Customer Reviews

No Boundaries

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

As a dedicated fan of Eva Cassidy's music (my wife and I own all of her CD's), it is amazing to me that this batch of songs was released at all, especially under the title "No Boundaries." This tribute saddened me. The recordings on the CD (not a single good track) place her spiraling voice against a wall in an overcrowded room. Her "boundless" talent is treated as a secondary instrument; she deserved so much better. I implore people who have never experienced Eva's amazing vocal abilities to leave this CD alone and purchase one that puts Eva on center stage. For example, this CD has none of the intimacy, energy and improvisational surprise of "Live at Blue's Alley." If the uninitiatied find Eva through another avenue, they'll fall in love with her spirit, and with jazz.

No Boundaries has been the CD of Eva Cassidy's collection to have seemingly received the most mixed reviews, but I would highly recommend it as a must have for Eva enthusiasts who love the beauty of her voice. I think what upsets most people is the sharp contrast in vocal delivery from a CD such as Songbird. On several of the tracks, Cassidy's voice shows a grittier edge, but I don't think it's vocal postering. (ala Whitney, Mariah or Celine...if Eva was placed on the same stage with those divas, she could have easily outshined them all...including the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin! Cassidy does a rendition of "A Natural Woman" that would have even impressed Franklin!) On No Boundaries, Cassidy is merely showing a different side of herself as an artist. To confine such a broad vocal talent to only being capable of doing ballads, classics, and folksy tunes is doing Cassidy a terrible disservice. Yes, the tunes on No Boundaries are more pop and rhythm and blues orientated than on some of her other CDs, but forget the useless musical genres. No Boundaries is aptly titled because that's exactly what Cassidy was able to create with the power of her voice. Had she lived to be able to give us more music, she could have easily crossed any musical boundary. Without No Boundaries, the scope of what Cassidy was able to achieve with her voice would remain incomplete, so it's a must have.

Eva is the greatest singer ever, but vocal abilities alone can't do poorly written, poorly produced, and poorly arranged songs justice. Eva did a lot of studio work for songwriters while she was alive. They would pay her to sing their songs, so they could shop them around. At least one of the songs is from an album released in 1988 by a band called `Method Actor'. Now that Eva's name is popular, the songs have resurfaced under the name Eva Cassidy of course (cashing in!). I have been told by a source that Eva's parents did not want this released. The sleeve on this CD thanks her parents and the Eva Cassidy foundation for their support, so that is misleading. Take it from a friend of Eva's...she would never have released this under her name. It should have been released under the songwriter or band's name, NOT Eva's. I would also say not to trust all the reviews regarding this album. I would surmise that people involved in releasing this CD posted a lot of the reviews. NOTE: This is a completely different record company than the other CD's. All the CD's released by Blix Street are of quality material. Although, be aware that `Songbird' is a `best of' type of album, with no new tracks.

If this had been the first Eva Cassidy album I purchased, I would never have bought another and would have missed knowing one of the most marvelous voices in music. The songs here are awful, and the production is very artificial. This album is a disservice to Eva Cassidy. I listened twice and then threw it away. Fortunately, I can go back to other Eva Cassidy albums which I play over and over.

I was driving the other day when I heard a familiar song on the radio. The song was Natural Woman but who was this singing? Fortunately the radio station was kind enough to help me by telling me all about Eva and I immediately ordered No Boundaries. What a voice! What a tragedy! I haven't been able to stop listening since I got it. The songs are a smooth jazz treat, one that I won't be taking out of the CD player for a long time.

I recently read that this album was released over "strenuous objections" from Eva Cassidy's family. As someone previously commented, she never would have released these cuts to the public. I suppose there is always a market for unauthorized biographies and disc's, but it seems a shame that listeners "blame" Eva for poor quality of an album she had nothing to do with.

If I could give this CD zero stars, I would. I own all but one of Eva's other releases and treasure them all. "No Boundaries" is overproduced pop drivel that Eva surely would not have wanted released were she still with us today. Trust me and the other reviewers who say they love Eva's other work but have been profoundly disappointed by this one. It's just not the Eva that we know and love.

In short, if you're new to Eva, start with SONGBIRD or LIVE AT BLUES ALLEY. You can't go wrong with either of those. If you're an Eva fan who has her other releases, do your wallet a favor and skip this one.

this collection of her early session tapes seems like eva doing a parody of whitney houston. i've loved eva's work from the first time i heard her sing "i know you by heart" on christmas day of 1999. since then, i've acquired all of her discs, this one being the most recent. it's nice to have, the photographs are wonderful, but i won't listen to it often. it just isn't the eva that she wanted to be and did so well on songbird, eva by heart, blues alley and time after time. this one, i'm afraid, would have been better off unreleased.

Eva Cassidy passed away when she was only 33 years old. The world was robbed of a rare and amazing talent. Fortunately, she left behind many studio recordings which have been released with the permission of her family. They include Songbird and Time After Time, which I highly recommend. This album, however, was released by Eva's first manager against her family's wishes. It is not her best work and hurts her legacy. Eva Cassidy was a true Songbird and had she lived, she would have given the world many wonderful recordings. Please take advantage of her authorized albums: Songbird, Live at Blues Alley (funded by Eva herself), Time After Time, The Other Side, and Eva By Heart.

I am a massive Eva Cassidy fan. I have bought all her CD's (beginning after a chance encounter seeing her perform live in an Annapolis tavern [in 1996?]). As everybody observes, she was an extremely versatile performer, bravely applying her vocal talent to a wide range of music genres.

On this CD, however, the result does not at all work for me. It sounds a bit like the background track to a banal teen romantic comedy. Comes complete with the Kenny-G-esque sax treatment.

Eva cannot reach the sublime plane with this kind of junk food style music the way she can with her remarkable Jazz, Blues and Gospel numbers. My guess is that if she were alive she never would have let this one get released. It probably shouldn't have been.