Unbelievably, it has been a whole year since the voice that is Leona Lewis came to our attention courtesy of Simon Cowell's reality TV show, The X Factor. For me, Leona didn't really stand out until the Boot-camp stages, where I realised that the girl really could sing. Her first few live shows were amazing, and Leona cruised to the final, trampling all over runner up Ray Quinn. After winning the show, Leona shot to number one with her debut single, and then seemed to disappear into oblivion after that. She resurfaced again around October of 2007, announcing that her debut album was about to make its way onto our shelves, together with a new single. So 10 months later....was Spirit worth the wait? Sadly, the cover didn't stand out as anything amazing, just a facial shot of Leona, which sort of reminds me of the cover of Britney Spears' debut single Baby, One More Time. But the tracks themselves? Well, you do get 14 tracks for your money from Leona, and what a stonking 14 tracks they are. I have reviewed them below in the order they appear on the album.

Better In Time: I was a bit disappointed by track 4 to find that this was another ballad type track. I was hoping for something a bit more fast paced by this point, but at least this was a bit more poppy than Homeless. I found that this song, although quite good, was nothing special compared to the dark and haunting previous track, and I listened to it without really hearing it if you know what I mean! Leona's voice is quite nice in this one, but nothing amazing, so not one of the album's best tracks.

Angel: Right from the start, this song just didn't stand out for me. It has a pretty mediocre with an okay backing track. Another love song, it has some gorgeous lyrics to it, but just doesn't do much for me. It was a pleasant listen at the time, but after hearing it, its not exactly memorable and fades into the background, especially compared to some of the other ballads on the album. A bit disappointing.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face: A cover of the Roberta Flack classic, I remember Leona performing this on The X Factor and getting goosebumps. And this version doesn't disappoint here either. It brings out the wonderful soulful side of Leona's voice, and the soft backing track just makes you want relax and soak up the lyrics and the gentle voice coming out of your speakers. Near perfection if ever I heard it, this really does make Leona sound like she has the voice of an angel. She makes it seem effortless to produce such a fantastic voice.

A Moment Like This: This was the single Leona released as the winner of the X Factor 2006, so 99.9% of Britain has heard this one. This track gives Leona the honour of being the fastest download in British history, selling a whopping 50,000 copies in just 30 minutes, and was also the biggest selling single of 2006! It was also the Christmas number one for that year, selling well over half a million copies, outselling the entire UK Top 40 on its own...amazing! The lyrics of this song are appropriate for Leona as the winner of the show, but sadly I will always prefer Kelly Clarkson's version (Kelly won American Idol Season 1 and this was her winners single). The song does Leona's voice justice though, and she hits those high notes so comfortably, it showcases exactly what it takes to make a great singer.