Glee: The Music, Journey To Regionals

The smash-hit musical TV series "Glee" releases its fifth musical compilation, "Journey to Regionals", which is the second of the five albums to focus solely on the music of a single episode (the previous being volume three, all from "The Power of Madonna"). And indeed, if any single episode of the series were to deserve that honour, I don't think any would merit it more than the first season finale, "Journey", which sends the Glee cast to their Regional championship and features a set of six excellent numbers.

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New Directions delivers a full set of three new numbers here, all by the classic rock band Journey (hence, the episode title; they're subtle, these writers). The collection opens with a rendition of "Faithfully" (originally from the 1983 album "Frontiers"), with series stars Lea Michele (Rachel) and Cory Monteith (Finn) singing the duet (everybody else on backing, which really isn't the sort of thing you'd sing in a show choir competition, but whatever, that's not important here). Michele is the powerhouse of the series; Monteith started out rather weak, but he's grown by leaps and bounds over the last year, and he acquits himself well. The two just have chemistry, and it comes through in their song (if you're invested in Finn and Rachel as a couple, that helps too).

Next up, a mash-up of "Any Way You Want It" (1980's album "Departure") and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" (1979's "Evolution") performed by the whole group, again with Finn and Rachel singing the lead. "Glee" has always done group mash-ups well (the gold standard being "Halo"/"Walking On Sunshine", in my opinion), and this one continues that trend. It's the most purely fun number in the collection, and one of the best the show has done on that score as well.

New Directions closes out its bid for the title with a new version of "Don't Stop Believin'" (1981's "Escape"). This is a bit of a risky move for the series in some ways; they covered it already in the pilot, and it's probably the show's defining song. Here, instead of Michele and Monteith dueting again, the producers mix in several other singers from the group (only Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) and Dianna Agron (Quinn) are omitted). The results are frankly terrific. I don't know which version of the song I like more as yet, but they're both great; especially great is Naya Rivera (Santana), who has rapidly become one of my favourite voices on the show.

Then there is the big showstopper by New Directions' main competition, Vocal Adrenaline, who deliver an excellent cover of Queen's classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975's "A Night at the Opera"). Now, this will never be anything other than a Queen song, with talent like Freddie Mercury involved, but Broadway star Jonathan Groff gives it his best go, and it's a very admirable one at that. The non-competition numbers that follow are quieter: a rendition of "To Sir, With Love" (from the 1967 film of the same name, and most famously recorded by Lulu) featuring most of the group's female vocalists and Chris Colfer (Kurt) (again omitting Agron) is nicely handled. Then Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schuester) and Mark Salling (Puck) deliver a charming rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (based on the 1993 ukulele version by Hawaiian artist Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, not the 1939 Judy Garland one) to send us off until next season.

All in all, it's a very strong collection of songs, and if you're a fan of "Glee"'s music, this is the album to buy.

Product Description

Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals, is the highly anticipated soundtrack from the June 8 Season One Finale of FOX's hit TV show. Featuring all six songs from the episode - "Faithfully"; "Anyway You Want It"/"Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'"; "Don’t Stop Believin'" (Regionals version); "Bohemian Rhapsody"; "To Sir, With Love"; & "Over The Rainbow" - Glee: The Music, Journey To Regionals is a must have for all Gleeks. Order your copy today!

Track Listing (Klick on the title for download mp3)

1. Faithfully (Glee Cast Version)
2. Any Way You Want It/Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' (Glee Cast Version)
3. Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version)
4. Bohemian Rhapsody (Glee Cast Version featuring Jonathan Groff)
5. To Sir With Love (Glee Cast Version)
6. Over The Rainbow (Glee Cast Version)

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Product Details

• Released on: 2010-06-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: EP
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

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Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers (Deluxe)

Product Description

Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers features 20 brand new songs from the hit TV show. The deluxe version features fan favorites like "Gives You Hell," "Beautiful," "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and "Bad Romance," plus 6 exclusive deluxe edition tracks like "House is Not a Home," "Home," "Rose's Turn," "Beth," "Loser," and "Poker Face."

Track Listing (Click for download MP3)

1. Hello, Goodbye
2. Gives You Hell
3. Hello
4. A House Is Not A Home
5. One Less Bell To Answer / A House Is Not A Home
6. Beautiful
7. Home
8. Physical
9. Total Eclipse of the Heart
10. Lady Is A Tramp
11. One
12. Rose's Turn
13. Dream On
14. Safety Dance
15. I Dreamed a Dream
16. Loser
17. Give Up the Funk
18. Beth
19. Poker Face
20. Bad Romance

Customer Reviews

Review of 'Volume 3, Showstoppers'

The third volume of music from 'Glee' features some of the best numbers from the first season of the show. While the first two volumes' music ranged from just 'all right' to 'good', I feel there are definitely stronger, better performances on this deluxe edition of the third volume. As with the other releases from 'Glee', there are still some missing numbers but in all, the 19 tracks included in the deluxe edition are pretty good and there are only a few tracks that I'd skip or would have left off.

The Good: What I like about this volume is that there are tracks and performances included from more of the cast. The first two releases felt like nothing more than a promotional vehicle for Lea Michele and her Rachel character. With this release, there are definitely tracks that show off more of the cast. You have Amber Riley's stand-out moment this year (both in song and in terms of acting) with her cover of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful"; Mark Salling taking on "Lady Is A Tramp"; Chris Colfer with "A House Is Not a Home" and "Rose's Turn". You also have some of the second half of the season's guest stars' performances including Kristin Chenoweth's awesome take on "Home" from 'The Wiz'; Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) and Olivia Newton-John's re-interpretation of "Physical"; Idina Menzel with 'I Dreamed A Dream'. There are also some great cast/group numbers including the Glee-take on Lady GaGa's "Bad Romance", U2's "One" and Bonnie Taylor's '80s hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart". My overall complaint with the past two volumes is that there wasn't enough variety and too many numbers seemed to feature Lea Michele while the other cast membership were reduced to back-up. This volume represents a shift in the series' second volume (or second part of the first season) by having more of the cast step-up with numbers. With new voices, sounds and styles, I have to say this is by far the superior of the volumes of music released so-far from the show. Some may also complain that this release is missing the songs from the big Madonna episode but all of those songs were released already on CD so I figure the producers chose not to repeat themselves by adding any of those tracks (even if they would qualify as 'showstoppers').

In all, a pretty solid release with minor flaws. I'm glad there was a deluxe version released with more tracks rather than having just one standard edition as with the past two volumes with only a handful tracks. I felt a lot of these tracks were better produced and performed than the first two volumes of music that felt a bit too close to karaoke (but good karaoke). If you're a fan of the show and haven't been purchasing the tracks each week as they've been released digitally, this is definitely for you.

The Bad: This being a deluxe edition of volume 3, I was hoping there would be fewer numbers left off. However, it seems the powers-that-be still chose to overlook some of the better performances in an effort to either mix it up or save on royalties (who knows). Some numbers I wish had made it onto the actual CD were "Fire" performed by Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Morrison, "Ice Ice Baby" or "U Can't Touch This" (only one of these 'bad' numbers seemed necessary but neither are included), "The Boy Is Mine" and "Jessie's Girls". Considering this is coming out before the show even wraps the season, I'm sure there will be other minor numbers that come with the last few episodes that get released digitally but don't make it onto this release. Another complaint I have is the timing of the release. Would it have been hard to hold off a week or two in releasing this? The best part of 'Glee' is in fact the music and never knowing until the day of the show what numbers and songs are going to end up on the show. Yet, here we are 'spoiled' by having 8 tracks that have yet to appear on the show on this release, including (for the most part) what order they'll appear in the season. If the last two tracks end up being the big numbers in the final episode, that's going to take away a bit from the surprise or enjoyment of the finale because we'd have been exposed to the music for more than a few weeks. Sure, 'Glee' is as much about the performance than it is the songs but in some cases, one ends up being better than the other.

Listen To These: "Loser", "One Less Bell To Answer/A House Is Not a Home", "Physical", "Total Eclipse of the Heart", "Safety Dance", "Bad Romance"

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