Vonda Shepard - Heart And Soul: New Songs From Ally McBeal Featuring Vonda Shepard (Television Series)
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.00 You Save: $6.98 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Heart And Soul: New Songs From Ally McBeal Featuring Vonda Shepard (Television Series)
Free Music Review: As Good As The First One
Hit: 4 Stars
After the success of their first release, the makers of Ally McBeal have released a second album featuring the fabulous Vonda Shepard performing songs from the hit TV show. Like the first album, this new release contains covers of many old favorites like "Someday We'll Be Together," "Crying," "World Without Love," and "This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)". She also does a cover of "Vincent," but the third verse of the song is, sadly, missing. Also, like the first album, it contains songs written by Shepard: "100 Tears Away," about finding happiness through sadness, "Read Your Mind," a rather unextraordinary song about wondering what's in a lover's mind, "Confetti," about "children of elite trying to be street" in an attempt to be heard, and "This Is Crazy Now," about filling an empty space created by the loss of a friend. I'm not as big a fan of the songs that Shepard writes herself, but I do enjoy her renditions of "oldies" songs.Unlike the first album, which was exclusively Shepard, this album has a couple of fantastic duets. Shepard teams up with Al Green for a fun rendition of "To Sir, With Love," with the lyrics changed to "to you, with love" for the duet. Shepard is joined by Emily Saliers (the Indigo Girls) for a wonderful duet of "Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow" written by Shepard. It is an emotional ballad and is, without a doubt, my favorite song on this album. The liner notes contain complete lyrics, and have many more pictures of the cast and of Shepard. This is another great album with talented singers, backup musicians, and background vocalists. If you weren't a fan of the first album, you probably won't like this one any better. However, if you are a fan of the music you hear on the show, or a fan of Vonda Shepard, you will most likely enjoy this album.
Free Music Review: Life Lessons From A Sitcom Perspective
Hit: 4 Stars
There is usually a vast, gaping chasm of difference between a viewer's reaction to music played for dramatic effect in a visual medium and the same music heard without the distractions of sight and sympathy for TV characters. But this CD is the rare exception: Vondra Shepard's music is better than the show which has made her a household name.Does anyone remember Vondra's 1987 duet with Dan Hill, "Can't We Try"? This woman has been producing quality singer/songwriter fare for nearly 14 years! As a matter of fact, the hit single from this "Ally Album", "Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow," was first recorded by Ms. Shepard in 1989! The new version however, recorded as a duet with Emily Salier of the Indigo Girls, cuts the original to pieces. Anyone who has ever attempted to start a new relationship after experiencing more than their share of train wrecks will feel a twinge of painful recognition in these lyrics.
The opposite end of the emotional scale - that of the love-lorn, yearning romantic - can be found in the album's other stand-out track, " Know Him By Heart." Here the singer seems to have no demons in the closet, only unfulfilled dreams. The simple piano backing brings the album to a nice conclusion. Although none of the cover versions of songs presented here hold a candle to their respective originals, the two songs I reviewed make this CD a definite, worthwhile addition to your collection.
Free Music Review: addictive poppy songs
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm always impressed by Vonda Shepard's music selections on Ally McBeal. She does a good job picking the appropriate song and then either covering it to fit the mood (as in Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life") or playing the original. This album has a nice mix of competent covers that you can sing along with on the first listen and original Shepard songs that you fake the words to because they're so catchy. I thought that the two winning tracks on this album were "100 Tears Away" and "Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow", both originals by Shepard. Emily Saliers sings with Shepard on "Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow" and is fantastic! I love the Indigo Girls and Saliers' folk style blends surprisingly well with Shepard's slicker voice. This album is a lot of fun to listen to all the way through because there are no tracks that seem out of place or of lesser quality. It doesn't get five stars because, as other reviewers have pointed out, there are too many covers. While Shepard sings them well - a rarity in cover song land - she doesn't do anything really innovative with them. If you're looking for a five star album filled with covers, try Annie Lennox's "Medusa".Free Music Review: Another winner for Ally or Vonda fans
Hit: 4 Stars
Though not as overly catchy as the first "Ally McBeal" soundtrack, which boasted superb remakes of "Walk Away Renee," "You Belong to Me," and "Tell Him" (the latter of which proved to be a fan favorite at Vonda concerts), "Heart and Soul: New Songs from Ally McBeal" proves to be another pleasant listening experience. Remakes of the Supremes' "Someday We'll Be Together" and Don McLean's "Vincent" are standouts, and a remake of Lulu's "To Sir With Love" (here, a duet with Al Green) is worth the price of admission all on its own. Another bonus is a complete reworking of "100 Tears Away," a song from Vonda's 1991 sophomore release. Unfortunately a couple of really great covers made for the show were overlooked (the Pointer Sisters' "Fire" and Carly Simon's "Anticipation") and three songs from Vonda's last release, "By 7:30" is a bit much for fans who already own that work. Still, after she spent years recording and performing great music to little acclaim or attention, it's great to see Vonda Shepard still riding the crest of her much-deserved popularity.Free Music Review: Emotive Pop Covers
Hit: 4 Stars
I have always liked Vonda Shepard's voice since I first heard it during the run of Ally McBeal, and consequently have purchased all of her CD's at least once. If you recognise the song titles you should know if you will at least like this CD, for while Ms. Shepard is not and amazing vocalist, she manages to create warm renditions of each song with emotive tones and wonderful phrasing. This CD includes one of my favorite renditions of Roy Orbison's "Crying" as well as the wonderful "Don't Break My Heart Slow" which has been one of my favorite pop songs since I first heard it on the show.
While I might have never bought this album had I never seen the show, the daydream of having Vonda Shepard as the club cover artist downstairs at work, hooked me into buying and then loving this album in just a few listens.