together in about 2 months

    I remember reading interviews with Aly Burke, and she said she was given a lot of control over this record. This album and era is an example of why some artists shouldn't be given control over their music. Her label let her run riot and have potentially killed her career. It's been nearly two years since this awful album was released and she still hasn't redeemed herself. She needs to get her arse in gear. Maybe it would of been best if she hadn't turned down doing The Bodyguard Musical.

    Elephant's video was a poor imitation of Rihanna's we found love video. I can imagine her watching the video when it came out and saying "i wanna do an album full of tracks like that". It backfired big time. She's talented. She has more versatility and a lot of layers than most of the XF contestants. I hope she returns very soon.

    The album wasn't supposed to end up as it did. It was originally more RnB and she worked with big names, top producers, there were duets. After she finsiehd work on it though Syco had no plans to release it for ages, so rightly so she left the label and moved to a different one. Syco kept most of the songs she recorded which meant that when she moved labels she had to start again, which resulted in what ended up sounding like a rush release of dance songs. She's been working her backside off since that album though. She's signed to a U.S label, has some of Jay-Z's people around her, has just completed album three. She's releasing in the U.S this year.
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    TributeTribute Posts: 820
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    #13
    I wonder whatever happened to that sex tape that was reported on the weekend of her X Factor final. I always suspected Simon Cowell bought it to save her career as it was obvious that she was going to win.
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    iseloidiseloid Posts: 9,392
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    #14
    little-monster wrote: »
    Total mess of an album. Considering there was a three year gap between this and her debut, it sounded like an album put together in about 2 months

    I remember reading interviews with Aly Burke, and she said she was given a lot of control over this record. This album and era is an example of why some artists shouldn't be given control over their music. Her label let her run riot and have potentially killed her career. It's been nearly two years since this awful album was released and she still hasn't redeemed herself. She needs to get her arse in gear. Maybe it would of been best if she hadn't turned down doing The Bodyguard Musical.

    Elephant's video was a poor imitation of Rihanna's we found love video. I can imagine her watching the video when it came out and saying "i wanna do an album full of tracks like that". It backfired big time. She's talented. She has more versatility and a lot of layers than most of the XF contestants. I hope she returns very soon.

    All labels control tracklistings tbh. No one's exempt from that. I highly doubt RCA let her do what she completely wanted tbh, not even Gaga has that kind of control. She kept talking about the control she had, but it felt more like someone saying something to make it seem true, as opposed to actually being true. It was a generic album, but I've heard worse. It's mostly a step back because of her talent than anything else. She's been rather busy since getting new management.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k97gPjyNn-g&feature=player_embedded
    (their kind of...mmm...new US artist debut, it's common in black American circles).

    And she isn't coming back to England anytime soon, hence her seeming to have 'disappeared'. I believe she's releasing news about it all this month. But she definitely seems to have used her connections to try again US wise.
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    Carly_ThompsonCarly_Thompson Posts: 2,345
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    #15
    It sounded so cheap and amateur compared to her debut. It was very obvious she had a much smaller budget when she moved labels. And the fact it was all just dance songs mostly, I do like Between The Sheets though.

    I hope she goes back to her first album sound, great catchy songs and a good mix of uptempo and slower tempo songs. Plus great vocals!
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    d56d56 Posts: 5,471
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    #16
    The single Heartbreak On Hold is an absolute favourite of mine. Wish she would have released this instead of Let It Go. Such a tune!
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