Glee is truly the biggest phenomenon to come along in quite some time. Not content with dominating the ratings, the show has enjoyed success in the single and the album charts. Glee: The Music, Volume 1 hit the top spot here in the UK and spawned the monster hit Don’t Stop Believin’. Like it or loathe it, Glee is here to stay and to keep you in the mood Glee: The Music, Volume 2 is being released to keep the fans, and EF, happy.
Glee: The Music, Volume 2 contains 17 more tracks from the show’s first season. The episodes are taken from 5 episodes (we’re currently two episodes in on UK transmission) and allow some of the lesser heard cast members to shine. The dominance of Lea Michele (Rachel) on the first soundtrack is toned down giving Amber Riley (Mercedes) the opportunity to take centrestage. Riley puts her spin on Dreamgirls classic And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going, Dionne Warwick’s Don’t Make Me Over and shares lead vocals with Kevin McHale (Artie) on the heart-warming Lean On Me. Riley’s voice is surprisingly strong and versatile and she frequently surprises by pushing her range beyond what you expect.
Elsewhere on the album a stirring rendition of the Tina Turner track Proud Mary opens the proceedings and Cory Monteith (Finn) gets a chance to show off his voice on The Pretenders cover I’ll Stand By You. Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) gets her chance to shine on a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors whilst Matthew Morrison (Mr Schu) drops the rapping in favour of traditional singing on the mash-up Don’t Stand So Close To Me/Young Girl.
The album’s finest moments come when the cast come together. An effective rendition of Van Halen’s Jump is likely to follow Don’t Stop Believin’ into the Top 10 whilst a hands-in-the-air version of the recent Kelly Clarkson hit My Life Would Suck Without You closes the album leaving a smile on your face.
Glee: The Music, Volume 2 has reinforced our love of all things Glee. We’d like to be referred to as ‘Glee’ks’ if you don’t mind and now our copy of Volume 1 is worn out the neighbours will be pleased to discover we can blast Volume 2 out of the EF speakers. We absolutely love Glee and are already counting down to the inevitable Volume 3. Whatever will they cover next?
