Tag: Harry Shum Jr.

‘Glee’ to Debut Original Songs On Latest Compilation Album

Glee: The Music Volume 5 is due out March 8 and will include fan favorite tracks like “Don’t You Want Me,” “Need You Now,” and “Take Me or Leave Me.” The compilation album will also feature Gwyneth Paltrow on three tracks.

In a Glee first, there are two original songs to be found on this latest volume of music. The song “Loser Like Me” was co-written by the one and only Max Martin. The song is described as “an energetic ensemble track.” The song “Get It Right” is a ballad sung by Lea Michele. These two tracks will be featured during the March 15 episode of Glee.

This past week was the show’s biggest sales week since it began, with 880,000 songs downloaded. As a result, seven Glee songs found their way to the iTunes Top Songs chart.

Over 24 million Glee songs have been downloaded to date, and Glee has sold over 9 million albums worldwide. Glee: The Music Volume 1 has been certified Platinum, recognizing sales of over 1 million copies sold.

Glee: The Music Volume 5 will be available a couple of Tuesdays from now (March 8). For more information on music from Glee, check out the official music website.

Glee: The Music Volume 5 Track listing:

1. “Thriller”/”Heads Will Roll”
2. “Need You Now”
3. “She’s Not There”
4. “Fat Bottomed Girls”
5. “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”
6. “Firework”
7. “Baby”
8. “Somebody To Love”
9. “Take Me or Leave Me”
10. “Sing”
11. “Don’t You Want Me”
12. “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)”
13. “Kiss”
14. “Landslide”
15. “Get It Right”
16. “Loser Like Me”

Originally posted on BlogCritics.

Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Comeback”

I currently have the lyrics to Justin Bieber’s hit song, “Baby” playing on a loop in my head.

“Baby, baby, baby ooh…baby, baby, baby ooh…baby, baby, baby ooh…”

Not cool, Glee. Not cool at all.

I have seen The Biebs perform on TV a couple of times, but never bothered to sit down and listen to his music. I had my own Justin Bieber when I was 16, but his name was Brian Littrell and he was a Backstreet Boy.

When I initially heard that Glee would be getting Bieber-friendly, I must admit that I cringed. Upon remembering that this show is set in high school, and that Bieber is pretty much “the dude” right now, it then made sense that the kids in glee club would like his music.

So, how was Glee’s take on Bieber? Not bad, actually. I can’t even believe I’m about to say this, but after taking a listen to the lyrics and the melody, I have come to realize that Bieber has well-written and catchy tunes. This would be why the chorus to “Baby” has not left my brain.

Chord Overstreet (Sam) sings The Bieb’s enormous hit, “Baby,” and I think pop music is definitely his niche. He isn’t the strongest male singer in the cast, but Glee’s “Blond Bieber” does quite well for himself on this song.

I wasn’t surprised at all to hear Kevin McHale (Artie) doing the rap breakdown in the song. He proves again that he can flow pretty well.

Overstreet, McHale, Mark Salling (Puck), and Harry Shum Jr. (Mike) perform Bieber’s “Somebody To Love.” I have come to the conclusion that when the Glee guys are rocking a pop song, they sound at the top of their game.
Continue reading Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Comeback”

Music Review >> Music From ‘Glee,’ Episode 2×8, “Furt”

The four songs from the unofficial tribute to Bruno Mars episode of Glee continue the trend of great song choices.

Guest star Carol Burnett and Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) sing “Ohio” from Welcome Home. Carol Burnett sounds pretty good on the track. Lynch sounds alright. She’s definitely not a singer, but I can appreciate that she steps up to bat for the show.

Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester) steps into the spotlight singing Michael Buble’s “Sway.” Morrison’s vocals are a great fit for this song – and really that whole genre of music. He’s got the swagger that really is needed for this vocal, and he pulls it off nicely.

I really like that Morrison is being highlighted musically more this season. He was a relatively untapped resource last season, so it’s nice to hear more from him.

Glee seems to be on quite the Bruno Mars kick this year covering not one, but two of his songs this episode, as well as covering “Billionaire” earlier this season.

The first of Mars’ songs that the cast takes on is “Marry You.” It’s a fun ensemble number which is reminiscent of the Journey To Regionals version of “Don’t Stop Believing” where all the couples within Glee Club were the highlighted singers. Cory Monteith (Finn) and Lea Michele (Rachel) kick off the song strong. Dianna Agron (Quinn) and Chord Overstreet (Sam) then take the lead with their part of the song. Their vocals together sound pretty decent.

I can only imagine that it is quite the task to find a song that the Glee cast will all sound good singing, but whoever did the music selection for “Furt” did a really good job. “Marry You” allows the cast to show that they can sing current songs and make them just as good of a listen as the original.

I had to raise an eyebrow at Monteith covering Mars’ current big hit, “Just The Way You Are.” Monteith’s solos this season have been pretty hit or miss, but “Just The Way You Are” is definitely a hit. I find that Monteith’s voice hits it’s sweet spot when he’s singing pop music, and I hope that Glee realizes that this is his singing genre.

The music from “Furt” is a pretty good listen. Young fans of the show will appreciate the current hits being covered. Glee should probably not cover any more Bruno Mars music for the remainder of the season. Three songs in eight episodes is quite enough.

Glee airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Originally posted on BlogCritics.

Music Review >> Music From ‘Glee,’ Episode 2 x 04 “Duets”

The music recordings for Glee’s episode “Duets” is probably the best batch of music from the season so far. The vocals from the cast members are fantastic.

Kicking off this week’s bundle of music is Lea Michele (Rachel) and Cory Monteith (Finn) singing “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and Kiki Dee. These two always sound fantastic together, especially on the more upbeat songs. You get a sense from the recordings that they were having fun singing. Monteith is definitely coming into his own as a singer, and Michele’s voice compliments his voice very much.

Chris Colfer (Kurt) sings “Le Jazz Hot” from Victor Victoria. This is hands down the best Colfer has ever sounded while on the show. The last note during this song is phenomenal.

Newcomer Chord Overstreet (Sam) and Dianna Agron (Quinn) sing the popular Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat track, “Lucky.” This is a really sweet duet between the two, their voices sound well together. Agron is pretty limited vocally compared to the other female Glee cast mates, but pop songs like this she pulls off quite nicely. Overstreet is definitely poised to give the rest of the Glee guys a run for their money, as he has one of the strongest male voices on the show.

The best duet from this week came from Michele and Colfer, who sing “Happy Days Are Here/Get Happy” by Barbara Streisand and Judy Garland. Glee pretty much struck gold, when they decided to pair these two up for a duet. They both have excellent vocal control, that allowed for a vulnerable, yet stunning duet.

As much as it was wonderful that we got to here from Harry Shum Jr. (Mike) on his a Chorus Line duet “Sing!” with Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina), it was definitely the weakest duet of this week’s recording. Shum isn’t even singing, he’s rapping, which is fine, because it allowed for Ushkowitz to shine that much more in their duet.

Naya Rivera (Santana) and Amber Riley (Mercedes) paired up for Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High.” Rivera really is no match for Riley’s vocal, she’s easily overpowered. Riley really just brings it, and once again contributes a fantastic vocal to the week’s recordings.

Glee airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Originally posted on BlogCritics.