Overcome [CD]

Well, well, well! I have to admit to no small measure of surprise on
hearing Ms Burke's debut album 'Overcome'. The car-crash of a show
which spawned her has not guaranteed any great degree of longevity
(Ms Lewis a cautious exception) in the careers of its past winners
(Mr Brookstein, Mr Ward, Mr Jackson - where are they now?).

The difference with this young lady is that she has talent.
She's funny and feisty, she has charm and chutzpah and above
all this she can sing. Oh my good golly gosh can she sing?!!

That this recording has had bucket-loads of cash thrown at it
is self-evident. The investment is likely to reap rich rewards
both for Ms Burke and for those who own her. We must hope that
she is nurtured and looked-after a little too.
The industry is a cruel and fickle place for the uninitiated.

The intergalactic roster of producers and writers aside what
we have here is a solid-gold pop album. A splash of R&B, a big
spoonfull of soul, a dash of electro, a pinch of Motown.
What's remarkable is that it is shaped into a coherent whole
by the enthusiastic abandon of her vocal prowess.

It's a largely up-beat collection with a couple of stonkingly
wonderful power-ballads thrown in for good measure.

Her collaboration with RedOne has been especially fruitful.
'The Silence', 'Dumb' and 'Broken Heels' are all cracking songs.
The latter is destined to set countless dance-floors ablaze.

'Gotta Go' is a consumately soulful compositon beautifully sung.

'You Broke My Heart' confidently captures the spirit of 60's R&B.

'Bury Me (6 Feet Under)' is perhaps the only weak number in the bunch.
Ms Burke does not seem to be entirely comfortable with the somewhat
insipid melody and brittle vocal harmonies.
Not dreadfull, just a tad lacklustre in the company of stronger material.

I will never tire of listening to her performance of Mr Cohen's
great song 'Halleluja'. It is a trancendent interpretation.

I feel fairly confident that this will not be the last we shall hear from
Alexandra Burke. I'm looking forward to the next installment already.

Recommended.

The X Factor can lead a couple of ways:
1) To worldwide success (e.g. Leona Lewis)
2) Not help you at all (e.g. Steve Brookstein)

After one listen of "Overcome", it seems that Alexandra Burke will soon be following in the steps of Leona, by going on to worldwide success.

This album has a good mixture of up-tempo and ballads. There are 4 stand-out songs for me, and two are ballads, and two are up-tempo.

"Bad Boys", the lead single, is an excellent start to the album. It gets you up and dancing straight away, and is very catchy. An instant hit.

"Broken Heels", a RedOne production, is huge. Up-tempo and very catchy, like Bad Boys, but possibly even better.

"The Silence", another RedOne production, is more like a ballad. A nice echo in the chorus, and a really good key change in the last chorus. Would be a very good single choice if Alexandra wants to release a ballad.

"Overcome", the title track from the album, has excellent lyrics and a powerful chorus. Fits in with the fact this is a debut album, and has a great placing on the album, straight after a couple of up-tempo tracks.

Really great ordering of the tracks, as the same styles are split up, and you don't have a load of ballads/up-tempo all in one go.

Strongest Song(s): Bad Boys, Broken Heels, The Silence, Overcome
Weakest Song(s): Nothing But The Girl
Rating: 8/10

Not being funny; but let's look at X Factors' track record of winners-releases. Steve Whathisnameepicfail isn't even worth mentioning, Shayne Ward was passable with huge "Justin Timberlake" potential but ultimately was very badly managed, Leona Lewis was completely fantastic but released a fairly average and utterly un-groundbreaking debut filled with mediocre ballads only passable because of her astonishing vocals and finally little Leon Jackson who was quite underrated and released a very safe, and ultimately, very flop-worthy album.

Now I'm not maths genius, but I think that means the average X Factor Winner's Album has been generally quite poor.
So with that in mind, let's bring 2008 X Factor Winner Alexandra Burke and her debut album "Overcome" to the spotlight.

Our initial view of the album was her debut single `Bad Boys' featuring "legendary" rapper Flo-Rida. It wasn't, and isn't, the worst single ever; it's certainly better than Cheryl Cole's appalling solo debut; but it's also no `Bleeding Love'.

But what we can tell from the first single is that Alexandra means business. She isn't going to be another warbling princess like Leona, Shayne or Leon. Her fantastic pop is laced with American attitude and danger with a heavy baseline and stomping beat: the song even has a fully choreographed dance routine! Huzzar! A real pop star is born!

And if you liked her single; you are going to LOVE her album!

What you will notice immediately is her album is laced with amazing upbeat tracks. `Goodnight, Goodmorning' (featuring "legendary" rapper/R'n'B "superstar" Ne-Yo), `Broken Heels', `Dumb', `You Broke My Heart' and `Nothing But The Girl'. The influences behind these tracks are obvious; Rihanna, Beyoncé and maybe even Britney. What they don't attempt to do is replicate the aforementioned artistes music (*cough*Leona*cough*). These tracks are strong and independent, well produced and massively catchy!

`Broken Heels' is perhaps one of the best songs on the album; kicking off with a stunning baseline and amazing vocals. It's very Alesha Dixon, if Alesha Dixon was American. The song is impossible not to sing to, and it is also impossible not to dance to. And the lyrics? I'm glad you asked! "All the ladies tell the fellas we can do what they can do, we can do it even better in broken heels." Ouch!

`You Broke My Heart' is a fabulous track; quite big Big Band influences, a strong piano riff throughout and Alexandra's voice is glorious on this track. And whilst not a favourite of mine, I can appreciate the excellence of `Nothing But The Girl', a more R'n'B and dance influenced track, again with an amazing baseline and very "girl power" lyrics. It's fast and furious and would be a massive club hit.

As expected, the album is also rife with ballads; `The Silence', `Overcome', `Gotta Go' and `They Don't Know'. However, what is not expected is these ballads are not one of your two-a-penny-Leona-does-Mariah-does-Whitney affairs. They are stunning.

What makes them stunning is Alexandra's vocals. `Overcome' is powerful, with the standard big drums, big choir, big vocals chorus; but Alexandra is so passionate, so powerful and so beautifully deep-voiced it makes it hard not to tingle from head to foot whilst listening to. Equally, `They Don't Know' is a bluesy-pop affair which has me believing Alexandra should be recording an Ella Fitzgerald-esque album next. Moving, vocally stunning and gentle all the way through; the track is a massive success.

`The Silence' is one of the most stunning tracks on this album; soft and tender, emotional and touching, fragile but strong. It's awesome. The chorus is just beautiful: Alexandra sounds raw and exposed and powerful all at the same time, her voice breaking a bit as she belts out "so say you want me". My God, it's so much better than anything Leona could ever do!

Finally I have to mention my absolute most favourite track on the album. It's an up-tempo big-band-Jools Holland affair by the name of `Bury Me (6 Feet Under)'. If I were on the X Factor, I would perform this for Big Band Week (if `You Took Advantage of Me' didn't exist). I don't even know how to describe this song: it's odd, it's amazing, it's completely unexpected - it has no place on this album; it's proceeded by the big emotional ballad `The Silence' and succeeded by danceable musical amazingness `Broken Heels' but it doesn't matter; ultimately it is a fantastic song!

"Overcome" is a most pleasant musical surprise. There's a right assortment of tracks, all of which are wonderfully crafted, written and produced, but ultimately, it's her vocals which win!