Although not quite as amazing as its first volume, Glee: The Music, Volume 2 is an essential from any fan of the amazing Fox television series. Columbia Records has made the clever business decision of splitting these highlights from the show into two separate releases, warranting two purchases. Really, we all know everything could have been packaged into a dual disc set timed for the Holidays.Among the best on this disc are versatile Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison's Endless Love which actually eclipses its original (Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross); Canadian heartthrob Cory Monteith's just-perfect I'll Stand By You (The Pretenders); versatile Lea Michele's excellent takes on the one of the best pop songs of the '90s Crush (Jennifer Paige) and showstopper Don't Rain on My Parade (Barbra Streisand); and underutilized Jenna Ushkowitz's True Colours (Cindy Lauper).
Soulfully gifted Amber Riley's unforgettable And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going (Jennifer Holliday/Jennifer Hudson), which is only marginally off of Hudson's gold standard set in the motion picture Dreamgirls. Her other solo contribution on this disc Don't Make Me Over (Dionne Warwick) sums up what Glee is all about: loving yourself for who you are and refusing to change for others. And of course, how can we forget those outstanding cast renditions of Proud Mary (Tina Turner) performed in wheelchairs, Imagine (John Lennon) which is missing the hearing-impaired guest cast on this version, and the uplifting My Life Would Suck Without You (Kelly Clarkson) which capped of this stellar first season.
Listen to the cast of Glee perform Clarkson's number one hit below (courtesy of Sony/BMG Records):
Listen to the cast of Glee perform Clarkson's number one hit below (courtesy of Sony/BMG Records):
I'll admit that I don't care much for Morrison's mash-up of Don't Stand So Close To Me/Young Girl (The Police/Gary Puckett & The Union Gap) and Monteith's (You're) Having My Baby (Paul Anka - also a Canadian!), both which thematically fit in with the episodes they belong to as moments of comic relief, but wind up sounding out of place here. The cast's cover of Jump (Van Halen) also doesn't quite translate as well with Adam Anders and Ryan Murphy's Glee makeover. Overall, the spirited 17-track collection is still an fantastic listen and full of bright moments. April, when season two of Glee begins, cannot come soon enough! Grade: A-
I have a sneaking suspicion (Maybe Hope) that they'll put out a multi-disc soundtrack set, with all the other tracks that have been released digitally, and the ones that haven't been released at all - rather soon.....Or I'm just hoping.
ReplyDeleteLea Michele nails Crush - Absolutely fantastic, and Jenna does a great job of True Colours. Proud Mary was amazing - and I quite liked the aired version of Imagine, It was beautiful.
i'm so tired of I'm Telling You I'm Not Going!! Even Glee couldn't make me re-love it. However, i'm all aboard for the rest of the music even if the tv version of My Life Would Suck came out far more ebulliant than the studio version :)
ReplyDeleteI love this show! I think I am going to enjoy this just as much as I enjoyed the Volume 1. Best new show this year!
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