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As haunting as Lewis' ballads are, perhaps fewer of them would do her some good.
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There's nary an ounce of diva in Lewis, she seems to enjoy singing for the sake of it, which helps her out on an album like Echo, where the melodies are elliptical, not catchy, designed to showcase range, not to stick in the head or evoke emotion.
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Taking its title a bit too literally, the album sticks to the winning formula that made “Spirit’’ a runaway success. Problem is, we already know these sides of Lewis’s talent.
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It's a far bolder and more convincing album than her first, and suggests Lewis might be able to pull off an even bigger and more unexpected triumph than winning "X-Factor" and scoring an international hit.
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Vocal heroism is Ms. Lewis’s game, and she plays it ruthlessly, with an unselfconscious gusto evocative of classic Whitney Houston or Celine Dion.
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A handful of upbeat numbers–-including an unexpected foray into frothy high-speed electro–-pull Leona back from the brink of boring, while 'I Got You' is an impressive distant relative of 'Bleeding Love.'
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That voice is impressive enough and there's no denying the stolid catchiness of some songs--notably 'Happy' and her cover of Oasis's 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out'--but she appears to lack the lightness of touch this album desperately needs.
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Too much of Echo is mired in soppy balladry and standard-issue dancery that seem meant to be consumed with a box of drugstore Chablis.
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Lewis is technically flawless, but behind lyrics about "the scars on my heart," there's little personality.
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Whether it's a chugging slow burner or an amped-up club jam, the material here is pretty unimaginative, and not a single song approaches the formidable 'Bleeding Love.'
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Ultimately though, too much of Echo is over familiar. By the end you find yourself longing for some subtlety or more light and shade.
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Q MagazineSometimes less is more. [Jan 2010, p.117]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 37 out of 45
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Mixed: 5 out of 45
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Negative: 3 out of 45
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Jan 4, 2011
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Mar 19, 2021
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Jun 14, 2017