It's Good Eve

Vonda Shepard - It's Good Eve

It's Good Eve
List Price: $15.98
Our Price: $4.99
You Save: $10.99 (69%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Listen soundtracks from this album



(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

Music CD Cover

Artist: Vonda Shepard
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1996-01-23
Music Label: Vesper Alley
Soundtracks:
  1. Maryland
  2. A Lucky Life
  3. Grain of Sand
  4. The Wildest Times of the World
  5. Like a Hemisphere
  6. Naiveté
  7. Long Term Boyfriend
  8. Every Now and Then
  9. Mischief and Control
  10. Hotel Room View
  11. This Steady Train
  12. Serious Richard

Free Music Notes for It's Good Eve

Free Music Review: Pop songstress comes into her own
Hit: 5 Stars

Years before "Ally McBeal" and mainstream success came calling, Vonda Shepard was releasing solid pop material that her label, Reprise Records, was in no hurry to promote. Evidence of their error is found in the fact that "Searchin My Soul," from her "Radical Light" album, became a huge hit and the "Ally" theme song, while "Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow," originally from her self-titled debut, was another smash when it was re-recorded as a duet with the Indigo Girls' Emily Sailers for the second volume of the "Ally McBeal" soundtrack. Reprise execs must be kicking themselves by now.

But if this isn't enough to convince you that Vonda Shepard is more than the McBeal mouthpiece that belts out classic pop tunes for the benefit of Ally's plotlines, look no further than the understated masterpiece that is 1996's "It's Good, Eve." Recorded and released right before production on "Ally" was underway, this record is largely responsible for Vonda getting the television gig, and it's no wonder in the least. Leaving behind the slicker stabs at commercial success that she attempted on Reprise, Vonda produced some of the most lovely and organic acoustic pop you've heard since the heyday of Carole King, Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell.

Vonda starts off with two compositions that draw the listener in slowly but surely with both haunting melody and personal, confessional lyrics...when Vonda sings "never worry about what I did wrong/and that I'll never be what my daddy wanted me to be/and I'll never see what my mama's dreams were" on "Maryland," it's evident that finding her own path hasn't been easy for Shepard, but the artistic payoff apparently made the struggle worthwhile. This notion is driven home on "A Lucky Life," a stunning piece that celebrates living for your art. Things picks up a bit on "Grain of Sand," which boasts a brush-kit rhythm section that moves like a gently-insistent locomotion. The song's juxtaposition of acoustic guitar pop and a Middle-Eastern inspired vocal riff laid over a sitar lick make for an immediately striking effect that is easily the album's best moment.

Elsewhere on the record Shepard makes an argument for the old theory of less being more: on "Like a Hemisphere" the drums don't come in until after the second chorus, and the simple arrangement of piano, guitar, and multiple vocals from Vonda have the fullness and elegance of a symphony. And of course mature and insightful lyrics like "why can't we see in outselves/all the beauty we see in everybody else?" make it all the more obvious that Vonda is a significant talent. Other strong ballads are "Long Term Boyfriend" and "Every Now and Then," confessional relationship pieces that manage to skirt the realm of Joni Mitchell without borrowing from any particular item in the legend's cache.

This isn't to say that Vonda's work is without drive and energy, however: "Naivete" is a forceful uptempo rocker that makes a strong case for your own personal reality being better than the one everyone makes you think you should inhabit, while the bridge in "This Steady Train" takes a quaint pop ballad and turns it on its ear with a 6/8 time signature change and a psychedelic guitar lick. The only moment less than stellar is "Mischief & Control," an exploration of the multiple personalities and identities within everyone. The lyrical concept is good enough, but the Middle-Eastern vocal riff from "Grain of Sand" is duplicated here and the songs are even in the same key, so "Mischief" comes off as a carbon-copy afterthought. Easygoing, 70's-reminiscent pop like "The Wildest Times of the World" more than pick up the slack, however.

Throughout the record Vonda's vocals are another noteworthy achievement, as if the maturity in the writing coaxed her to uncover new nuances and layers to her voice that her earlier work didn't inspire. Throw in the fact that she impressively produced the album with Michael Landau and you have every shred of evidence you will ever need to prove that Shepard is one of the most important artists of our times, never without a striking musical platform for her mature lyrical thoughts. Sure, after years of toiling away unappreciated, she more than deserves her recent television success, and it does one good to hear her on the radio and see her sell out venues across the country. But one listen to "It's Good, Eve" will show you that while, for a lot of people, "Ally McBeal" is where Vonda Shepard begins, it is just as certainly not where she ends.

Pop Music CDs

Music Genres
Top music charts in Pop Music CDs
Dinah Was (L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection) ImageYvette Freeman - Dinah Was (L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection)
Release date: 2005-04-12; Music CD
Best price: $21.07
Price in other shops: $25.95
Building Character Music CD ImageTwin Sisters Productions - Building Character Music CD
TWIN SISTERS PRODUCTIONS; Release date: 2007-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: $12.99
Bernadette Peters in Concert ImageBernadette Peters in Concert
DVD
Best price: $129.99
Everything Must Go/Two Against Nature ImageEverything Must Go/ Two Against Nature
by Steely Dan
Published: 2003; Music CD
Scattered Ashes ImageScattered Ashes
by Ihsahn / Emperor
Candlelight Records/Emi; Published: 2009-07-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $9.75
Price in other shops: $21.98
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS] ImageChristmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS]
A&E Home Video; Release date: 1998-09-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.34
Price in other shops: $19.98
The Shadow: Rare Radio Gems (Rare Radio Gems) ImageThe Shadow: Rare Radio Gems (Rare Radio Gems)
Release date: 2002-09-01; Published: 2002-09-01; Music CD
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops: $37.98
On the Shoulders of Giants, Vol. 1: An Audio & Musical Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance ImageOn the Shoulders of Giants, Vol. 1: An Audio & Musical Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance
by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Release date: 2011-09-06; Published: 2008; Music CD
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops: $21.98
Radio Show ImageFrancis Durbridge, Paul Temple & The Gilbert Case - Radio Show
Release date: 2003-05-12; Music CD
Best price: $21.49
Price in other shops: $53.99
My One and Only You ImageThe Serenaders - My One and Only You
Release date: 2011-05-28; Music CD
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops: $10.00
Top Rated Albums
Ally McBeal: The Best of Ally McBeal - The Songs of Vonda Shepard ImageOriginal TV Soundtrack - Ally McBeal: The Best of Ally McBeal - The Songs of Vonda Shepard
Release date: 2009-10-06; Music CD
Best price: $6.16
Price in other shops: $11.98
Radical Light ImageVonda Shepard - Radical Light
Release date: 1997-11-18; Music CD
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops: $15.98
Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas ImageVarious Artists - Holidays, Vonda Shepard - Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas
Release date: 2000-11-07; Music CD
Best price: $44.35
Chinatown ImageVonda Shepard - Chinatown
Release date: 2008-09-30; Music CD
Best price: $8.19
Price in other shops: $17.98
Vonda Shepard ImageVonda Shepard - Vonda Shepard
Release date: 1997-04-01; Music CD
Best price: $7.70
Price in other shops: $15.98
By 7:30 ImageVonda Shepard - By 7:30
Release date: 1999-04-20; Music CD
Best price: $0.74
Price in other shops: $16.98
Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life Featuring Vonda Shepard ImageAlly McBeal: For Once in My Life Featuring Vonda Shepard
Release date: 2001-04-24; Music CD
Best price: $16.00
From the Sun ImageVonda Shepard - From the Sun
Release date: 2008-09-02; Music CD
Best price: $6.32
Price in other shops: $14.98
Heart And Soul: New Songs From Ally McBeal Featuring Vonda Shepard (Television Series) ImageVonda Shepard - Heart And Soul: New Songs From Ally McBeal Featuring Vonda Shepard (Television Series)
Release date: 2009-12-16; Music CD
Best price: $3.59
Price in other shops: $11.98
Songs From Ally McBeal Featuring Vonda Shepard (Television Series) ImageVonda Shepard - Songs From Ally McBeal Featuring Vonda Shepard (Television Series)
Release date: 2011-10-04; Music CD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $11.98
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles