Glee The Music, Volume 5 Album Review

The cover song tracks are diverse in style and composition, ranging from country songs like Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" to Michael Jackson's classic hits "Thriller" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)". The "Thriller" cover also includes a mashup of "Heads Will Roll" from the indie rock group, the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs.Gwyneth Paltrow makes several appearances on the new album, including the cover of Prince's "Kiss", the Dixie Chicks' version of "Landslide" and an updated copy of Joan Jett's iconic song "Do You Want to Touch Me (Oh Yeah)". This is the second Glee album that has included Paltrow, and it wouldn't be too surprising if Gwyneth continues to be a regular on the show, especially since her singing has been praised by fans and critics alike.Other tracks on the album include covers of The Zombies 1960's hit "She's Not There", the booty-loving Queen song "Fat Bottomed Girls", Lea Michele's solo version of Katy Perry's "Firework", "Take Me or Leave Me" from the popular Broadway musical Rent, "Sing" from the American rock band My Chemical Romance and "Don't You Want Me" as originally sang by the new wave British band The Human League.Of course, no recent Glee album would be complete without at least a couple songs from Justin Bieber. This collection includes covers of Bieber's hit songs "Baby" and "Somebody To Love". Although many adult fans weren't too excited to see Justin Bieber's songs featured on the show, the cast still did a nice job on the covers. Compared to previous Glee compilation albums, you may notice that there aren't as many show tunes or older songs. This seems to be a conscious decision on the producer's part. Even though Glee achieved much of their fame from singing Broadway tunes and golden oldies, the show is now looking to pull in younger fans by covering newer pop hits. Including Michael Jackson's hits is undoubtedly a strategic move, considering that Jackson's popularity with teens has skyrocketed since his untimely death. Adding Justin Bieber's music to the rotation is another obvious attempt to draw in teenage viewers, particularly females. Fans of the show may also be disappointed that the acapella songs by Darren Criss and Tufts Beelzebubs are missing from the album. There have been rumors circulating that these popular performances are missing because Glee plans to release a separate album featuring those songs in the future.Overall, the newest addition to the Glee record collection is an upbeat, catchy album that will have your feet tapping. If you don't watch out, you might just find yourself singing along!