Music Review: Glee Cast – “Rumours”

Just when I thought the “Born This Way” episode of Glee had a great mix of music, last week’s episode, “Rumours,” which featured songs from the Fleetwood Mac album of the same name, provided some standout vocal performances from our favorite Glee clubbers.

Guest star Kristin Chenoweth (April Rhodes) returned to the show last week, and had a duet with Matthew Morrison (Will Schuster) on the song, “Dreams.” I have always loved Chenoweth and Morrison’s voices together. And Glee always gives them great songs to sing. Chenoweth has such a great tone to her voice and when it’s combined with Morrison’s smooth vocal, the result is just delightful to listen to.

Kevin McHale (Artie) took on the song, “Never Going Back Again.” McHale is usually given the big showstopper songs, but last week he had a little more of a demure track, which I liked. He has a big voice, and it’s nice to hear him dial it back and have somewhat of a vulnerable vocal performance. This song really proved McHale to be a truly versatile singer.

But, I must say if anyone had a standout vocal performance with their song last week, it was Naya Rivera (Santana) who took on “Songbird.” Her vocal performance on this track is absolutely stunning. You get a real sense of emotion from this track, which she conveys with such passion. This is the first track Rivera has taken the lead on where I actually believed the lyrics she was singing.

Cory Monteith (Finn) and Dianna Agron (Quinn) sang “I Don’t Want to Know” in last week’s Glee tracks. It was the first time the two teamed together on a duet and I have to say that I wasn’t loving it.

During the actual episode, Lea Michele’s character Rachel Berry laments that Quinn sounds better when she sings with Sam (Chord Overstreet), and I definitely agree with that sentiment. I find that both Agron and Overstreet are slightly more limited vocally than the other cast members, and that their voices seem to pair off better.

I thought Lea Michele did a great job with “Go Your Own Way.” The song was a great song for her character’s storyline and a fantastic match for her voice. Plus, her lyrical phrasing really added so much to the track. Those larger drawn out notes in the chorus and the glory notes towards the end of the song are just flawless. This season, I’ve felt that her vocal performances have been hit or miss depending on the song she’s been given to sing, and “Go Your Own Way” is definitely one of my personal favorites of the season.

Chord Overstreet took the lead on the popular “Don’t Stop.” I actually really enjoyed his vocal performance. To be honest, I felt like the arrangement of this track was kind of a mess. It had an overtly cheesy vibe to it that made me want to hit skip, instead of actually listening to the track all the way through.

Overall, I really thought Glee did a pretty good job with the songs from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. Great songs resulted in mostly great new Glee tracks. I can only wonder what Glee brings to the table this week.

Glee airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Photo credit: 2011 Fox Broadcasting Co./Beth Dubber