Believe in Music

The other day I got an email that made me cry.  I was invited to attend the 85th birthday party of my youth choir director.  Of course, the party will be an old-fashioned hymn-sing.  My schedule will not allow me to attend, but I am happy to have the opportunity to write a note to Mrs. Elliott and let her know what an important role she played in my young life.
 

Although I am not as much of a “Gleek” as I used to be, it is no secret that I am a fan of “Glee,” the television story of a high school show choir.  One of the reasons I love this show so much is it reminds me of my six years in Chapel Singers.
 

Chapel Singers was a fifty-voice ecumenical youth choir.  We designed musical church services and presented them in churches throughout the Northeast.  Our musical selections ranged from old-time hymns to show tunes to modern rock numbers.  Our theme song was a rousing rendition of “I Believe in Music.”
 

“I Believe in Music” might seem like a funny thing to sing in church.  The purpose of church is to state and strengthen our belief in God, not our belief in music, right?  But for our choir director, Alberta Elliott, it was kind of the same thing.
 

Mrs. Elliott was a middle school music teacher; the sort of teacher who has become a rare commodity these days.  In school, as in church, she had a way of bringing the best out of difficult kids, not only musically, but also personally.
 

In an email from one of her daughters, I discovered that Mrs. Elliott has a granddaughter now in college, majoring in music education.  I pray that, once graduated, Jessica will be able to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and use music to make a real difference in the lives of young people.

From Mrs. Elliott I learned about music, and so much more.  I learned to appreciate history and tradition, and to gently blend the traditional with modern offerings.  I learned the sacred nature of creativity.  I learned to be part of a group. 
 

I am not the most musically talented person I know – far from it.  But having the ability to be part of a musical project was essential and formative for me, as it is for all young people. Mrs. Elliott taught me that music, creativity, community, character and spirituality are all woven together, and are all important.   Without that lesson, my life would have been far less rich, and far less productive.

What I’m Watching This Season

Several folks have asked why I have discontinued writing about Glee and SNL this television season.  I hate to say it, but it’s because my two favorite shows of last year have flat-out failed to inspire me this year.

After years of refusing cable television service, I wondered what would happen when we moved into a condo with free cable.  Well, here’s what happened.  We still don’t watch TV.

We still watch Hulu and Netflix.  We have also started buying downloaded episodes of Archer and Dr. Who from Amazon.  Now that’s a great deal.

I guess my main objection to television is that you have to watch it at a specific time.  My clients may dictate my schedule for me, and that’s fine.  But my television never will – end of story.

So, what have I been watching?

Well, I am still following Glee.  It’s gotten marginally better than it was in September.  I’m happy that Santana is out of the closet and it was great to meet Rachel’s gay dads.  I especially love that Jeff Goldblum plays one of the dads.  I am also glad that one of my favorites from the Glee Project, Simon, is appearing as a freshman Christian who has been homeschooled all his life.

I’m watching SNL, too.  Lately it has been pretty lame, except that Jason Sudeikis does a great Mitt Romney, and it was terrific to see Maya Rudolph come back and host a few weeks ago. 

What I’ve really been watching is the entire series of Star Trek: Voyager on Netflix.  I missed it the first time around, and it’s pretty good. I am a scifi geek after all.

In terms of actual network TV right now, I have two favorites.  The first is Archer.  I am embarrassed at how much I enjoy adult cartoons.  My second favorite, perhaps even more embarrassing, is The Voice.

Oh my goodness, how did THAT happen?  I resisted American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, and all the other network talent contests.

I like The Voice because there are no judges, only coaches.  And the coaches are pretty cool – Adam Levine, Celo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton.  I also really like that the coaches choose their teams using blind auditions.  And I like the host, Carson Daily.  The Voice is a Mark Burnett production.  He is the king of Reality TV and all.

So, yeah, I’m watching The Voice this season.  But I’m still watching on Hulu.

Purple Pianos, Unicorns and Killer Hot Tubs - A New TV Season Has Begun

Well, the new season of Glee has begun – last week, in fact.  I even have cable TV in my new condo.  Truth is, I just can’t seem to get excited enough about either the first or second episode to actually write about them.  I guess that is a review in and of itself.

So let’s see. . .Now that Kurt has acceptance and a great boyfriend, he’s freaking out because he is so very  gay.  As his Dad put it, “Not Rock Hudson gay, gay-gay.”

Finn is freaking out because he doesn’t know what to do after high school.

Rachel is freaking out because, even with all her talent and her Dads’ support, she is a senior in high school with no performance cred whatsoever. That seems very unlikely.

Shu is freaking out because Sue is running for congress on a platform of removing the arts from schools.

Quinn has reinvented herself yet again, this time as a goth skank.  Oh, and Rachel’s birth mother, who is the adoptive mother of Quinn and Puck’s baby, is teaching at McKinley.  Now Quinn’s freaking out because she wants custody of her baby.

So everyone is McKinley High is freaking out.  The plot is even more unlikely and contrived than the first two seasons.  I am bored and uninspired with what was once my favorite TV show, Glee. 

Ryan Murphy is so yesterday.  He bored me over the summer with his reality show, “The Glee Project.”  Now he is continuing to inspire me to . . . yawn.

As far as new TV seasons are concerned, nothing on Glee so far can hold a candle to the new “American Dad,” where Celo Green plays an evil killer hot tub.  This episode has better music, and a more believable plot, than anything I’ve seen on Glee so far this season.

The Glee Project!

Another Day Late Dollar Short Hulu Review by Christiana Gaudet

As much as I love Glee, I wasn’t going to watch the Glee Project.

First, it’s on the Oxygen Network, for gosh sakes.  As a point of personal pride, I just pretend this network doesn’t exist.  In fact, I mostly pretend TV doesn’t exist.

But, being a Gleek is like being gay.  You don’t choose to be, you just are.

I also hate Reality TV.  I hate it because of its name.  Sorry, but “Reality TV” is an oxymoron, end of story.

I hate how cheesy and petty and stupid it makes people seem.  I’m afraid it will actually cause those of us not on television to act as if we are.

Mostly, I hate it because it is so damn compelling.  As much as I’ve tried not to, I’ve been sucked into “What Not to Wear,” “The Apprentice,” “The Sing-Off,” and “The Voice.”

I have yet to watch an episode of “American Idol” for fear it would simply be mind crack for me.

So, a night off, a bottle of wine, a willing husband and curiosity got the better of me.  I thought I would check in, just for the first five minutes, to see just how terrible The Glee Project would be.

Problem is, it was awesome!  It just what the doctor ordered for those of us going through end-of-the-season slushy withdrawals.

Here’s the premise.  Forty thousand talented youth auditioned nation-wide for a chance to be one of twelve chosen to compete in this weekly TV show.  The ultimate winner will be a guest star on seven episodes of Glee.  Ryan Murphy explains it as a way of creating a talent pool from which to pull replacements for the Glee Club’s graduating seniors.  Good.  I was wondering how they would handle that.

The twelve contenders are all fabulously talented.  Since what they are competing for is a spot on Glee, they need to be more than talented.  They need to be able to take direction, learn dance steps quickly, emote appropriately, and fit into the larger-than-life Glee world.

Like the Glee cast, each of these kids is an individual.  There’s a short boy, a dreadlocked boy, a fat girl, a hot Latina, a gay kid and so on.  They are all likeable, and all believable as potential members of New Directions.

The show itself involves the usual reality TV moments of coaching, desperation, friendship, appraisal, and competition.  Since the coaches and directors are actually from the Glee staff, it had enough star power to be interesting.

First, the kids each had to sing a line from the song “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”  The object was to show individuality.  Then, they recorded a video together, performing Katy Perry’s “Firework.”

Each kid’s performance was evaluated.  The bottom three each had to do a “last chance performance” for Ryan Murphy himself.  Ryan then chose one to eliminate from the competition.

In this first episode, the kid went home because of his ‘tude, not his chops – an important lesson for all aspiring performers.

Although it is a cheesy reality show on Oxygen with disappointing ratings so far, The Glee Project has a lot of what makes Glee itself so much fun.  I’ll be back next week to see what happens.

Glee's New York Season Finale

Another Day Late Dollar Short Hulu Review by Christiana Gaudet

Hey, did you ever notice when you say the name of William McKinley High School’s show choir, New Directions, it sounds like “nude erections?”  I hadn’t, until their snooze of a season finale left my brain wandering off by itself and getting into trouble.

The best thing about this episode is that it set us up for some great plot possibilities in season three, and maybe even a post-graduation spin off where Kurt, Blaine and Rachel go off to find their fortune in the Big Apple.

Glee often requires us to suspend our disbelief.  However, no show choir director in their right mind would pack up their kids for nationals without a set list and plenty of rehearsal time under their belt. 

The new formula of original songs is a good one.  The process of watching the kids learn to be song-writers has given us such greats as Puck’s “Big Ass Heart,” and, in this episode, Brittany’s “My Cup.”

I would have accepted that the kids wrote and rehearsed their songs for nationals during the hours we weren’t watching them, better than I can accept they showed up unprepared.

Being on stage without being prepared is literally my worst recurring nightmare.  I can’t believe Will would do that to his kids.

One of the critical plots twists is Will’s dilemma.  He hasn’t told his kids that he is going to stay in New York to be in April Rhodes’ musical.  They find out, but by then he has decided that he loves the kids, and the Glee club, more than he loves the stage.  Hugs all around.

We do get to see Will do one number on a Broadway stage.  April, played by Kristin Chenoweth, is out to lunch.  I mean, literally, out to lunch.  She makes no appearance at all in the season finale.

I thought of her, though, when Kurt and Rachel break into the Gershwin Theater and sing “For Good” on the “Wicked” stage.  The first time I heard that song was with Kristin’s mighty vocals.  Rachel and Kurt nail it, making it the best song of the show for me.

I love the friendship that is developing between Kurt and Rachel.  Now that they are not weirdly competing for Finn’s attention, they can bond over their love of all things theatrical.

The ex-Cheerios, Brittany, Santana and Quinn bond over the universal truth of popular girls.  It is as true in Lima, Ohio as it is anywhere.  Pretty, popular girls have a harder time getting and keeping boyfriends than average girls.

But, a new hairstyle for Quinn makes everything better.

We never find out what Quinn’s big plan for New York was.  Perhaps she thought better of it, or perhaps the writers just forgot.

Finn wants to do some serious bonding with Rachel.  Rachel worries that, if she dates Finn, she will have to give up her dreams of stardom.

Sunny Corazon and Rachel bond in the ladies room right before Sunny and Vocal Adrenaline knock it out of the ballpark.

I remember traveling with my youth choir, and my high school class.  No matter where we went or why we were there, bonding with friends was what it was all about.  That part felt very real in this episode.

Of course, the two original numbers are fabulous, and the kids perform them flawlessly.  There’s only one problem.  At the end of their duet, Finn and Rachel kiss passionately, caught up in the moment.

Jesse is sure the kiss is the reason they place twelve out of fifty, two short of what they needed to move on in the competition.

Back in Lima, Blaine and Kurt say the L word.  Sam and Mercedes are dating, but they want to keep it a secret.  Finchel is back.  Brittany and Santana proclaim their friendship for each other, if not their passion.  Emma gives Will and the kids a great welcome back.  Coming in twelve out of fifty ain’t so bad.

The Glee kids are ready for senior year.  They have grown as musicians, as people, and as a team.  They have learned to accept themselves, and each other.

Snore.  Did somebody say “predictable?”

A Little Tenderness: Glee’s Funeral Episode

Another Day Late Dollar Short Hulu Review by Christiana Gaudet

Well, we’ve had a birth, a wedding, a divorce and a prom- there was really nothing left to do but have a funeral, right before (gasp) Nationals in New York.

Glee is a live-action cartoon that makes points with archetypes.  It teaches big lessons with broad strokes.  The lesson of the “Funeral” episode was compassion.

I love Jane Lynch as much as I hate Sue Sylvester.  The episode opens with Sue and Terri the Terrible plotting to re-route the Glee Club through Libya, on their way to Nationals.  Then Sue does something really mean, even for her.  She fires Becky.

When Will confronts her on it, we find out it is because Sue’s sister, Jean, has died.  Sue’s devotion to her Down’s syndrome sister has always been what humanizes her.  It makes us believe her redemption is possible.

When Finn and Kurt find out, they offer their sympathy.  Sue is shocked at their genuine concern, given how mean she had been to them, and to Glee club.  Having each lost a parent, their empathy is sincere.

I love the complex relationship between Finn and Kurt.  In this episode, we see that they are, over time, becoming brothers. 

Sue confides in them that she doesn’t have the heart to pack up Jean’s things, or plan the funeral.  Kurt and Finn offer to help, and, after packing up Jean’s stuffed animals, agree to plan a Glee funeral.

This doesn’t sit well with Glee’s new show choir consultant . . . you guessed it . . . Jesse St. James.

He has turned into a cross between a Vocal Adrenaline coach and Simon Cowell.  He makes the kids audition for a starring role in the set list for Nationals.

This was a vehicle for some great solos, and for proving what an infernal ass Jesse is.  The conflict is this.  His style is all show-choir-Rambo, which is never the right vibe for New Directions.  We saw that last season when they hired a consultant from Vocal Adrenaline.  (Can someone say déjà vu?)  But, Vocal Adrenaline has won four years in a row, with Jesse St. James as the vocal lead.  Will really wants to beat Vocal Adrenaline, and seems willing to put his values on the line to do it.

Sue tells Will she is grateful that the Glee kids are planning the funeral, because it guarantees attendees.  She is shocked to see the house packed with Jean’s friends; friends Sue didn’t realized she had.

The funeral is lovely, and a real tearjerker.  New Directions beautifully sings Jean’s favorite song, “Pure Imagination,” from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

The tears I shed along with Sue were not only for Jean.  The most touching aspect was how lovingly the Glee club was treating their arch-enemy- Sue Sylvester.  We got it; we hope Sue got it too.  She told Will she did, and that Glee club was off her hit list.  Now she’s running for public office.

 In other plot news, Will plans to stay in New York and try his luck on Broadway.  He’s not telling the kids yet.  Terri is moving to Miami.

The Rachel/Finn/Quinn love triangle has a new level of complexity- Jesse.  Jesse is after Rachel, but Finn has broken up with Quinn because he still wants Rachel.  If only Rachel knew.

At the end of the episode, Will takes control from Jesse.  Instead of pitting the kids against each other in competition to be the star, they will sing together as a team.  Good.  I hate it that Will is constantly looking for his testicles.

Next week will be the last episode of the season.  I am tempted to do a tarot reading to see what will happen.  Will they win?  Is Sue really a changed woman?  Does Jesse really love Rachel?

I personally distrust Jesse, and root for a replay of Finchel. 

I was disappointed that Jean’s death was not an opportunity for the great Carol Burnett to reprise her fabulous role as the sisters’ Nazi-hunting mother.

Musically, it was an ok episode.  My favorite was Mercedes’ audition number “Try a Little Tenderness.”  I didn’t like Santana’s “Back to Black,” although I love the Amy Winehouse song, and I love Santana.  He voice lacked body and depth in this number- I was actually wondering if she was trying to sing it badly.

This was a plot-intensive episode in the run up to the season finale.  It was also the most tearful-icious episode ever.

In a world of war, terror, plague and pestilence, Glee’s “Funeral” episode teaches human kindness.  It reminds me of the first hard thing I learned as a little girl in the Methodist church.  God wants us to love our enemies.  Take that, Bible-thumping Glee haters!

Prom Trauma: The Glee Prom Episode

The "Prom Queen" episode of Glee was everything that a musical dramedy should be, and more. 

The episode opens with, no surprise, the news that the Glee club will have to provide the musical entertainment for prom.  Almost immediately, we segue to a fabulous duet- “Rolling in the Deep,” sung by Rachel, and, well, you won’t believe this but . . . Jesse is back.

Sadly, this first musical number was also the best of the show.

Jesse apologizes to Rachel, and joins her, Mercedes and Sam on a low-budget prom date.  He is egotistical and pushy, and all about Rachel, who eats it up.  The other kids aren’t so sure, especially Finn, who ends up getting both himself and Jesse kicked out of prom for fighting.

Quinn has put all her energy into campaigning for prom queen.  Having her king, Finn, kicked out before the crowning is bad.  That he was fighting Jesse for coming on too strong with Rachel is worse.

As in real life, prom trauma promotes both insecurity and growth.  Karofsky tearfully apologizes to Kurt, and we believe his sincerity.  Artie makes a play to get Brittany back, and she shoots him down, kindly but firmly.  Mercedes admits that, as much as she is an independent woman, she is sad no one has asked her to prom. Lauren, usually proud to be a woman of size, bemoans the difficulty of finding a great plus-size dress.  Quinn confesses her fear that once age takes her beauty, she will have, and be, nothing. 

The juxtaposition of the Glee characters is thought provoking.  Kurt and Blaine have the courage to do what Karofsky and Santana cannot do.  Hefty Lauren has the self-esteem that beautiful Quinn does not.

There is a lot of great dialogue.  Some of the best is between Kurt and Blaine.  It is nice, if predictable, that the healthiest relationship in the Glee club is the gay one.

There is also a lot of fun fashion in this episode.  Prom dresses range from Quinn’s traditional blue gown to Brittany’s outrageous orange and green 1950’s style cocktail dress, worn with a tiny steampunk hat.  Kurt’s prom outfit includes a kilt.  Mercedes and Rachel’s thrift store finds are beautiful, but off enough that we can still believe they came from Good Will.

Gay acceptance is the most important theme of this episode.  When Kurt asks Blaine to prom, Blaine relates that he has been the victim of a violent hate crime.  While Karofsky is able to speak frankly with Kurt, he is not able to envision a time when he would be ready to come out.  Santana, lovely in a sexy one-shoulder prom dress, is still caught in her own tragic dilemma.

The success of prom is jeopardized when, in a Carrie-esque practical joke, Kurt and Karofsky are crowned Queen and King, respectively.  Kurt reacts, and then bravely decides to own the moment.  He accepts the crown, quipping, “Kate Middleton, eat your heart out” and dances with Blaine.  He turns what was meant to be a humiliation into a stellar victory.  The crowd shows their support with applause, joining him and Blaine on the dance floor.  It is a well-acted feel-good moment for everyone but Karofsky, who isn’t ready to take the opportunity to come out in front of his peers.

Glee receives a lot of criticism from conservative groups for compassionately depicting gay teens and their struggles.  These groups foolishly suggest that Glee is promoting gay activity that wouldn’t otherwise be an issue.

In an odd personal synchronicity, right before watching Glee on Hulu, I checked Facebook.  There, a friend’s post revealed that he has just been the victim of gay bashing.  Luckily, it was only verbal abuse.  A stranger yelled at him “I hope you die of AIDS.”  He had the quick wit to shoot back with “I hope you die too.  It would be terrible to outlive all your friends.”

With that reminder of the xenophobia that threatens anyone who does not conform to a specific norm, I was particularly ready to appreciate Glee for its deft ability to handle these issues on mainstream television.  Arguably, a Glee episode may save someone’s life one day.

I wasn’t thrilled with some of the song choices, although they were all beautifully performed.  “Dancing Queen” was an unlikely choice for a coronation song in 2011.  Rachel’s “Jar of Hearts” was better than the original artist’s version, but odd for a prom song.  “Friday’s,” considered by on-line critics to be the worst song ever, was the best prom number.

For a middle-aged woman, I attend many proms.  I entertain at proms, semi-formals, and sweet sixteen parties.  The Glee prom felt very real to me, even if the plot twists didn’t always.  It was as joyous, angst-ridden and fashionable as these events usually are.

The return of Jesse has me chomping at the bit for next week.  Is he spying for Vocal Adrenaline?  Is he sincere in his feelings for Rachel?  Will he rejoin New Directions, improving their chances in New York?  What will happen now that Finn has disappointed Quinn, and demonstrated that he still has feelings for Rachel?  A good serial always ends with a cliffhanger.

There were a couple of folks missing from prom.  I would have liked to see Mike Chan and Tina have a great dance together.  It also would have made sense to have Will and Emma chaperone, and share a poignantly romantic dance.  And while solo Brittany was busy dancing the entire night, I would have loved to see her share a dance with Santana, and with Artie.

Overall, the Prom episode was funny, exciting, entertaining and meaningful.  And that’s why we watch Glee, isn’t it?

Glee’s Sleaze: My Take on the "Rumours" Episode

Even though I don’t own a television, I am an unabashed Gleek.  I’m currently watching Season One on Netflix, and keeping up with Season Two on Hulu.  Having graduated from high school in 1980, I am the target demographic for this larger-than-life cartoony series about the struggles of a high school show choir in Lima, Ohio.

This week’s episode featured the classic Fleetwood Mac album, “Rumours.”  The album came out in 1977, making it another favorite of my demographic, and, I daresay, one of the defining albums of my generation.

I woke up Tuesday morning to see myself tagged in a friend’s Facebook status.  Knowing what a huge Fleetwood Mac and Glee fan I am, he couldn’t wait to hear my review of the “Rumours”  episode.  When I sat down to watch it last night, armed with wine, ice cream and a very patient husband, I was  looking forward to  what I thought might be the best Glee episode ever.  When the hour was over, I was underwhelmed.

Mature Stevie Nicks disappoints me.  If only the Unintentional Godmother of Goth loved herself as much as we love her!  I cringed at her silly duet with the  off-key Taylor Swift at the Grammys.  It feels manipulative that Stevie’s first album in a decade, “In Your Dreams,” dropped on the same day the Glee “Rumours” episode aired.  Stevie was even quoted calling her new album her “own little ‘Rumours’.”  

“In Your Dreams” is getting great reviews.  Stevie should know that greatness doesn’t need cheap tricks to be heard and appreciated.

I believed that Glee was going to give tribute to something that deserves tribute.  Instead, it was simply a platform to sell a new album based not on that album’s merit, but on the merit of an album thirty years old. 

In the “Rumours” episode, Sue uses the school’s newspaper to spread gossip in an effort to tear the Glee Club apart.  Will enlists April Rhodes to help him teach the kids that great music can come from their internal struggles, just as Fleetwood Mac’s best album came from the breakup of the two couples who comprised the band.  The assignment: pick a song off the “Rumours” album and give it your own spin. 

Kristin Chenoweth, in her role as the alcohol-soaked April Rhodes, shows the kids how it’s done with “Dreams.”  She really nailed Stevie with her amazing vocals.  If I had kept my eyes closed, I would have loved this number.  Problem is, Kristin Chenoweth is a great actor.  Her portrayal of the alcoholic April is so on target that it turned this darkly mystical song into a cheesy, flirty pop tune sung by a barfly.  In the Seventies, Stevie made drug addiction look sexy.  Today, Kristin makes addiction appear to be exactly what it is: pathetic.

Even though we all know the things that happen at McKinley High can never happen in real life, Glee still manages to discuss important issues.  While this episode was about conflicts between the glee club members, there is always a subtext of personal internal conflict.  Nowhere do we see that more than in the character of Santana as she struggles with her feelings for Brittany and her fear of the social repercussions.  Santana’s rendition of “Songbird,” sung privately to Brittany, was stunning.  Santana’s refusal to be the now-single Brittany’s prom date was as poignant as Brittany’s inability to understand her friend’s fears.  Brittany, in her simplicity, is often the wisest kid in the club.

Artie’s decision to break up with Brittany for hooking up with Santana surprised me.  I thought he knew and accepted their relationship.  Wasn’t that why he gave Sam a funny look in the “Sexy” episode when Sam wished that he and Artie could be as close as their girlfriends were?

Artie’s vocals on the song “Never Going Back Again” were great, but he should have done it without a parade of ten million guitarists backing him up. 

Quinn is one of the most complex characters in Glee club.  She shows both her crazy and her compassionate side in this episode.  Her duet with Finn, “I Don’t Want to Know,” could have been called “I Don’t Want to Hear,” as in, I personally didn’t want to hear or see Quinn and Finn angrily singing this song to each other.  They both looked bipolar.

Equally irritating was Rachel’s rendition of “Go Your Own Way,” sung to Finn.  Sure, she has a terrific voice.  But the smile on her face suggested she lacked the real pain and raw emotion that make this song what it is.

 She referred to the song as her “favorite Fleetwood Mac song.”  Um, I know Glee always pushes the boundaries on believable, but this is too much.  In 2011, what sixteen-year-old has a favorite Fleetwood Mac song?

The finally number, “Don’t Stop” was a tear-jerking show-stopper.  Sam’s family has gone homeless, and the Glee kids put aside their differences and pull together to support him.  It was a sobering plot twist that shows, once again, Glee is not afraid to take on some serious issues.

What they were afraid to take on, however, was arguably the best song on the Rumours album, “The Chain.”  How do you tribute “Rumours” and leave off “The Chain?”

Ultimately, I think the Glee club failed miserably at this week’s assignment.  None of the songs felt like a new spin, or an inspired rendition.  Neither did they manage to capture the feel of Seventies music. 

“Rumours” typified the sound of the decade by being both powerful and understated.  By trying too hard and emoting too much, the Glee kids failed to portray the real power of the music.  But perhaps they succeeded at helping Stevie sell some new albums, and that was what it was all about anyway.

As far as paying tribute to one of the greatest albums of all time is concerned, I think the Simpsons did it better.