She needs to become someone like Adele or Sam Smith (maybe not as restricted artistically though) but someone who appeals to the public through their voice like she did when Spirit came out.
I agree with this. Syco were always marketing her as something she's not, neither Collide or Trouble were Leona.
Wonder if Leona will be encouraged to write more on this album or if the majority will be submissions from other artists.
It makes me so happy that it looks like they're re-branding her. It's what she's needed the most.
Hopefully they also realize that her biggest selling point is her voice and it needs to be reflected in the material. That was always my problem with Glassheart (and even Echo tbh). Neither of those albums really let her showcase her voice to it's full potential.
She needs to become someone like Adele or Sam Smith (maybe not as restricted artistically though) but someone who appeals to the public through their voice like she did when Spirit came out.
I agree. A piano ballad where Leona's voice soars would be so perfect for the new album. She did just tweet that she's listening to Sam Smith. Hopefully she's feeling inspired ;-)
I agree about Glassheart but not Echo. She's doing some serious magic in there, even in songs that don't need vocal acrobatics ( I got you, Outta my head ). In fact, every single song on Echo has an amazing note in the bridge ( I mean, seriously, every single song ). But you are right about Glassheart, in my opinion Christmas, with love lacks of WOW vocal moments as well ( Ave Maria is great but she could add a mind-blowing super high note at the end, O holy night is a let down for me and I was expecting the studio version of it for years ). I have high hopes for the new album though, she said she's going back to powerfull songs --> That means huge beats and bleeding love vibes --> Leona's greater power is her voice though --> She will combine them --> boom
Echo had some nice vocal moments but nothing that really stood out to me. The note in Happy was incredible but the song itself just fell flat to me so it was hard to get into it.
I agree with this. Syco were always marketing her as something she's not, neither Collide or Trouble were Leona.
Agreed. I know people want her to be more edgy but it's not her and it's reflected in her sales.
I agree that they were getting very stale with her image at one point but I think the focus this time around needs to strictly be on the music and making a cohesive, vocally strong album that appeals to people who don't normally buy music (which is why Adele, Emeli Sandé - in the UK at least - and Sam Smith are doing so well).
She can still add a little edge to her image and music here and there, but her base is not the kind of people who buy Rihanna singles. And I don't think she's hurt herself that much to where she couldn't return to her Spirit days without success. I just think people have forgotten about her, not necessarily turned on her or anything.
She just needs that big comeback single with a couple amazing follow ups.
I thought 'My Hands' was Leona's best vocal performance on Echo..especially getting to the end.
SYHO was also similarly epic.
I think the main problem with Echo was the material, for me at least. I loved the album but it came out at a bad time and it just felt bland and uninspired compared to some of the other major releases.
Broken and My Hands were vocally incredible. Happy and You Don't Care had vocal highlights as well.
Agreed. I know people want her to be more edgy but it's not her and it's reflected in her sales.
I agree that they were getting very stale with her image at one point but I think the focus this time around needs to strictly be on the music and making a cohesive, vocally strong album that appeals to people who don't normally buy music (which is why Adele, Emeli Sandé - in the UK at least - and Sam Smith are doing so well).
She can still add a little edge to her image and music here and there, but her base is not the kind of people who buy Rihanna singles. And I don't think she's hurt herself that much to where she couldn't return to her Spirit days without success. I just think people have forgotten about her, not necessarily turned on her or anything.
She just needs that big comeback single with a couple amazing follow ups.
I agree with this entire post.
I said not too long ago that Adele, Emeli, Sam Smith, John Legend, Paloma Faith, Alicia Keys are her contemporaries, not Rihanna & Katy Perry. She doesn't need to appeal to Capital FM's audience anymore, Radio 2, Heart FM & Magic should be the key focus, and to a lesser extent, Radio 1. I think Island see this though with the "back to basics" comment by Leona.
Justin Timberlake & Bruno Mars have a good balance between an AC audience and a Top 40/M audience. Something like Mirrors (tempo wise) would be great for Leona.
OT: People need to stop worrying about when Adele releases, it won't make a difference.
Agreed. I know people want her to be more edgy but it's not her and it's reflected in her sales.
I agree that they were getting very stale with her image at one point but I think the focus this time around needs to strictly be on the music and making a cohesive, vocally strong album that appeals to people who don't normally buy music (which is why Adele, Emeli Sandé - in the UK at least - and Sam Smith are doing so well).
She can still add a little edge to her image and music here and there, but her base is not the kind of people who buy Rihanna singles. And I don't think she's hurt herself that much to where she couldn't return to her Spirit days without success. I just think people have forgotten about her, not necessarily turned on her or anything.
She just needs that big comeback single with a couple amazing follow ups.
I disagree completely. Trouble IS Leona. She loved that song so much she dismissed the opportunity to share it with Tinie and pushed for it to be her lead single even a year after it was originally supposed to be released. Leona is more edgy than Syco ever allowed her to be. She's even said she wants a darker sound. In my opinion, Spirit wasn't Leona. It was Simon and his fixation on making Leona the new Mariah. To be honest the only album I think is completely Leona and reflects her as an artist is Echo thankfully and it shows. Leona may have the voice of early Mariah but I think as an artist she is completely different and is more than just an amazing voice. Her artistry is actually underrated.
Edit: Lol I swear you said something about Trouble.
Edit: oops this was meant for spaceoddity. I'm tired haha
I disagree completely. Trouble IS Leona. She loved that song so much she dismissed the opportunity to share it with Tinie and pushed for it to be her lead single even a year after it was originally supposed to be released. Leona is more edgy than Syco ever allowed her to be. She's even said she wants a darker sound. In my opinion, Spirit wasn't Leona. It was Simon and his fixation on making Leona the new Mariah. To be honest the only album I think is completely Leona and reflects her as an artist is Echo thankfully and it shows. Leona may have the voice of early Mariah but I think as an artist she is completely different and is more than just an amazing voice. Her artistry is actually underrated.
Edit: Lol I swear you said something about Trouble.
Edit: oops this was meant for spaceoddity. I'm tired haha
When I say Trouble isn't Leona, I mean it isn't the public's idea of Leona, if that makes sense. Trouble wasn't a good enough song to be convincing. Lyrically it's one of my favourites but the public didn't buy Leona singing those lines and radio gave it the cold shoulder as a result (that and the lack of hook & decent melody). The marketing that went with it turned a lot of people off aswell. I even remember comments on this AT and posters saying they thought Leona was going to make Grime music because the press were printing articles about this new "edgy" Leona.
To be fair, I never mentioned Spirit or Echo so perhaps that was aimed at someone else.. but I think sonically speaking an AC sound like Spirit works much better. Take A Bow, Bleeding Love, Whatever it Takes and Better in Time were all very Leona. I agree the dreary side of Spirit was very MC like Here I Am, FITS but those 4 tracks were definitely very Leona influenced.
Funny thing is that Leona is not mentioned under Vocals for Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go in the booklet when we all heard her on it (the second i wanna hit that high)
Seeing the film on Saturday with my mum and step dad who have been to both of Leona's tours with me
[QUOTE=spaceoddity;73335101
To be fair, I never mentioned Spirit or Echo so perhaps that was aimed at someone else.. but I think sonically speaking an AC sound like Spirit works much better. Take A Bow, Bleeding Love, Whatever it Takes and Better in Time were all very Leona. I agree the dreary side of Spirit was very MC like Here I Am, FITS but those 4 tracks were definitely very Leona influenced.[/QUOTE]
BIB, no coincidence that Here i AM is MC like as it was written with Walter A who wrote a lot of MC's stuff
I think Leona needs to get the right balance between something that is what she wants to do, and something that will help her sales. She needs to use her incredible voice more on the next album because that's what she's famous for, and that's why her previous records sold so many copies. She just needs to add a sense of personality as well though.
I feel like there is conflict between 'What Leona Is' and 'What audience wants Leona to be' and 'What record label wants Leona to be'
One thing to keep in mind is a lot of Spirit may have been Leona..but that was 8 years ago...since then she has experienced so much of life & stardom. What she is today won't really be the same as that. I think she has matured more towards a dark style. Trouble showed it & so does Glassheart (another song we know she loves).
But then Xmas with Love came along and she expressed desires to make more 'Happy' music...so perhaps that's what she wants to do with Island. Or maybe a mixture of uplifting but mature dark music?
It's hard as Leona isn't just one thing..but so many and at any given point she won't want to just go one uniform direction..she'll probably want a mix of a few.
Okay that was a long ramble...I don't think I totally get what I'm getting at but yeah....basically...I'm confused as to 'What Leona is'...but maybe that's because she's only human and we want different things & become different things at different points.
Speaking of Mariah...she had huuuuge issues where the labels made her do stuff she didn't want to. But in her case when she got her freedom I feel her quality drastically declined (although the latest album is pretty good). Maybe sometimes it's better for artists to have a 'No' person rather than 'Yes' people around them.
ok ok, how did they get material from the film, unless vertigo approved it
and i still want to know who's bright idea is was to use a singer called Leona for the dutch soundtrack, That's just going to confuse things
8Ball music (Philippo's label) is a music label owned by the same owner of RTL The Netherlands, and they do a lot of promo for the film and associate it with the RTL festival.
I'm still depressed about Glassheart not being released as a single and Lovebird being released instead.
I will always support Leona. I just try not to care about her career anymore. I enjoyed One More Sleep/Christmas With Love and I am glad she has switched labels. I am not hoping for anything more than her next album being released in the UK and available for import to the US if not on iTunes.
When I say Trouble isn't Leona, I mean it isn't the public's idea of Leona, if that makes sense. Trouble wasn't a good enough song to be convincing. Lyrically it's one of my favourites but the public didn't buy Leona singing those lines and radio gave it the cold shoulder as a result (that and the lack of hook & decent melody). The marketing that went with it turned a lot of people off aswell. I even remember comments on this AT and posters saying they thought Leona was going to make Grime music because the press were printing articles about this new "edgy" Leona.
To be fair, I never mentioned Spirit or Echo so perhaps that was aimed at someone else.. but I think sonically speaking an AC sound like Spirit works much better. Take A Bow, Bleeding Love, Whatever it Takes and Better in Time were all very Leona. I agree the dreary side of Spirit was very MC like Here I Am, FITS but those 4 tracks were definitely very Leona influenced.
I don't even know who my posts are directed to anymore.
I agree about 'Trouble'. I still love it because of it's lyrics (even if they are repetitive) and Gambino's rap but it was a piss weak lead single. Speaking of the 'Lovebird'/'Fireflies' fiasco - how on earth did neither of them think of releasing 'Glassheart' when it was the clear fan favourite? Did they just both agree to not releasing it because it may require dancing or something? Really odd how it was overlooked.
Anyway, I'm definitely here for powerful vocal-driven AC songs but I don't want another Spirit. It's the only album of hers I don't listen to. It's too dated and there's zero personality there. There's emotion - but not personality. But then it was her debut album and she probably wasn't in a position to have much creative freedom.
For this next album, I think it's very important for Leona to have songs that she's proud of and that she wants on the album. It is her album after all and I think Island encourage this notion. But there's also, as someone has pointed out, the need for "hits" and songs to sell the album. A song can be quality and catchy at the same time. Even if it's an album mostly of songs Leona loves and then a few other songs just for hits and selling the album. I'd actually love for Leona to work with Sia again. Sia is an exceptional talent and I think would be a good match for Leona. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if Leona had anything remotely close to 'Diamonds' or 'If I Were A Boy' in sound, she'd be on for a hit. Just look at how 'All Of Me' is smashing all over the world. It's not like Leona has been tiring the world with multiple mid-tempo/ballad hits clogging up the radio. 'Bleeding Love' was 6-7 years ago, the world is ready for another powerful Leona smash.
Comments
I know!! That song sounds brillaint.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a580021/watch-walking-on-sunshine-cast-sing-girls-just-want-to-have-fun.html?utm_source=twt&utm_medium=snets&utm_campaign=twitter#~oI78ck43q7sakM
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a580021/watch-walking-on-sunshine-cast-sing-girls-just-want-to-have-fun.html?utm_source=twt&utm_medium=snets&utm_campaign=twitter#~oI78Z68D8xNaIe
edit: beaten to it
I agree with this. Syco were always marketing her as something she's not, neither Collide or Trouble were Leona.
Wonder if Leona will be encouraged to write more on this album or if the majority will be submissions from other artists.
This film is SO cheesy but so feel-good at the same time
I agree. A piano ballad where Leona's voice soars would be so perfect for the new album. She did just tweet that she's listening to Sam Smith. Hopefully she's feeling inspired ;-)
They should let her do the next Hunger Games movies song
SYHO was also similarly epic.
I agree that they were getting very stale with her image at one point but I think the focus this time around needs to strictly be on the music and making a cohesive, vocally strong album that appeals to people who don't normally buy music (which is why Adele, Emeli Sandé - in the UK at least - and Sam Smith are doing so well).
She can still add a little edge to her image and music here and there, but her base is not the kind of people who buy Rihanna singles. And I don't think she's hurt herself that much to where she couldn't return to her Spirit days without success. I just think people have forgotten about her, not necessarily turned on her or anything.
She just needs that big comeback single with a couple amazing follow ups.
Broken and My Hands were vocally incredible. Happy and You Don't Care had vocal highlights as well.
I agree with this entire post.
I said not too long ago that Adele, Emeli, Sam Smith, John Legend, Paloma Faith, Alicia Keys are her contemporaries, not Rihanna & Katy Perry. She doesn't need to appeal to Capital FM's audience anymore, Radio 2, Heart FM & Magic should be the key focus, and to a lesser extent, Radio 1. I think Island see this though with the "back to basics" comment by Leona.
Justin Timberlake & Bruno Mars have a good balance between an AC audience and a Top 40/M audience. Something like Mirrors (tempo wise) would be great for Leona.
OT: People need to stop worrying about when Adele releases, it won't make a difference.
I disagree completely. Trouble IS Leona. She loved that song so much she dismissed the opportunity to share it with Tinie and pushed for it to be her lead single even a year after it was originally supposed to be released. Leona is more edgy than Syco ever allowed her to be. She's even said she wants a darker sound. In my opinion, Spirit wasn't Leona. It was Simon and his fixation on making Leona the new Mariah. To be honest the only album I think is completely Leona and reflects her as an artist is Echo thankfully and it shows. Leona may have the voice of early Mariah but I think as an artist she is completely different and is more than just an amazing voice. Her artistry is actually underrated.
Edit: Lol I swear you said something about Trouble.
Edit: oops this was meant for spaceoddity. I'm tired haha
When I say Trouble isn't Leona, I mean it isn't the public's idea of Leona, if that makes sense. Trouble wasn't a good enough song to be convincing. Lyrically it's one of my favourites but the public didn't buy Leona singing those lines and radio gave it the cold shoulder as a result (that and the lack of hook & decent melody). The marketing that went with it turned a lot of people off aswell. I even remember comments on this AT and posters saying they thought Leona was going to make Grime music because the press were printing articles about this new "edgy" Leona.
To be fair, I never mentioned Spirit or Echo so perhaps that was aimed at someone else.. but I think sonically speaking an AC sound like Spirit works much better. Take A Bow, Bleeding Love, Whatever it Takes and Better in Time were all very Leona. I agree the dreary side of Spirit was very MC like Here I Am, FITS but those 4 tracks were definitely very Leona influenced.
Funny thing is that Leona is not mentioned under Vocals for Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go in the booklet when we all heard her on it (the second i wanna hit that high)
Seeing the film on Saturday with my mum and step dad who have been to both of Leona's tours with me
To be fair, I never mentioned Spirit or Echo so perhaps that was aimed at someone else.. but I think sonically speaking an AC sound like Spirit works much better. Take A Bow, Bleeding Love, Whatever it Takes and Better in Time were all very Leona. I agree the dreary side of Spirit was very MC like Here I Am, FITS but those 4 tracks were definitely very Leona influenced.[/QUOTE]
BIB, no coincidence that Here i AM is MC like as it was written with Walter A who wrote a lot of MC's stuff
One thing to keep in mind is a lot of Spirit may have been Leona..but that was 8 years ago...since then she has experienced so much of life & stardom. What she is today won't really be the same as that. I think she has matured more towards a dark style. Trouble showed it & so does Glassheart (another song we know she loves).
But then Xmas with Love came along and she expressed desires to make more 'Happy' music...so perhaps that's what she wants to do with Island. Or maybe a mixture of uplifting but mature dark music?
It's hard as Leona isn't just one thing..but so many and at any given point she won't want to just go one uniform direction..she'll probably want a mix of a few.
Okay that was a long ramble...I don't think I totally get what I'm getting at but yeah....basically...I'm confused as to 'What Leona is'...but maybe that's because she's only human and we want different things & become different things at different points.
Speaking of Mariah...she had huuuuge issues where the labels made her do stuff she didn't want to. But in her case when she got her freedom I feel her quality drastically declined (although the latest album is pretty good). Maybe sometimes it's better for artists to have a 'No' person rather than 'Yes' people around them.
I like 'Here I Am' but considering Walter wrote it I had expected a career defining track. I hope she can work with him again.
8Ball music (Philippo's label) is a music label owned by the same owner of RTL The Netherlands, and they do a lot of promo for the film and associate it with the RTL festival.
I will always support Leona. I just try not to care about her career anymore. I enjoyed One More Sleep/Christmas With Love and I am glad she has switched labels. I am not hoping for anything more than her next album being released in the UK and available for import to the US if not on iTunes.
I don't even know who my posts are directed to anymore.
I agree about 'Trouble'. I still love it because of it's lyrics (even if they are repetitive) and Gambino's rap but it was a piss weak lead single. Speaking of the 'Lovebird'/'Fireflies' fiasco - how on earth did neither of them think of releasing 'Glassheart' when it was the clear fan favourite? Did they just both agree to not releasing it because it may require dancing or something? Really odd how it was overlooked.
Anyway, I'm definitely here for powerful vocal-driven AC songs but I don't want another Spirit. It's the only album of hers I don't listen to. It's too dated and there's zero personality there. There's emotion - but not personality. But then it was her debut album and she probably wasn't in a position to have much creative freedom.
For this next album, I think it's very important for Leona to have songs that she's proud of and that she wants on the album. It is her album after all and I think Island encourage this notion. But there's also, as someone has pointed out, the need for "hits" and songs to sell the album. A song can be quality and catchy at the same time. Even if it's an album mostly of songs Leona loves and then a few other songs just for hits and selling the album. I'd actually love for Leona to work with Sia again. Sia is an exceptional talent and I think would be a good match for Leona. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if Leona had anything remotely close to 'Diamonds' or 'If I Were A Boy' in sound, she'd be on for a hit. Just look at how 'All Of Me' is smashing all over the world. It's not like Leona has been tiring the world with multiple mid-tempo/ballad hits clogging up the radio. 'Bleeding Love' was 6-7 years ago, the world is ready for another powerful Leona smash.
Krusty and I were really close of buying Down back in 2010, we bought everything except Down. ;(