Tag: Matthew Morrison

Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Rumours”

Just when I thought the “Born This Way” episode of Glee had a great mix of music; last week’s episode, “Rumours,” which featured songs from the Fleetwood Mac album of the same name, provided some standout vocal performances from our favorite glee clubbers.

Guest star, Kristin Chenoweth (April Rhodes) returned to the show last week, and had a duet with Matthew Morrison (Will Schuster) on the song, “Dreams.” I have always loved Chenoweth and Morrison’s voices together. And Glee always gives them great songs to sing. Chenoweth has such a great tone to her voice and when it’s combined with Morrison’s smooth vocal, the result is just delightful to listen to.

Kevin McHale (Artie) took on the song, “Never Going Back Again.” McHale is  usually given the big showstopper songs, but last week he had a little more of a demure track, which I liked. McHale has a big voice, and it’s nice to hear him dial it back and have somewhat of a vulnerable vocal performance. This song really proved McHale to be a truly versatile singer.

But, I must say if anyone had a standout vocal performance with their song last week, it was Naya Rivera (Santana) who took on “Songbird.” Her vocal performance on this track is absolutely stunning. You get a real sense of emotion from this track, which she conveys with such passion. This is the first track Rivera has taken the lead on where I actually believed the lyrics she was singing.

Continue reading Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Rumours”

Idol Party Preview >> Kris Allen & Matthew Morrison Talk About “Still Got Tonight”

Check out a preview of Jim Cantiello’s interview with Kris Allen and Glee’s Matthew Morrison via Skype, which aired earlier today on MTV’s The Seven.

Jim’s interview with Kris & Matthew will air in it’s entirety tomorrow on Idol Party Live on MTV.com at 12 p.m. EST/ 9 a.m. PST.

Don’t forget to tune in!

Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Sexy”

You know that phrase, “catching lightning in a bottle”? I think that is what Glee accomplished the first time with guest star, Gwyneth Paltrow (Holly Holiday). Her rendition of Cee-Lo’s “Forget You” is one of season two’s better tracks. Paltrow even went on to perform the hit with alongside Cee-Lo at this year’s Grammy Awards.

This time around, I felt like the magic was mostly missing from the three tracks Paltrow is featured on this week. That could be because she is not one of those singers that can sing the phone book. She’s good, but she’s not Lea Michele.

To kick things off on a positive note, Paltrow’s take on the Joan Jett song, “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” is pretty good. I think Paltrow sounds best when she’s able to infuse some personality into the songs she’s singing. I think that is part of why “Forget You” became fairly popular, that she sounded pretty sassy while she was singing it. This was my favorite of the three Paltrow-dominated tracks this week.

Dalton Academy’s Warblers took on Neon Tree’s hit, “Animal,” this week. I would just like to say that it’s about time that Chris Colfer (Kurt) is featured on a Warblers’ track. Although, both his and Darren Criss’(Blaine) vocals were slightly attacked by the monster known as auto-tune. Colfer and Criss have fantastic singing voices, I don’t completely understand the need to overdo it with the studio magic. Shout out to Tuft University’s Beelzebubs for another job well done with the backing vocals.
Continue reading Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Sexy”

Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Blame It on the Alcohol”

Glee channeled Jamie Foxx, Human League, George Thorogood, and Kesha in this week’s episode, “Blame It on the Alcohol.” It’s only fitting that the cast of Glee perform “Blame It (On The Alcohol),” since it is where this week’s episode got it’s namesake from.

Kevin McHale (Artie) and Amber Riley (Mercedes) take the lead on the Jamie Foxx hit. They both sound really good. Riley got to showcase a much more controlled vocal than usual. I appreciated that McHale’s voice wasn’t weighed down with auto-tune. Mark Salling (Puck) and Naya Rivera (Santana) also are highlighted on this track. Both of their vocals suit the R&B stylings of “Blame It.” As someone who really likes Foxx’s original track, I found the Glee version to be just as enjoyable to listen to.

Darren Criss (Blaine) and Lea Michele (Rachel) team up for a duet of an amped up version of Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me.” It’s not surprising at all that their voices sound great together. There seems to be a touch of auto-tune going on in the production, but neither singer sounds unrecognizable. Criss’ deep vocals provides a subtle sexiness to the track.

Dot-Marie Jones (Coach Beiste) makes her Glee music debut this week, doing a duet with Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester) on the George Thorogood version of the John Lee Hooker song, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.” According to TVLine.com, this was Jones’ first time recording a song ever, and to be honest I think she did a pretty decent job. It was a little strange to hear Morrison singing country, but I liked their duet.

Heather Morris returns to the Glee spotlight, as she takes on Kesha’s monster hit, “Tik Tok.” I was pretty excited when I heard Glee was going to be covering this song, because it’s really fun and upbeat. After hearing the Glee version, I wish they would have just left well enough alone. Morris doesn’t infuse the song with any personality vocally like the original. It just felt like a weird Kidz Bop cover with the backing vocals and the auto-tune. For the most part, I think this week’s tracks were pretty good. The music supervisors did a great job with picking songs that went hand-in-hand with the episode’s theme. Production-wise, I really think Glee dropped the ball with “Tik Tok,” as that song could have sounded so much better.

The music from Glee’s “Blame It on the Alcohol” episode are available now on iTunes. Glee airs Tuesday nights 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on FOX.

Originally posted on BlogCritics.

‘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.

Best of ‘Glee’ Music in 2010

After reviewing the music from Glee for a good part of the year, I have compiled what I believe to be the 10 best tracks recorded by the Glee cast in 2010.

10. “Faithfully”

The duet between Lea Michele and Cory Monteith of Journey’s “Faithfully” was New Directions lead in song during Regionals. I am a huge fan of both of their singing voices. Michele and Monteith seem to compliment each other very well. This song is what I thought to be their shining moment singing together during the last part of season one.

9. “Beautiful”

Amber Riley has had some amazing vocal performances this year, but it was her rendition of Christina Aguilera’s huge hit song, “Beautiful” that really blew me away. The song allowed for Riley to show off multiple facets of her vocal range, as well as sing a powerful message.

8. “Stop! In The Name of Love/Free Your Mind”

This mash-up from season two features all the Glee guys from New Directions. I really enjoyed this track, and the guys sounded great. I have to add that Chord Overstreet sounds really charming during his verse. I thought the track was well-produced, and who would have ever thought that Diana Ross and EnVogue would meld well together into one song?

7. “Toxic”

It was a toss-up decision between this and “Me Against the Music,’ which I thought was another great track from the Britney Spears themed episode at the beginning of season two. I picked this track, because I really liked what they did with using the harmonies in place of instruments. Plus, it was nice to hear Matthew Morrison singing with the rest of the cast.

6. “Bad Romance”

The Glee ladies, along with Chris Colfer really nailed the essence of this song on the head. This track is infused with a lot of personality, which is what makes it just as much fun to listen to as the original Lady Gaga version.

Continue reading Best of ‘Glee’ Music in 2010

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.

‘Glee’ Music Preview >> “Hey Soul Sister”

Next week Glee is heading back to Sectionals, which means awesome performances, including one from Dalton Academy’s Warblers! Darren Criss (Blaine) is on lead vocals for their performance of Train’s huge hit, “Hey Soul Sister.”

Check it out!

Music Review >> Glee Cast – ‘Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album’

I love Christmas music. I love Glee. The combination of the two results in an album filled with a great mix of classic and contemporary Christmas songs.

Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album goes above and beyond any possible expectations I had before I took my first listen. “Deck The Rooftop,” which is a mash-up of “Deck The Halls” and “Up On The Rooftop,” was completely unexpected. Glee definitely manged to put their twist on two popular holiday songs, and made it into an extremely catchy sing-a-long.

One of the tracks that is already getting a lot of buzz is “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” which is sung by Chris Colfer (Kurt) and Darren Criss (Blaine). It’s a very sweet duet between the two, and their vocals are superb.

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” sung by the Glee ladies, is one of my favorites. The harmonizing is on point, and they seem to be reining in the glory notes a bit, which gives the song a sense of vulnerability, and allows the lyrics to stand in the spotlight.

I really liked Glee’s interpretation on “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” The song features Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester) and K.D. Lang. I still watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas every year, so I really appreciated this song being on the album. Morrison and Lang really capture its spirit.

I have to make mention of Amber Riley (Mercedes), who sings “Angels We Have Heard On High.” On this song, she has a voice to be reckoned with. The arrangement for me left something to be desired, but Riley’s voice makes the song a success.

I have to say that the group harmonizing on this album is fantastic. The Glee cast really have never sounded better. There’s something about Christmas music that really brings the best out of singers.

Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album really exceeded my expectations. The album has a great combined energy of Glee and Christmas spirit.

Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album is available now. The Glee Christmas special airs December 7 on FOX at 8 p.m.

Originally posted on BlogCritics.

Music Review >> Music From ‘Glee,’ Episode 2×02 “Britney/Brittany”

The highly anticipated Britney Spears episode of Glee aired this past week. The cast took on five of the singer’s popular hits, as well as a current hit from the band Paramore.

For the first time on Glee, we got to hear Heather Morris (Brittany) sing. She’s actually pretty good. Who knew?

Morris’s vocals were featured on three of the five Britney songs in this past week’s episode: “I’m A Slave 4 U,” “Me Against The Music,” and “Toxic.”

On “I’m A Slave 4 U,” Morris injected sultriness into her vocal, which gave it the just the right tone and attitude for the song. Her version is just as sexy-sounding as Britney’s original recording.

One of the highlights from this week’s recorded tracks was “Me Against The Music,” a duet between Morris and Naya Rivera (Santana). The ladies have terrific vocal chemistry, making this one of the most enjoyable tracks of the week to listen to.

“Toxic” was definitely one of the strongest tracks from this week’s episode. The song featured Morris, Lea Michele (Rachel) and Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester) on lead vocals.

I like the subtle changes to the song, especially how in the first verse the vocals build up to this absolute stunning chorus. Vocally, I believe this was the best track of the week. Morris and Michele sound fantastic singing together, and it’s nice to hear Morrison on a track with the Glee Club kids. His vocal really added a smooth quality to the track.

Elsewhere, Kevin McHale (Artie) tackled the Britney track “Stronger” with no problem. McHale’s voice is a great fit for the song due to Britney’s original recording of it in her mid to lower register. The song also ties in well with McHale’s character’s current storyline.

“Baby One More Time,” which was performed by Michele, is the weakest of the tracks out this week. The song is an awkward listen because her voice really isn’t suited for this type of pop song. I would sooner listen to the original Britney track.

Michele really redeems herself with her second solo track (and the only non-Britney track) in this week’s recordings with Paramore’s “The Only Exception.”

Her voice sounds fantastic on this ballad. She shows vocal vulnerability, which allows the audience to connect emotionally with the song, as well as her character.

Even though this song went along well with Michele’s character’s storyline in the episode, I do think another Britney track could have been used in its place to round out the tribute episode.

That said, I think the cast of Glee did a great job with their musical tribute to Britney Spears. They really captured the essence of each song and gave some of her hits a second life to be enjoyed all over again.

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

Originally posted at BlogCritics.