There are advantages and disadvantages to being EW’s designated recapper for Modern Family and Cougar Town. On the down side, my duties force me to relegate Glee to my DVR, and watch it on Thursday evenings. But the good news is, I can listen to iTunes versions of the week’s musical performances on their own merits, without the overwhelming feeling of “that scene was so freakin’ awesome, I need to download the related music immédiatement!” It is in that spirit that I’m grading the three available tracks from last night’s eighth episode, “Mash Up”:
* “Bust a Move” (performed by Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester): Riddle me this: Seeing how Morrison does little more than offer a pale imitation of Young M.C.’s 1989 smash, why isn’t iTunes charging half-price for it compared to the original? From the unconvincing aggression on that opening “bust it!” to the neutered backing vocals to the sanitized lyric about our protagonist’s response to a hottie bridesmaid (Morrison spits “you’re feelin’ really fine” instead of “feelin’ really firm“), this performance has all the swagger and authority you’d expect from a high-school Spanish teacher. (And I don’t mean that in a good way.) Bottom line: No reason for this one to exist outside the Glee universe. C-
* “Thong Song” (performed by Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester): I’ll admit, I feel deeply uncomfortable every time I listen to Morrison’s spoken-word intro — “This thing right here, is lettin’ all the ladies know what guys talk about. You know, the finer things in life” — especially that lascivious little laugh at the end. But unlike Sisqo’s 2000 original, I can understand every single word of this ridiculous ode to beach-ready badonkadonks. Whether you consider that a plus or a minus, you’ve at least got to give Morrison credit for a slightly less overwrought vocal than Sisqo’s; after all, dude is singing about “dumps like a truck,” not life-altering instances of love and/or global politics. B
* “Sweet Caroline” (performed by Mark Salling as Puck): At an abbreviated 1:58, you’re not exactly getting the best bang for your buck on this one — hello, 1.09 cents per second? — but Salling does more than a serviceable job on Neil Diamond’s karaoke-bar favorite. You can feel some emotion stirring in Salling’s voice as the track crescendos, and though I’d have hoped for some jaunty “whoa-oh-ohs” from Puck’s backup buddies, at the very least, I’m eager to hear the kid get a more substantial (and original) number in a future episode. B-
* Bonus review: “Halo/”Walking on Sunshine” (Lea Michele and the glee-club ladies, from episode 6): Can’t. Stop. Hitting. Repeat. More mashups, please. Thank you. That is all. A-
What do you think about this week’s Glee downloads? Are you the kind of Gleek who purchases every track from the show indiscriminately, or do you take a pick-and-choose approach? And finally, what are your favorite Glee musical numbers to date? Holla back in the comments below, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @EWMichaelSlezak.
Image Credit: Glee: Fox; Young MC: Bernhard Kuhmstedt/Retna UK
Comments (1-30) of 83 Add your comment
I’m buying the individual tracks that will not be on the CD (which I’ve already pre-ordered.) I really wish they would have Matthew Morrison sing more instead of rap…he has such a beautiful voice!
I’d much rather hear him sing than rap. And more Puck!!!
I’d be happy if Glee skipped the rapping altogether. There is a whole metric ton of actually worthy material to be used.
I like both the rapping and the singing. I think he can do anything and it would be great.
I think my problem is that I love Noah Puckerman so much that I can’t stand it. And I truly, deeply love Sweet Caroline (shut up!). This is my favorite cover of that song since David Archuleta. And I get a half-embarrassed kick out of Matt Morrison doing the thong Song, mainly because Sisqo never went for those glory notes like that.
I have to agree.
I will gladly pay the Itunes fee for the “Bust a Move” download. I adore Matthew Morrison’s voice and thought he did a great job with it (along with every other performance he had in last night’s episode). Consider my money spent.
Did anyone else think that besides Emma singing, this was a fairly worthless episode? Besides Quinn getting kicked off Cheerios, nothing happened (really) that is going to carry over into next week. It felt confusingly self-contained :/
emma sang?
Yes she did! At least I hope it was her real vioce because it sounded terrific.
She sang her choice on the wedding mash – “I Could Have Danced All Night”
oh my gosh emma was absolutely fantastic. I LOVE this song… anyone know if they will be posting this on itunes anytime soon? I have to get this!
Sorry, but this episode was fantastic.
You mean Glee-tastic? Oh he*l yeah!
How many times are we gonna say this? GLEE IS NEITHER AMERICAN IDOL, NOR HSM, NOR SYTYCD, NOR BROADWAY NOR WHATEVER, THIS IS GLEE!
Btw, there are probably people who heard those songs for the first time and downloaded the original songs as well, so what’s the point?
Please let our GLEE breathe!
How can you say nothing happened?! We got to see a more tender Puck, the softer side of Sue (she actually has the ability to love!), an even more vulnerable Quinn and an amazing dance number in the wedding dress shop! Also, we now know that the football players are actually dedicated to the glee club, which is huge!
Plus, who can forget “I walked in on my parents once and it was like watching two walruses wrestling.” LOL!!
This is by far my favorite episode!
I love it when he raps and dances too. I thought it was a much better episode than last week but they’re all good.
I loved watching the “Sweet Caroline” video teaser when it hit the internet days before the show premiered, but I cannot believe the Itunes version has the same exact time- less than 2 minutes. Yet when “No Air” is like..what close to five minutes even if all they showed on that episode was 2 minutes? I think Lea is amazing and while Cory is ‘eh’ they do make a good pair but I am getting annoyed that they keep placing the two as leads while the only times the others get to sing it’s a dream sequence, or in Puck/Mark’s case, he gets his moment but it’s far too short, well at least on my iPod. I also wish they could have released his version of “Camisa Negra” that he sang in the background of his first voice-over intro thing.
Puck >>>> Finn
Just sayin’
TEAM PUCK!!!!!!!!
Also, Mark’s in a band called Jericho, and you can order their album Smoke Signals on Amazon. Very interesting sound.
Wow, I like Glee… but 4-5 posts today? Glee is the new Twilight. Beware of overkill.
I couldn’t agree more. I really enjoy Glee, but EW’s daily slavering over it is reaching Idol or Twilight levels, which just means dashed expectations and the inevitable backlash. Take a page from the Top Chef playbook and let it rest…
Yeah no kidding. The more Glee posts I see, the more negative comments I see about the show (some which are quite justified)
And can we put a less queer looking pic in the article?
I love Glee and I won’t stop till I’ll get enough…hey! How about Mr Schue singing Michael jackson’s “Don’t stop till you get enough” ?
I know, I’m GLEE-BSESSED!
The best song is Emma’s, she sounded wonderful and im mad that its not on Itunes.
I agree! Please EW give us some answers!
Although I haven’t downloaded anything yet, I can’t get enough of “Maybe This Time” from a couple weeks ago with Kristin Chenowith. She. Is. AWESOME!!!
‘Maybe This Time’ and ‘Bust Your Windows’ are in a close race in my most played stats. ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ will soon be joining their ranks, methinks.
I want less teacher more students and more mashups…
I’m sorry, but I really really despise Will. His dorky raps literally embarrass me. And the faithful spoken word bits brought up the cringe-o-meter like no one’s business. I had to leave the room. Musically, a really underwhelming episode. Don’t they realize that most of us like the actual Glee club numbers like “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Somebody To Love” and “Hate On Me?”
I’d be fine if this show was just the teens and Sue to be frank.
I absolutely love Will, and I still squirmed when he was rapping. Why, WHY would they have him do thong song?! Painfully embarrassing.
YES!!! I get major second hand embarrassment when ever he “dances” or “sings.” It’s as if the other members of the club have turned into Kelly and Michelle.
I’m confused by your comment. Why are you putting “dances” and “sings” in quotes? He actually dances and sings. What do you mean by the quotes?
I thought Thong Song was cringe-worthy. I almost flipped the channel…..but didn’t LOL I loved Puck singing “Sweet Caroline” and couldn’t resist bopping along to “Bust A Move”. Overall, I thought this was a weak song-choice episode, but loved the storylines!
I loved “I Could Have Danced All Night,” but alas, that is not available. Neither is the incredibly brief “Cabaret” or “Tonight,” which is a shame because Glee really shines when it’s using show tunes instead of misplaced and cringe-inducing rap hits from the past 20 years.
*I would have liked an extended version of the aforementioned showtunes available for download
I have to say I love everything Matthew Morrison does. He so fully commits to the rapping/dancing/singing that I am in his corner cheering him on. I loved his raps last night especially due to his joy when dancing and performing. Icing on the cake is that he is an awesome singer (“Alone” w/Chenowith was great) as well. It takes cojones to try rapping and I think he acquits himself very nicely. Loved the epi last night.
I agree!
totally agree. I replay alone constantly, and I Love Golddigger, and I am Not a fan of rap.
I really enjoy the show, but there’s a couple of things that really bother me about the recorded songs: for one, they use so much Auto-Tune on all the male singers, especially Finn. I can’t stant it when it’s so obviously autotuned. And #2, they use this close-up mic technique that sounds fine in the studio, but in the context of the performance settings of the show (on stage, in the music rehearsal room, on the football field, etc) it sounds completely unnatural. It breaks my “suspension of disbelief” whenever they break into song & it sounds like that.
They’ve gotta do more original takes on the songs (like “Somebody To Love”), or even at least different interpretations (like Rachel’s “Take A Bow”). These carbon copies of the originals are boring.
Yep. I think they set the bar really high in the first episode and only a few have lived up to that expectation and filled me with, well, glee. The Chenoweth episode and the mash-ups have been the highlights. Boring Sweet Caroline covers are going to turn this into karaoke. I was even disappointed by No Air, which shocked me since I love Rachel, but it was too by the numbers.
Take a Bow is by far my favorite. I can’t count how many times I’ve watched that part of the episode.
Maybe Slezak you needed my 13 yr old’s enjoyment to help you along with “Bust a Move.” At first, she was “uh oh” and by the end, “I love Will!!!” So I think MM did a great job to get my far too popular kid to start pulling for the glee club – and pulling for the teacher!
I buy all the songs indiscriminately, but some get much more play than others. And I never find Matthew Morrison hotter than when he’s doing hip-hop. Did you SEE his dance moves last night? Lawdy.
I also buy all the songs regardless! Honestly, the Vocal Adrenaline songs get the least amount of play on my iPod! Go New Directions! And I love love love Matthew Morrison. I don’t feel as guilty salivating over him (being 30 years old) as I do over the high school kids. Even though Finn and Puck are, like, 40.
I AM SO SICK OF HEARING ABOUT GLEE! seriously ew, you could show some other shows some love.
have you ever seen Glee? honestly, I think everyone would respect your opinion more if you have actually seen the show and could still say that you dont like it that much.
LOVED Sweet Caroline! Hope to hear more from Puck. I think he’s a much better singer than Finn.
Agreed. Fin can’t sing for squat. And that squat is dipping to the ground already.
I love this show but wish the music numbers were of the full song! Especially for the great ones like “Hate on Me. “I Could have Danced” would have been a wonderful fantasy moment like “Bust Your Windows…” but was still very sweet.
Take A Bow is my favorite song so far in the series. Followed by Mercedes singing Bust Your Windows
Why can’t you download “I Could Have Danced All Night”? Emma’s rendition was fantastic!
I somehow got the feeling that it wasn’t really her singing….like someone was singing for her and she was just lip-sinking. Was I the only one or did anyone else feel like that. I guess it is because we have never heard her sing before???
I’m totally with you Michael !I can’t stop listening to the mash-up laddies song .Other than that I have “Somebody to Love ” on repeat also.Last nights songs did nothing for me .
I liked the boys mash-up better than the girls!
I do love it when Will sings but take it from me, an “old” person, the reason why they are having Will rap so much is because it was very popular when we were in high school. Yes, it is supremely dorky, but that’s what was in style, and that’s the point. “Old” people are not as cool as high school kids. When you are “old” and they are making fun of today’s songs you will understand.
The only one I have downloaded and continue to replay over and over is the boys mash-up with Confessions and Its My Life. Amazing mix!