Thursday , March 28 2024
This week's Glee episode included music from Funny Girl, Gypsy, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Music Review: Glee Cast – “Funeral”

The music from the Glee episode “Funeral” highlighted the cream of the crop from the Glee cast. The songs from this past week’s episode were, in my opinion, some of the best technically sung of the entire season.

Amber Riley (Mercedes) took on Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness.” Riley really got the opportunity to showcase her range, as the beginning of the song calls for a more vulnerable quality that we don’t hear too often from the singer. The song builds and builds to where Riley launches into her full voice and just rocks the song out. Riley’s vocals shine throughout.

Chris Colfer (Kurt) steps into the spotlight with “Some People” from Gypsy. Colfer injects so much personality into his pitch-perfect-vocal performance, which makes this song just a joy to listen to. I am so happy that his character is back with New Directions, because Colfer’s fantastic vocal chops finally get their due.

For the second time this season, Naya Rivera (Santana) steps into Amy Winehouse’s shoes. This past episode, she took on “Back To Black.” Rivera really has the perfect vocal tone and inflection to carry out this song. Her greatest strength in her singing is the ability to express emotion in a way that you believe the words she’s singing.

Lea Michele (Rachel) completely owns “My Man” from Funny Girl. I am telling you, I had chills the entire two minutes and sixteen seconds of this track. This is truly Lea Michele’s shining moment of season two. Between her vocal phrasing and that final note that she holds for 15 seconds, this is Michele at her absolute finest.

The Glee Cast came together on Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’s “Pure Imagination.” I have never been a fan of that movie, but oh how I love this song. Many of Glee’s major players are highlighted on this track, including Cory Monteith (Finn), whose vocal sounds so pure. My favorite moment of this song, though, is the harmonizing between Chris Colfer and Mark Salling (Puck) just past the halfway point. They both sound fantastic separately, but their vocals combined cannot be touched.

Overall, this was another really fantastic week of music from the Glee cast. I really liked that the group song highlighted the majority of the cast, and that the solos really complimented each of the singer’s voices. Another solid week of Glee music.

The season two finale of Glee will air this Tuesday at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Photo credit: Mike Yarish/FOX

About Kirsten Coachman

Kirsten Coachman is a writer and editor from the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit her long-running music blog, Wait...WHAT, at waitwhatmusic.net. Follow Kirsten Coachman on Twitter: @KirsCoachman

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