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Say what you will, but there is no denying how successful Glee television musical show has been for Fox Television and Columbia Records. At the height of their popularity, they had over 10 million viewers and sold over thirty-six million digital singles and eleven million albums.
You have to wonder where they would take the show, especially after the actors all graduated from the fictional William McKinley High School after its fourth season, but Fox was able to continue telling the Glee story when they re-located to New York from the original Ohio setting.
After the real-life death of actor Cory Monteith, the show producers announced that Glee Season 6 will be their final season. With that said, the Season 6 premiere kicked off earlier this year (January 9th, 2015) with a two-hour episode ("Loser Like Me" and "Homecoming").
As typical with all Glee digital singles, you can purchase the songs the week that the show air.
Episode 1 & 2: "Loser Like Me"/"Homecoming" (Jan 9, 2015)
"Uninvited" (Alanis Morrissette) - Rachel
"Suddenly Seymour" (from Little Shop of Horrors) - Blaine & Rachel
"Sing" (Ed Shareen) - The Warblers & Blaine
"Dance The Night Away" (Van Halen) - Vocal Adrenaline
"Let It Go" (from Frozen) – Rachel
"Take On Me" (Ah Ha) - Old New Directions
"Tightrope" (Janelle Monae) - Jane & The Warblers
"Mustang Sally" (Wilson Picket) - Roderick
"Home" (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros) - Madison & Mason
"Problem" (Ariana Grande) - Santana, Quinn & Brittany
This was a good mix of what's super popular (The Frozen soundtrack), but with some odd choices classic hits like Ah Ha's "Take On Me" and Wilson Picket's "Mustang Sally".
Episode 3: "Jagged Little Tapestry" (Jan 16, 2015)
"It's Too Late" (Carole King) - Blaine & Kurt
"Hand In My Pocket" (Alanis Morissette)/"I Feel The Earth Move" (Carole King) - Santana & Brittany
"Head Over Feet" (Alanis Morissette)/"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (Carole King) - Jane & Mason
"So Far Away" (Carole King) – Quinn & Tina
"You Learn" (Alanis Morissette)/ "You've Got a Friend" (Carole King) - Rachel, Kurt with past and present members of The New Directions
The Alanis Morissette cover lover episode, obviously celebrating her album Jagged Little Pill (1995) ... but 'you ought to know' how 'ironic' that her most popular songs were not covered?
Episode 4: "The Hurt Locker, Part One" (Jan 23, 2015)
"Bitch" (Meredith Brooks) - Sue
"Thousand Miles" (Vanessa Carlton) - Rachel & Sam
"Rock Lobster" (B-52's) - Clint & Vocal Adrenaline
"Whip It" (Devo) - Clint & Vocal Adrenaline
Although the episode will air this Friday, January 23rd, the music was digitally released on iTunes.
I have to say that I'm so happy to see the B-52's cover. Max George (who plays Clint) doesn't try to do an over-the-top impression of singer Fred Schneider's very unique vocal styling... and that's probably a good thing.
Overall, I have been pretty happy with the music choices for the final season of Glee so far. I suspect since they know it's the final season, they don't really have to play to what is popular and, I hope, they'll continue to covering the more obscure music.
Since the show is ending, Fox and Columbia may be focused on a new musical drama called Empire (loosely based on William Shakespeare's King Lear and James Goldman's The Lion in Winter and not to be confused with the 1995 Empire Records film). What set this show apart is that it's not looking at pure pop, but more hip hop songs. Although the show only premiered January 7, 2015 (two weeks ago), Fox had already announced a season two for 2016! It's a strong start, and probably much better ratings than NBC's Smash (which was largely seen as a musical television for old people). However, despite critical acclaims (winning a Primetime Emmy Award), NBC ultimately cancelled Smash due to poor ratings.
The other thing that sets Empire apart from Glee is that Empire's music (spearheaded by Timbaland) will have original music for the series (instead of just cover songs).
You have to wonder where they would take the show, especially after the actors all graduated from the fictional William McKinley High School after its fourth season, but Fox was able to continue telling the Glee story when they re-located to New York from the original Ohio setting.
After the real-life death of actor Cory Monteith, the show producers announced that Glee Season 6 will be their final season. With that said, the Season 6 premiere kicked off earlier this year (January 9th, 2015) with a two-hour episode ("Loser Like Me" and "Homecoming").
As typical with all Glee digital singles, you can purchase the songs the week that the show air.
Episode 1 & 2: "Loser Like Me"/"Homecoming" (Jan 9, 2015)
Episode 3: "Jagged Little Tapestry" (Jan 16, 2015)
Episode 4: "The Hurt Locker, Part One" (Jan 23, 2015)
Overall, I have been pretty happy with the music choices for the final season of Glee so far. I suspect since they know it's the final season, they don't really have to play to what is popular and, I hope, they'll continue to covering the more obscure music.
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Empire
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The other thing that sets Empire apart from Glee is that Empire's music (spearheaded by Timbaland) will have original music for the series (instead of just cover songs).
