Vonda Shepard has perhaps the most comfortable job in music today. She has a weekly gig on a hit television show, Ally McBeal, and also has the use of the show’s marketing machine to promote her. On top of that, she also releases her records under the Ally McBeal title. That may seem like a burden, but it only adds to her salability. How lucky can one girl be? Add in a soulful voice and you start to get the feeling that she is living a charmed life.
The first two Vonda Shepard originals aren’t very exciting. When she pulls out “Someday We’ll Be Together”, you begin to feel her hit her stride. But Shepard’s rendition of Roy Orbison’s “Crying” is a bit of a letdown. She recovers on the Don McLean original, “Vincent (Starry Starry Night)”, as with the Beatles’ “World Without Love”.
Along comes another Shepard original, “Confetti”, which is quite a snore. The next original, “This Is Crazy Now”, proves she can pen a good tune on her own. Vonda Shepard isn’t writing great original tracks; her renditions of old classics are still her best works. Her voice gets an above average rating, but an album of cover songs is just lame.
+ cc morris
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