Album Cover
Leanne Mitchell released her version of Whitney Houston’s I Run to You after the show ended but it flopped; only reaching number 45 in the charts. There was added pressure on Leanne to release a successful album and it has only been released for a few days and the negative reviews are overshadowing the positive.
I have to say that the album isn’t bad, Leanne Mitchell has an amazing voice and she deserved to win the competition but I think what the album lacks is identity. There is no individuality in her songs. When listening to first track of the album ‘Pride’ it reminded me of the famous track Next to Me by Emeli Sande and the Pull Me to Pieces is just a carbon copy of Paloma Faith’s Never Tear Us Apart.
Leanne co-wrote on several songs on the album and wrote the track ‘Keep on Waiting’ by herself, which happens to be one of the only tracks I actually liked. The third track on the album To Love Someone Like You was pretty and melodic but reminded me of a song that would be on the soundtrack of a Disney film.
She also has three covers on this album and they include Beverley Knight’s No Man’s Land, Luther Ingram’s If Loving You Is Wrong and Nina Simone’s I Put a Spell on You. She definitely gives the classic tunes justice because there is no doubt that she is a beautiful singer. However, I feel that the album lacked originality. I am listening to the album and I find myself recognising the backing tracks and comparing them to songs that already exist. This might not be intentional but it is as if the producers have recycled existing music and added a few chord changes and asked her to sing over it.
The album wasn’t a complete disaster because I did like her cover of I Put a Spell on You and the ballads Walk You Home and Keep on Waiting. Leanne Mitchell’s voice is flawless but the creativity involved in making her first album has failed miserably. I didn’t personally like the album as a whole and I also expected the album to be released faster.
Maybe Will.I.Am is right when he says ‘They went too slow. Everyone was like; she’s so great, let’s take our time, lah-de-dah. I hope we learn from that.’ I think the people of The Voice expected Leanne to go it completely alone once winning The Voice and I think the lack of guidance has affected her career.
Even though I didn’t enjoy Leanne Mitchell’s album there are plenty of people that did, some surprised by the quality of her album after The Voice branding it unsuccessful before it was even released. Do I think that Leanne Mitchell has ‘The Voice?’ Yes. I think she does have an incredible voice but I feel that with this album release, her career might be over before it’s even started.
Album Rating ***
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