Firstly, be warned: there are two versions being released. Frankly, I HATE this trend of releasing "deluxe" versions with more stuff on them just to confuse buyers. Why would I not want a complete recording? It's worse than those "highlights" discs that you get of Broadway musicals because at least with those you know you're not getting everything. If you didn't explicitly know there was a deluxe version, you would miss out on several more songs. This disc covers the rest of the season up through the upcoming Lady Gaga episode. For anyone on the fence about buying the deluxe, you get Kurt's hilarious and amazing take on "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy from this week's episode.
Now, I've been a little disappointed here and there with the past releases. I was bummed that we never got the awesome mash-ups from earlier in the season. Some other great performances were not included. I bought the Madonna disc even though it's just seven songs. But then, at least they didn't try to squeeze it onto this release. But there's more disappointment coming this time too. Here's the track list of the deluxe edition:
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
Of course, releasing this so early means we are kind of spoiled about what's coming up this season. It's nice we get more Chennoweth here. And I am totally looking forward to "Dream On", featuring Neil Patrick Harris! And yes, this show has so much music that maybe they don't want to include everything, but there are two major absences. First, Finn's recent rendition of "Jessie's Girl", which was a perfect choice for the current plotline. And secondly... where is "Run, Joey, Run"??? I'm not surprised they left off "Ice Ice Baby". But "Run, Joey, Run" was so awesomely bad it was good! Rachel's video was the highlight of that episode last week. It had all those bits from bad '80s videos you expect. In fact, it visually seems to even nod to the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" video, which is sung later in the episode. Now, that's a song that doesn't make any sense and is overused. They oddly jumbled the words on the show, and frankly I always think of Sailor Moon when I hear it (try playing it instead of "Moon Revenge" during the R movie; it's amazing). I just loved the "Run, Joey, Run" so much that today I was hoping it would get on the album. No such luck. If you haven't seen it, check it out (I have no idea why the image was flipped when they uploaded it):
My other problem with it is the Lady Gaga content. I just don't get it. The show doesn't need to truck out Lady Gaga to seem relevant. I got through the "Single Ladies"-heavy episode. And sometimes Glee does great things to mediocre music. The album cut of "Defying Gravity" is for me the best ever version of that song. Much as I hate Kelly Clarkson, the arrangement of "My Life Would Suck Without You" also elevated a lame song. But there's not much to be done with Lady Gaga. It's just such... Lady Caca. Put it this way, if music were a professional sporting event, Lady Gaga would be the cheerleader. She's just there to be seen in a ridiculous outfit and shout nonsense words in cadence. Just like cheerleading pretends to be athletic but is essentially performance art, Lady Gaga is not music. Sometimes it bothers me when characters will say "All we ever sing is show tunes" and I'm thinking, no you don't! Regardless, I'm not holding my breath about those songs, and probably won't play them much.
Despite my hatred for all things Lady Gaga and the exclusion of some hoped-for content, there's still good stuff on this record (hmm, record; look how old I am), and I will definitely be buying it next week. If you're into the show, pick one up! I'm still hoping for a volume 4 that includes all the stuff they left off previous albums. And yes, I know I can buy some of this on iTunes, but I shouldn't have to, should I? I'm a hard-copy kind of guy (if you couldn't figure that out from my use of the word "record"). Fingers crossed, gleeks!
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