Absolutely awesome. The Cast of Glee's The Power of Madonna disc, which will be featured this week on a much-publicized all-Madonna episode, delivers every bit on its promise of greatness. The seven-track collection spans the Queen of Pop's career from the Pop Gold of Borderline/Open Your Heart mash-up up to the not-so-memorable 4 Minutes, in an effort to cater to older and younger Glee fans alike. The mentioned medley is just absolutely perfect, albeit short, while the latter is superior to its original version with an even division of lines among the cast members.
Express Yourself featuring the female cast members is stellar also, although Amber Riley belting a high-G over and over is becoming a bit routine now. The track's subtle updating of its Shep Pettibone Remix keeps it sounding fresh, the true mark of a Pop Classic. And how could one ignore Sue Sylvester's (Jane Lynch) eagerly-awaited take on Vogue listen-worthy just for its cleverly substituted lyrics, "Sue Sylvester - dance on air..." and "Will Schuester, I hate you."
The thing about Madonna is that she has earned her place as a legend through both great pop songs and controversy. This combination proved explosive with Like a Virgin and Like a Prayer and although Lea Michele, new cast member Jonathan Groff, et. al are just great, these renditions just don't have that bite the originals had when they were originally released. They sure do sound full and pretty though.
An odd selection admittedly is 2002's What It Feel Like for a Girl sung by the show's male cast members over a very minimalist arrangement of a drum machine and light synth paddings. It will be interesting to see the context of the track, as it seems out of place on its own here.
Overall, The Power of Madonna
is worth more than a few good listens. Her Madgesty would be proud. The album is available in CD and digital formats Tuesday, April 20, 2010. Grade: A
Overall, The Power of Madonna
is worth more than a few good listens. Her Madgesty would be proud. The album is available in CD and digital formats Tuesday, April 20, 2010. Grade: APreview a full version of Borderline/Open Your Heart below (audio content owned by Sony Music):
I can't wait to see this episode! The previews look amazing. How could you not like a whole episode dedicated to Madonna!
ReplyDelete:') Although it's totally wrong to wish time away, Tuesday just cannot come soon enough!
ReplyDeleteI like Glee, but a lot of these arrangements are safe and boring. Most of the tracks sound like good karaoke.
ReplyDeleteI was talking about this to a friend of mine the other day -- why do Green Day (??!!), Billie Joel and ABBA have Broadway shows with their music and Madonna doesn't? It would be so amazing to see a stage show with all her music.
ReplyDeleteThat's it. I'm drafting a playbook.
Mel. How dare you snatch my idea right out of my head like that? Okay fine - just remember to include a character based on me in the script and write in lots of scenes with me and Guy Ritchie. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHaha! That absolutely goes without saying! :)
ReplyDelete@Mel: good question, indeed. when they put "desperately seeking susan" on london's west end, they played it to BLONDIE songs, instead of MADONNA?
ReplyDeletedouble-you-tea-eff, indeed.
i'm a huge blondie fan, so i appreciated the attention to their music, but what a remarkable misstep on the writers' / producers' part.