Glee Sings the Beatles

2013 soundtrack album by Glee Cast
Glee Sings the Beatles
Soundtrack album by
Glee Cast
ReleasedSeptember 24, 2013 (2013-09-24)
Recorded2013
Genre
  • Pop
  • rock
Length40:13
51:04 (Japanese edition)
LabelColumbia / 20th Century Fox TV
ProducerDante Di Loreto (exec.), Brad Falchuk (exec.), Adam Anders, Peer Åström, Ryan Gillmor, Ryan Murphy
Glee Cast chronology
Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 3
(2012) 		Glee Sings the Beatles
(2013) 		Glee: The Quarterback
(2013)

Glee Sings the Beatles is the fifteenth soundtrack album by the cast of the American musical television show Glee. It was made available for pre-order on iTunes on September 10, 2013, with the expected to be released date on September 24, 2013, two days before the fifth season premiere.[1] The album features fourteen songs recorded for the first two episodes of the season: "Love Love Love" and "Tina in the Sky with Diamonds".[2]

Background

This is not the first time the cast of Glee pays tribute to famous artists. Recurring guest star Demi Lovato is also featured in one of the tracks of the album. Back on August 3, 2010, Paul McCartney, reportedly a fan of the show, sent a mixtape featuring his music to Glee creator Ryan Murphy in an attempt to convince Murphy to include some of the songs in the upcoming season. "I received some fantastic mixtapes from Paul McCartney a couple of weeks ago. I thought I was being punked!" Murphy said at 2010's Television Critics Association panel in Los Angeles.[3] However, The Beatles' tribute episode was never planned to be aired on season two, three or four of the show.

The two-part premiere episodes of the tribute featured glee club director Will Schuester, portrayed by actor Matthew Morrison, assigning the students in the club to sing songs by the early Beatles (on "Love Love Love") and by the late Beatles (on "Tina in the Sky with Diamonds").

Glee has covered Beatles' songs before like "Hello Goodbye", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Blackbird" and "In My Life".[4] However, these songs were not part of this album.

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[5]
PopCrush[6]

The album has received generally positive reviews from professional critics. Heather Phares of Allmusic wrote: "The July 2013 death of Cory Monteith, cast a pall on the beginning of Glee's fifth season," adding that two of the album's songs, "Yesterday" and "Let It Be" were "bookended versions of the Fab Four's cheerier fare with subdued renditions of two of the band's most poignant songs". Phares also commented positively on how "[the album] could have left the cast's women stuck on the sidelines as screaming Beatlemaniacs, [but instead] it had the ladies front and center [on songs] like the sweet rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" and the playful take on "A Hard Day's Night". In other words the Allmusic review calls the album as "a promising start to season five's music".[7]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Lennon–McCartney, except tracks 10 & 11, which were written by George Harrison.

No.TitleLength
1."Yesterday"2:33
2."Drive My Car"2:32
3."Got to Get You into My Life"2:29
4."You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"2:43
5."Help"2:18
6."A Hard Day's Night"2:27
7."I Saw Her Standing There"2:40
8."All You Need Is Love"3:16
9."Get Back"2:26
10."Here Comes the Sun" (featuring Demi Lovato)3:00
11."Something"3:01
12."Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"1:54
13."Hey Jude"4:51
14."Let It Be"4:03
Total length:40:13
Japanese bonus tracks[9]
No.TitleLength
15."Hello, Goodbye"3:29
16."I Want to Hold Your Hand"2:38
17."Blackbird"2:20
18."In My Life"2:24
Total length:51:04

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[10] 48
Irish Albums Chart[11] 92
UK Albums Chart[12] 89
US Billboard 200[13] 38
US Billboard Soundtracks[14] 2

Release history

Region Release date Label Format
United Kingdom[15] September 23, 2013 Twentieth Century Fox Digital download
Canada[16] Sony Music Canada Inc.[17] CD, digital download
Ireland[18] Twentieth Century Fox
Taiwan[19]
Italy[20]
Sweden[21]
Thailand[22]
United States[23] September 24, 2013
Australia[24] October 4, 2013
New Zealand[25]
United Kingdom[26] October 7, 2013 Music Division CD

See also

  • List of songs in Glee (season 5)

References

  1. ^ Cerasaro, Pat (September 10, 2013). "GLEE SINGS THE BEATLES Now Available For Pre-Order, Out 9/24". Broadway World. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  2. ^ Richenthal, Matt (September 5, 2013). "Glee Sings the Beatles: Track List Revealed!". TV Fanatic. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  3. ^ Keps, Daniel (August 3, 2010). "'Glee' Fan Paul McCartney Offers Tunes to Show". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  4. ^ Votta, Rae (September 27, 2013). "'Glee' Recap: New Beginnings Abound In Beatles Tribute". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  5. ^ Phares, Heather. "Glee Sings the Beatles Album". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  6. ^ Sciaretto, Amy. "'GLEE SINGS THE BEATLES' – ALBUM REVIEW". PopCrush. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  7. ^ Phares, Heather. "Glee Sings the Beatles". Allmusic. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  8. ^ Williams, Paul (October 3, 2013). "US charts: Elton hits 37-year high". Music Week. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  9. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles – TV Original Soundtrack". CDJapan. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  10. ^ "Soundtrack / Glee Cast – Glee Sings the Beatles". Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  11. ^ "Glee Cast discography irishcharts.com". Irish Albums Chart. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
  12. ^ "Official Albums Chart UK Top 100 – 19th October 2013". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014.
  13. ^ "October 12, 2013 Billboard 200". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013.
  14. ^ "Soundtracks October 12, 2013 Chart". Billboard.
  15. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". iTunes United Kingdom. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  16. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". iTunes Canada. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  17. ^ "Glee Sings The Beatles: Glee Cast". Amazon.ca. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  18. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". iTunes Ireland. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  19. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". iTunes Taiwan. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  20. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". iTunes Italy. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  21. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". iTunes Sweden. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  22. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". iTunes Thailand. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  23. ^ "GLEE SINGS THE BEATLES Album Out Today". Broadway World. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  24. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". iTunes Australia. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  25. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". iTunes New Zealand. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  26. ^ "Glee Sings the Beatles". Amazon UK. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  • v
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Glee
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  • Volume 1
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Extended plays
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