Customer Reviews

Unsuspecting Hearts

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What a wonderful surprise! I was suspicious of this follow-up album. After Side Show and Duets, I smelled a quick-buck marketing scheme in the works. Bravo to both artists for turning in warm, heart-felt performances and giving us some great listening material as a result. Skinner and Ripley's blend cannot be beat. I've yet to hear two female performers who better compliment each other's style. And the solo material nearly eclipses the shared songs. Emily Skinner's rendition of Sondheim's "Miller's Son" made my eyes snap wide open. The liner notes are correct -- she is Petra. And Alice Ripley in "Losing Track of Time" wraps herself around the lyrics and illustrates how delicious the line between pain and joy in love can be. Don't pass this one up.

I must admit that I didn't know who Emily Skinner and AliceRipley were before I bought this CD. Selecting this album was a clearexample of serendipity! It's a wonderful mix of tunes, some familiar, some not. Regardless, the songs are exquisitely performed by Emily and Alice! My favorite cuts are the title song and "Losing Track of Time" (both power ballads). I also like the last two songs: "The Last Duet" (written by Barry Manilow --- a comic duet that he performed with Lily Tomlin) and "Old Friend". On the CD there's a bonus track, too! It's hidden after the last song. Just let your CD continue playing and you'll hear "Em & Als" goofing around and sharing a slightly off-key rehearsal tape. What can I say? These women are gifted, funny, dramatic... and this album has some mighty fine performances. Get a copy... you won't be disappointed.

This CD suffers from the same problem 'Duets' (their first album) did: Really bad arrangements and poor orchestrations. Both medley's are predictably arranged and 'I Don't Know How To Love Him' suffers the worst over-orchestrated syndrom.

The song selections are poor, and a few shouldn't have been recorded. 'Solid Silver Platform Shoes' and 'The Last Duet/Enough Is Enough' just don't fit into the flow of the album. 'My White Knight' is also a poor choice. 'I'm Past My Prime' is cheesy at best, and feels like it's been strained into a duet.

I think it's great when singers choose songs that have been previously unknown so I was excited to hear 'Unsuspecting Hearts'...a beautiful song, but the arrangement demon killed it with a too long instrumental bridge.

Solos were a nice change of pace. Emily shines with 'The Alto's Lament', and vocally succeeds with 'The Miller's Son' (although the latter suffers from over-orchestrations again). And Alice does great with uknowns like 'She's Gone' (cut from Side Show), and 'Losing Track of Time'...but, as I already mentioned, 'My White Knight' just didn't work.

This and the last CD have failed to produce the kind of connection Emily and Alice displayed in their Side Show recording. I really would like to see them recreate that, and ditch the arranger and instrumentalists of 'Duets' and 'Unsuspecting Hearts'.

Finally, there is a bonus segment (similar to their first album). But where 'Duets' had a fun bonus, this one is more like an inside joke that doesn't really work.

These two ladies have the best voices in musical theatre. Their first album blew me away and I was expecting this one to be a disappointment. This album is just as good as the first. I especially liked the fact that they both sang solos, and that is the highlight of this album. Emily is hilarious on The Alto's Lament, and Alice shines on Losing Track of Time. What an amazing voice. I loved Emily's version of I Don't Know How To Love Him, it is one of my favorite songs from a musical and she performs it beautifully. I have to say though that Unsuspecting Hearts is absolutely gorgeous and of all the songs they have recoreded on this and the fisrt one, this is the best. This album is worth buying just for that one song. I will say it again. These ladies have amazing voices!

I'm glad I didn't pay too much attention to the customer reviews that called this CD a letdown -- I enjoyed this one even more than their "Duets" CD - a couple of standouts are "Old Friends" and "The Last Duet/Enough is Enough" Just the right mix of uptempo numbers and ballads. A great CD.

I stumbled upon Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley after seeing them perform "I Will Never Leave You" during the Tony Awards. I immediately bought the Sideshow album and fell in love. These women have amazing voices, and such talent. It takes special talent to be sing, and it takes even more talent to be able to put emotion into voice they way they do. I read about Duets in Parade Magazine, immediately ordered, and listen to it at least once a week, if not more. And now I've stumbled upon Unsuspecting Hearts. I must say, these women get better with each recording, and this recording shines. I adore the solo songs as well as the duets. All I have to say is that I hope The Last Duet really isn't the last one. I adore these women and highly recommend their albums to everyone.

Anyone who witnessed the eye-popping, jaw-dropping performances by Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley in Henry Kreiger's Sideshow will surely want to hear what the girls are up to on their second studio collaboration. Emily and Alice have chosen some gems this time, but the overall experience is not quite as satisfying as Duets, their first album. Emily tends to go a little overboard with Diva-esque vocal acrobatics, and the arrangement of Martin Guerre's glorious Live With Somebody You Love cheats the listener of the beautiful symplicity of the lyric and melody. I'm still wondering why the two passed over Miss Saigon's I Still Believe, but chose to include the ever-cliche Friendship. There are some moments of true perfection, including Alice's Losing Track of Time from Summer of '42 (a gorgeous new song from a new musical) and her traditional White Knight from Music Man. We also get the privelege of hearing another song from the infamous Carrie: The Musical, albeit this arrangement is a bit too long. The overall production of the album is as good as Duets and considering the fact that these two have been working practically non-stop since the mid-90's and both have solo albums in the works, it's interesting to witness the artistic evolution of two of today's hottest theatrical performers. Most exciting is the gigglefest at the end of the disc when the artists get silly (Enough is Enough and the mystery bonus track)! Both women are in top vocal shape, however, and these two are quickly eclipsing Betty and Bernadette in their abilities and resumes - hopefully ensuring us a long future of Emily and Alice.

If anyone has heard these two sing before, they know that at times it is hard to tell that there are two voices. And on this cd it is no different, their voices melt into one another at times. However, the real beauty is in the ablility to listen to these talented ladies sing solo and then combine for their trademark tunes. Pretty Women shows the way these two voices just mix together, and She's Gone and I Don't Know How To Love Him show the wonder of each of their voices. So, if you enjoy great songs performed by great talent, buy this cd.

This is the best sounding duo in the history! I saw them both in Side Show and I was hooked. Their voices just blend together like they really are conjoined twins. Songs like Unsuspecting hearts is one of the great ballads that they sing. THere is everything in this album, you also have more of a rock sound with the song,Solid Silver Platform Shoes. There is and older sounding song witch is I'm past my Prime. Then you have solos which cannot be beat. You have to own this album! It's the best broadway album ever!

I immediately like Unsuspecting Hearts, because it's fun to listen to- Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner definitely make the songs their own, and sound like they're having a blast recording every minute of the album. Alice Ripley is awesome in "She's Gone," a number cut from SIDE SHOW. "The Alto's Lament" is great, and the strains of hit songs from other musicals running through it makes it even more fun to listen to. I especially enjoyed "Solid Silver Platform Shoes" and "What You Don't Know About Women," because these two rock my socks off. And my socks don't rock easily. I caught the bonus segment at the end totally by accident, as I left my stereo on when I made toast. All I can say is that I hope Emily gets her shot at Petra, and they definitely deserve Anita and Maria in West Side Story!