Glee is a hilarious televesion show that highlights the crusades of high-school Spanish teacher, who takes over the school's Glee club, hoping to restore it to its former glory.  But the show is much more than that.  Every episode features high quality music numbers from the cast as they sing their way through the trials and tribulations of life.   Each week the show releases these songs on Itunes. When these songs broke the ITunes top hundred, Glee transformed from a simple television show to a phenomanom. One only has to listen to the first track on the CD, "Don't Stop Believing", to see why.  The rest of the CD does a nice job highlighting the vocal talents of the cast.  Of course, I must admit that some of these cast members are much better actors than singers.  That being said, it still is a great soundtrack.  This is because the show also has some amazIngly talented singers on it.  Of particular note is the very talented Lea Michele, who is featured in solos, duets, and ensamble performances.  Matthew Morrison is also highly entertaining, especially when he expands beyond his Broadway roots in Gold Digger and Bust A Move.  The songs by the rest of the cast are energetic and be warned, that you may find yourself singing in traffic (especially during Sweet Caroline, Hate on Me and somebody to love).  I should also note that the CD features the beautiful and talented Kristen Chenowith on two songs (Alone and Maybe This Time) from when she was a guest star on the show.  I love Ms. Chenowith's work and am very happy they included her on this compilation. 

If I have one complaint, it's that there isn't enough on this CD.  Some of my favorite numbers from the show are missing.   Notable absences are the boy vs. girl mash-ups (Halo/Walking on Sunshine and It's My Life/Confessions), On My Own, Push It, Rehab, I Say A Little Prayer Mercy, and Last Name (featuring the aforementioned Ms. Chenowith).  In addition, the Acafellas Z(see left) are completely absent from the disk and ITunes.  And although there is a second CD coming out on December 8th, these songs are also absent from that release.  Thankfully, each one of these songs is available on ITunes for completionists (I really recommend the jam pieces).  

The tracks included on the first CD are:

1 Don't Stop Believin'
2 Can't Fight This Feeling
3 Gold Digger
4 Take a Bow
5 Bust Your Windows
6 Taking Chances
7 Alone
8 Maybe This Time
9 Somebody to Love
10 Hate On Me
11 No Air
12 You Keep Me Hangin' On
13 Keep Holding On
14 Bust a Move
15 Sweet Caroline
16 Dancing with Myself
17 Defying Gravity

The credits for the album are:

Chris Colfer - VocalsRyan Murphy - ProducerAmber Riley - VocalsJasper Randall - VocalsAdam Anders - Soundtrack ProducerPJ Bloom - Music SupervisorKamari Copeland - VocalsTim Davis - Vocal ArrangementMaria Paula Marulanda - Art DirectionJeannette Kaczorowski - Cover DesignWindy Wagner - VocalsDan Marnien - EngineerDavid Bett - Art DirectionHeather Guibert - CoordinationPeer Astrom - ProducerRobin Koehler - CoordinationPeer Astrom - MixingAdam Anders - Vocal ArrangementNikki Hassman - VocalsDavid Bett - DesignLouie Teran - MasteringEmily Gomez - VocalsJames Levine - ProducerGeoff Bywater - Executive in Charge of MusicDante DiLoreto - Soundtrack Executive ProducerLea Michele - VocalsTim Davis - VocalsCory Monteith - VocalsDavid Loucks - VocalsChris Mann - VocalsAdam Anders - ProducerAdam Anders - EngineerMeaghan Lyons - CoordinationMaria Paula Marulanda - DesignTim Davis - Vocal ContractorAdam Anders - VocalsRyan Murphy - Soundtrack ProducerZac Poor - VocalsDianna Agron - VocalsPeer Astrom - EngineerKevin McHale - VocalsMark Sallings - VocalsBrad Dalchuk - Soundtrack Executive ProducerJenna Ushkowitz - VocalsMatthew Morrison - Vocals  

I have added Glee Volume 1 and Volume 2 to Cup of Geek's Amazon store. Any purchases from that page help support the site at no additional cost to you.