Por: Ananda

Glee provides its first reaglur collection for its third season, covering fifteen songs from the first eight episodes (there is a Target-exclusive bonus version that includes five more, including a couple of numbers that really should have been on this collection in lieu of the songs that are).1. You Can’t Stop The Beat (originally from the musical Hairspray ) a decent opening to the collection, featuring a number of the cast’s major voices, including Lea Michele (Rachel), Amber Riley (Mercedes) and Chris Colfer (Kurt). Colfer is the sour note, though; his higher register is jarringly out of place (a recurring theme in a number of the season’s other songs that aren’t included on this track).2. It’s Not Unusual (originally by Tom Jones) the second number from the season premiere, performed by Darren Criss (Blaine). It’s a competent cover, but not really exceptional in any respect.3. Somewhere (originally from the musical West Side Story ) the first of several West Side Story songs performed on the show as part of the musical storyline, two of which are included on this collection. This is performed by Michele and onscreen mother Idina Menzel, and they are, as always, a dynamite vocal combination. This isn’t their best duet, but it’s still very good.4. Run The World (Girls) (originally by Beyonce) performed by Heather Morris (Brittany), with a brief contribution by Naya Rivera (Santana). Morris is a superb dancer, but her vocals are never really more than adequate for the purposes of accompanying her dancing, and as a standalone song it doesn’t have all that much to recommend about it. Rivera is really more the sort who should be singing this song (which isn’t really that good, to begin with; the two-minute version that appears on the show is significantly more tolerable than the full-length one, as it greatly cuts out the redundancy).5. Fix You (originally by Coldplay) performed by Matthew Morrison (Will), with New Directions backing. Coldplay’s relationship with Glee was rather tortuous, before Gwyneth Paltrow made peace between them, opening the door for covers. And as covers go, this is a pretty good one, though Morrison’s falsetto does little to differentiate the song from Chris Martin’s.6. Last Friday Night (originally by Katy Perry) Glee covers Perry once again, with Darren Criss again singing lead, which is another level of metatext since Criss and co-star Kevin McHale (Artie) appear in the music video. This is, frankly, not Criss’ best work either, and lacks the quality of Teenage Dream (perhaps the absence of the Beelzebubs is a big part of that; see below for more on that).7. Uptown Girl (originally by Billy Joel) only the show’s second proper Joel cover, performed by background player Curt Mega and new Warbler Grant Gustin (Sebastian). Neither of the main voices are notable at all, and the show is no longer making use of the Tufts Beelzebubs for the Warblers’ acapella background vocals. The result is exceptionally uninteresting, and it seems like a waste to have included this on the CD.8. Tonight (originally from West Side Story ) performed by Michele and Criss, the second musical cover on the album. The arrangement has been adjusted somewhat to accommodate the vocalists (neither of whom are strictly the right range for Bernstein and Sondheim’s original operatic style), but the result is exceptionally lovely. This is by far the best song on which the two have been paired (sadly, the next occasion for this will be the miserable Christmas duet).9. Hot For Teacher (originally by Van Halen) Mark Salling takes the lead in this rock cover, which is another of the more unremarkable inclusions on the album. Salling received a number of solos in the first eight episodes of the season, and none of them really impressed; it’s weird to see this while other major singers have gone without. 10. Rumour Has It / Someone Like You (originally two songs by Adele) this stellar mashup performed by Naya Rivera and Amber Riley was the magic that the series needed to recapture its music sales relevance after an early season dominated by largely uncommercial song choices. In addition to being a monster seller, it is simply a brilliant piece of composition, and the marrying of Someone Like You s lyrics to the beat of Rumour Has It works far better than I could ever have anticipated. Rivera and Riley are arguably the show’s best recurring duet partners, and one hopes they will continue to be given opportunities to show this.11. Girls Just Want To Have Fun (most famously performed by Cyndi Lauper; based on a ballad arrangement by Greg Laswell) Cory Monteith (Finn) makes his first appearance on the collection. Monteith’s vocals are decent, but this song really wasn’t meant to sound like this; the lyrics just don’t work in this context Read more