Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life Featuring Vonda Shepard

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Product description ------------------- Ally Mcbeal ~ Ally Mcbeal: For Once In My Lif .com ---- On this third installment of the Ally McBeal soundtracks series, featured performer Vonda Shepard delivers another solid collection of emotive blues- and country-inflected power ballads. The surprises here are the three tracks sung by the TV show's guest thespian Robert Downey Jr. If this soundtrack was intended to be a star vehicle, it's a jalopy. Downey's contrived rasp, hardened vocals, and awkward phrasing fail to impress (proving that the elongating line of talented actors with musical aspirations should confine their singing fantasies to the shower). On his dumbed-down duet with Sting on the ( /exec/obidos/ts/artist-glance/72625/%24%7B0%7D ) classic "Every Breath You Take," Downey sounds like he's straining to emulate Sting, and Sting approaches the song as a walk-through. Fortunately, Barry White ( /exec/obidos/ts/artist-glance/38101/%24%7B0%7D )'s mirror-ball hit "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and Tina Turner ( /exec/obidos/ts/artist-glance/125297/%24%7B0%7D )'s anthemic "When the Heartache Is Over" provide some much-needed uptempo from the album's sluggish middle section. The collection heads home with Shepard and label newbie Anastacia ( /exec/obidos/ts/artist-glance/194223/%24%7B0%7D ) covering Gary Wright ( /exec/obidos/ts/artist-glance/73625/%24%7B0%7D )'s "Love Is Alive" in dance-floor-lite funk (although it suffers the unfortunate coincidence of being released in proximity to Joan Osborne's superior rendition from One Night at McCool's ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005B19G/%24%7B0%7D )). The CD closes with Shepard's well-orchestrated interpretation of Todd Rundgren ( /exec/obidos/ts/artist-glance/40594/%24%7B0%7D )'s "Can We Still Be Friends," and Ally McBeal fans, despite the Downey debacle, should be able to answer affirmatively with little hesitation. --Beth Massa