Vonda Shepard

Heart And Soul: New Songs From Ally McBeal Featuring Vonda Shepard

addictive poppy songs

Review Score:

(8/10)
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".

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