We’re coming to the end of the semester and also to the end of my time as Assistant Music Director for the radio station. Therefore this will sadly be my last “AMDM.” Not to worry though, I’ll still be doing reviews under a new name so if you have any ideas, feel free to send them my way. Now, this year has been pretty slow for new music but I ended up settling on what is currently the number one album in the country, according to billboard, the new Glee soundtrack for their “Power of Madonna” episode.
Now, I am a big Madonna fan. I have all of her albums and know all of her big songs by heart. Basically I was half excited for the all Madonna episode of Glee and half terrified that it would be awful. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The episode was probably the best episode yet with stunning choreography, amazing dialogue, and as usual stellar vocals. However, I am going to be concentrating on the episode’s soundtrack without all of the flash and excitement of the performances in the episode.
The album has a bombastic opener with a cover of Madonna’s “Express Yourself.” The song is performed by the girls of Glee and they all sound great. It’s like having an old-school nineties girl group perform the song and brings a fresh new sound that really works. This is followed up by a mash-up of her classics “Borderline” and “Open Your Heart.” Glee always does an excellent job combining songs and this is no exception. The combination of strong vocals from Cory Monteith and Lea Michelle with the two Madonna classics makes for one of the best listens on the whole album.
The CD has some very strong performances on it for sure. Amber Riley and Chris Colfer’s cover of “4 Minutes” is probably the biggest highlight on the CD. Reworking the Madonna classic with a booming marching band as back up was a genius move that re-invents the song and makes for a great song to blare while driving or working out. Other high points are the entire cast’s covers of “Like A Virgin” and “Like A Prayer.” They manage to translate the songs really well from a pop feel to a legitimate musical feel. The harmonies are strong and the interchange of voices is always smooth.
Unfortunately the CD does fall flat on a couple of its covers. Jane Lynch’s rendition of “Vogue” is endlessly entertaining in the show when she recreates Madonna’s classic video. However, as a stand-alone song it’s a little weak. Her voice has clearly been enhanced and can’t really stand up to the original song. The other issue I have is with the boys’ cover of “What It Feels Like For a Girl.” The spoken opening which is ironic and powerful in the original is awkward and uncomfortable when the boys do it. Their harmonies are excellent through the song but they never really seem to be able to do the song justice, probably because the song was meant to be sung by a girl. In the context of the episode, I understand why the Glee men sang the song but on the CD it doesn’t really deliver. I think it would have been better to take the iTunes only bonus track “Burning Up” by Jonathan Groff and put that on the CD instead, since it is a much better performed song.
Overall, Glee’s Madonna covers are pretty good but they really fall short in some places. Last semester I reviewed the first Glee CD that came out, and while I enjoy the songs that they cover on the Madonna CD more, the actual performances are much stronger on the first Glee soundtrack. Therefore, I am afraid that this Glee soundtrack is going to be getting seven pop-tarts. Have a wonderful summer everyone and keep your eyes and ears open for some great music that will be hitting the airwaves this summer!
Be the first to comment on this article!