May 19, 20205 yr Author 10. Naked | 7.81 Highest: 11 (Jonjo) / Lowest: 5 (Cameron, Dean) KDtoN72dIoc Kicking off the top 10 is the guitar-driven pop/rock number from Leona’s second album. ‘Naked’ is one of the more up-tempo tracks from Echo and tells the story of Leona having to function with life and work after an unexpected break-up. It sounds to me like something Kelly Clarkson could have recorded during her Breakaway era which of course can only be a compliment. :lol: I always believed the track would have been perfect for the US market and should have been pushed on the pop and Hot AC radio formats once ‘Happy’ stalled. ‘Naked’ has a lot more punch to it than the singles Leona had released by 2010 so it might have shown the public a different side of her and hushed the “one trick pony” critiques. The song has received a lot of love in this rate with Mike, Billy, SamJudd, Winter Freeze and Love Leona all giving it a 10 on top of Jonjo’s 11. At #10 it is the fourth highest album track and the second highest Echo track in this rate!
May 19, 20205 yr 'Naked' is outstanding. It always has been my absolute favourite from 'Echo' whilst everyone else seemed to adore OMH! :wub: It's a different side to Leona whilst still being very Leona, unlike say, 'Forgive Me'. I love it so much. I'd have preferred it higher, but I can't be mad at a top 10 showing!
May 19, 20205 yr This is how I would have done the "Echo" era, there was so much potential on there & stopping at just 2 singles was a huge mistake. something which she's never recovered from. Honestly if they planned a better singles run then this album could have easily sold a Million copies & 2010 could have been Leona's year "Happy" "Outta My Head" "Can't Breathe" "Naked" "Don't Let Me Down (with Justin Timberlake)!
May 19, 20205 yr Can't Breathe & Naked would/should've been massive US radio hits! They're tailor made for US radio. I probably would have gone... Outta My Head (XF Show 3) Can't Breathe (XF final) Naked (March/Apr) Happy (performed on BGT final at the time)
May 19, 20205 yr Author This is how I would have done the "Echo" era, there was so much potential on there & stopping at just 2 singles was a huge mistake. something which she's never recovered from. Honestly if they planned a better singles run then this album could have easily sold a Million copies & 2010 could have been Leona's year "Happy" "Outta My Head" "Can't Breathe" "Naked" "Don't Let Me Down (with Justin Timberlake)! Omg I can't fault that singles run. *.* And I love the JT credit on DLMD - I know he's only on backing vocals but if they got him in the video with Leona like Rihanna's Rehab it would have been big! There were so many amazing pop nuggets on the album! :drama:
May 19, 20205 yr Author 09. Footprints in the Sand | 7.98 Highest: 10 (Scene, Alfonso LeLe, SamJudd, …ready for it) / Lowest: 4.5 (Cameron) dCsZNalcaXM At #9 we have one half of Leona’s double A-side single for Sports Relief 2008! ‘Footprints’ reached #2 as part of the charity single and was infamously just 302 copies shy of #1 –if Duffy could have just deleted ‘Mercy’ from the chart Leona would have had 3 consecutive number one singles!! Nevertheless, the single was a hit but it’s fair to say ‘Footprints’ is definitely the forgotten half while ‘Better in Time’ was pushed as the next worldwide single. The track itself is a power ballad that anyone who voted for Leona on X Factor would be satisfied with. It encompasses all of the diva balladry from the 90s – the key change, the drama, the emotion, the themes of love, hope and empowerment. The lyrics are inspired by the poem Footprints which I will add below because it’s simply beautiful. :wub: I feel like the song should be a lot more remembered than it probably is these days. It's pop perfection. It's power ballad perfection! It should be one of Leona's signature tracks in the same way 'Hero' and 'I Have Nothing' are Mariah's and Whitney's respectively. ‘Footprints in the Sand’ is the first of 6 (!!) Spirit tracks to appear in the top 10 and also the only song in the top 10 to receive a rating lower than 5 – Cameron I see you! Now the poem. :heart: One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, One belonging to me and one to my Lord. After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints. This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. "Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me." He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you Never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."
May 19, 20205 yr Ooh I was almost right, swap around 10 and 9 in my prediction! I’m still keeping everything crossed for OMS to win.
May 19, 20205 yr 'Footprints In The Sand' is gorgeous. I remember Attraction's performance to it on BGT reigniting my love for it. Also, I prefer the single version to the album version! I feel like there's a bit more to it!
May 19, 20205 yr Love Footprints in the Sand, it is very soppy but also beautiful. She really is a force when it comes to ballads
May 19, 20205 yr Why Glassheart didn’t lead the campaign for Glassheart I’ll never know. How Leona was so insistent on Trouble leading (or was that the labels choice as I really can’t imagine syco pushing trouble when the entire album was better :lol:) I think they were clearly banking on it riding the Emeli Sandé wave, as she was really massive that year. I don't even think 'Trouble' is that bad, although granted I never really go back to it anymore. 'Lovebird' though, now what the F were they thinking there? :lol:
May 20, 20205 yr Trouble gets a lot of unnecessary shade, it’s a good pop song that deserved a better chart run tbh. I wish You Are The Reason was a bit higher too tbh!
May 20, 20205 yr Author 08. Yesterday | 8.02 Highest: 11 (Billy, Love Leona) / Lowest: 5 (Bitch, Cameron) cWhL27gRMxk At #8 we have one of the honorary singles from Spirit voted in by you guys! ‘Yesterday’ is a wistful mid-tempo about love and lost relationships that live on through memories. It’s simply stunning and Leona’s effortless vocal delivery takes the song to an even higher level. Relistening to it, I can understand why many fans were/are pining for Leona to return to the Pop/R&B sound of her first era. She carries these songs in ways few of her contemporaries could. Despite the melancholic tone, ‘Yesterday’ conjures up images of late summer spent on an island or somewhere tropical. Maybe it is the Spirit album shoot with Leona on a beach that makes me think this :lol: but it would have made a brilliant late August/early September single in 2008! The song received newfound attention when it emerged pre-fame Dinah Jane from Fifth Harmony was recorded singing it back in 2009 and the video was put – and still is – on YouTube. As well as receiving two 11s, ‘Yesterday’ received two 10s and five 9s! Buzzjack stans!
May 20, 20205 yr I like Yesterday, but 8 is higher than it deserves tbh. I’m glad it’s not any higher.
May 20, 20205 yr Author 07. Happy | 8.52 Highest: 10 (HurtMyHands, Scene, Love Leona) / Lowest: 7 (Billy, sorryislayed) bag0VtzK_9U Up next at #7 – and a whole 0.5 above ‘Yesterday’ in average – is the lead single to Leona’s second album and the release that marked the beginning of declining sales for Leona. Charting at number 2 behind the Black Eyed Peas’ Meet Me Halfway, after both acts performed on the same X Factor results show, it was certainly a disappointment for Leona’s team and fandom alike. In the US, it only reached #31 which was a travesty but then that is what you get when you don’t do a radio tour for the single! I adore this song and the subject matter really resonates with me – taking chances in order to find happiness instead of staying in your comfort zone but never being content. Leona’s vocal delivery is perfect. Beginning the song in a sombre, restricted manner and gradually the emotion begins to pour out in her voice. The emotions reach a peak in the final chorus until she goes full-circle with the last sombre “happy”. :drama: Okay I’ve studied and analysed this song way too much. THE SONG IS A JOURNEY THOUGH. Let’s also talk about THAT video. Besides Leona looking stunning and seemingly embarking on a sexy holiday romance, the best part is that twist during the middle 8 which truly broke my 15-year-old heart. :drama: Her best video to date! I know many people labelled ‘Happy’ a poor man’s ‘Bleeding Love’ but I have always found that a lazy comparison. Yes, Ryan Tedder produced another ballad for Leona to lead another of her albums, and yes a lot of Ryan’s productions for the pop girls sounded similar in 2009 :lol: but while BL is a yearning love song, ‘Happy’ has a far more generalised theme and self-empowerment is at the heart of it. It was so close to getting my 11 yet again but I decided to break tradition after reacquainting myself with ‘I See You’ lol! It may have not been the best choice for lead single in hindsight but I am glad it got its chance to shine and we were blessed with that video! ‘Happy’ was unanimously liked by voters – scoring no lower than a 7 – but failed to get a single 11. Interestingly, it isn’t the highest track to receive no 11s.
May 20, 20205 yr Hmm don't think Yesterday should have been a single glad it wasn't I love Happy think it's a stunning song should have been another number 1 single for her
May 20, 20205 yr I LOVE Yesterday I still play it a lot to this day. Such a good song why it was never a single I will never understand !
May 20, 20205 yr wished i’d voted, just explored leona’s back catalogue over the last week and happy deffo would have gotten a 10 for me
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