Leana Lewis - Snowpatrol 'Run' Cover

[Hobo]

Just heard this on the radio. The girl can certainly sing

[KB_S1]

Its ok.

No more though. Wrong choice of key and tempo doesn't help.

[lazyitus]

Not heard it but from what I have heard of her, she certainly can sing.

And its Leona by the way.

[dhutch]

Heard it on R1 on the way up to yorkshire, after an hour of Vernon and Paddy brilliance and it really hit the spot just as i got lost in mirfeild.
- Not really a fan of her, or shity tv shows, but is seamed really good then.
- DL'ed yesterday and really didnt sound like the same thing at all, pants!

Ah well, little lost!
- And one like the snow-pot cover of teenage kicks?


Daniel

[Twit]

Without wishing to be a pedant....

http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[JonRB]

I heard it a while back when she first did it for Jo Whiley in the Live Lounge. I love it - it's a song I like a lot and she does a very good cover of it.

Are they going to release it then?

[Chris71]

Reaqlly? I can't stand it. As with most pop records it's subjectively ok - well produced etc. but it seems to have lost something on the original where a good cover should enhance it.

[Twit]

Yes, really!!!

You have a song thats ok but originally released by the worse, most boring band currently on the planet (maybe ever) versus someone, who although not my cup of tea, has an amazing voice!

It is so superior to the original, its almost not comparable! In my view obviously...

[KB_S1]

Twit said:

Yes, really!!!

You have a song thats ok but originally released by the worse, most boring band currently on the planet (maybe ever) versus someone, who although not my cup of tea, has an amazing voice!

It is so superior to the original, its almost not comparable! In my view obviously...

Her voice is good. Not amazing.

Aretha Franklin, that is an amazing voice.

[RobM77]

I was looking forward to hearing this, as I love hearing good singers, I love covers, and I like Snow Patrol a lot. I've got to admit I was rather dissapointed. Her voice sounds quite weak - very 'thin', and she doesn't seem to be able to hold a note without fluttering into vibrato.

Call me old fashioned, but after listening to Leana I had to have a listen to these singers to restore my faith in great singing:

Jennifer Rush: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEI2rXVcUh8

Aha (don't laugh - Morten Harket could really sing): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A74bhnYKPE

U2 before Bono nackered his voice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck4OaBLDurE

Power and emotion.. it seems to be what Leana Lewis lacks I have to say..

Edited by RobM77 on Friday 30th November 22:45

[Yoda954]

RobM77 said:

Aha (don't laugh - Morten Harket could really sing): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A74bhnYKPE

Such a good tune !!! thanks for the linky

[grumbledoak]

RobM77 said:

Aha (don't laugh - Morten Harket could really sing): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A74bhnYKPE

"Scoundrel Days" remains impressive 20 years (ish) later. Cool videos, too.

Must look up Leona (Oh, Matron!), I rather like Snow Patrol's version.

[Chris71]

Twit said:

Yes, really!!!

You have a song thats ok but originally released by the worse, most boring band currently on the planet (maybe ever) versus someone, who although not my cup of tea, has an amazing voice!

It is so superior to the original, its almost not comparable! In my view obviously...

You're joking Shirley?

They're awesome live and she's off Celebrity Pop Factor's Little Brother or whatever it's called.

I could see the argument for the down-tempo innoffensive Snow Patrol being boring if you were comparing them to Metalica or something, but not sure anything can ever be boring compared to manufactured pop. It's like going out and buying a Lexus rather than a TVR - it'll hit all the right notes, but which is more exciting?

[RobM77]

Chris71 said:

Twit said:

Yes, really!!!

You have a song thats ok but originally released by the worse, most boring band currently on the planet (maybe ever) versus someone, who although not my cup of tea, has an amazing voice!

It is so superior to the original, its almost not comparable! In my view obviously...

You're joking Shirley?

They're awesome live and she's off Celebrity Pop Factor's Little Brother or whatever it's called.

I could see the argument for the down-tempo innoffensive Snow Patrol being boring if you were comparing them to Metalica or something, but not sure anything can ever be boring compared to manufactured pop. It's like going out and buying a Lexus rather than a TVR - it'll hit all the right notes, but which is more exciting?

Snow Patrol do write and sing music with true emotion, although, like most bands, they've suffered in the hands of record companies and their songs have become 'radio friendly' and empty (the same thing happened to Travis, Maroon 5, and many other bands). I'm not sure if those are just the songs that get chosen for the albums, but what we hear from bands often becomes softer and more diluted as time goes by.

As for Leana's voice - are we listening to the same person? Totally unremarkable I thought - see my comments above.

[glazbagun]

I like her voice, but I've never been able to shake the feeling that she doesnt "know" how to sing. Same with that Rydian guy in this years X-Factor- massacred Queens "Somebody to Love". It just came across as "look at me, I can sing Queen!" All big notes with no awareness of what they're actually singing about.

I loved Leona's Run when I first heard it. After hearing it again, I'm less impressed, but its still a good enough cover. Better than someone trying to out-drone/sombre Snow Patrol. If you're going to cover a song well, you have to take it somewhere its never been, or you'll just sound like an also-ran. You need to do it like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZni1l1R-lo



How the hell can that only have two stars?? Its awesome!

[RobM77]

glazbagun said:

I like her voice, but I've never been able to shake the feeling that she doesnt "know" how to sing. Same with that Rydian guy in this years X-Factor- massacred Queens "Somebody to Love". It just came across as "look at me, I can sing Queen!" All big notes with no awareness of what they're actually singing about.

I loved Leona's Run when I first heard it. After hearing it again, I'm less impressed, but its still a good enough cover. Better than someone trying to out-drone/sombre Snow Patrol. If you're going to cover a song well, you have to take it somewhere its never been, or you'll just sound like an also-ran. You need to do it like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZni1l1R-lo



How the hell can that only have two stars?? Its awesome!

Yes, I agree completely - covers that go somewhere different are always interesting, and I'm a big fan I can't get You Tube at work, what song is that a link to? I rather like The Automatic's "Gold digger", Cake's "I will survive", Limp Bizkit's "Faith", and many others!

It's interesting what you say about knowing how to sing. I'm not a singer myself, so I'm no expert, but so far as I know there is an awful lot of technique involved. However, the guy who sings in the duo I'm in has only had a handful of singing lessons, and when we started he'd had none. Let's just say he's had less tuition than Leana Lewis He has a very powerful voice with huge depth and clarity, and he can hold a note perfectly and steadily - I've never heard him struggle or go flat/sharp in years of playing and writing songs with him. Leana, on the other hand, seems to have a weak transparent voice and frequently leans on vibrato to presumably hide her lack of pitch confidence. Maybe that's what's popular these days - there are plenty of strong and capable singers out there - for instance I saw Jools Holland's band on Saturday night, and they had two female singers on stage with incredible voices - way better than Leana. It's easy to say that "better" is a subjective thing, but there are some objectives and absolutes in music - and those are power, control and pitch. I shouldn't be too damming. If Leana's cover came on the radio I wouldn't turn it off - it's very good.