Glee presents the Warblers

I admit that I initially thought, not another Glee album. There is just too many of them now. And more are coming! I will not be surprised if we soon find Glee CDs occupying an entire rack in the stores. These soundtracks are now pure formula but they sell. The producers can keep this going for years and years as long as there are kids who love to sing and songs to sing. In fact, there were recent reports that getting one’s song performed in a Glee episode is just like getting one’s music video into American Idol. It is a surefire guarantee that the song will become a hit.

On the other hand though, what I have now is not the regular Glee soundtrack with Rachel and Finn and Mercedes and Mr. Will and all those kids with the mash-ups that they do every week. This is Glee: The Music Presents The Warblers. It is very good and fun to listen to. The Warblers part of the story came about when Kurt, played by the award-winning Chris Colfer transferred to the all-boys school, Dalton Academy. How nice to find out that Dalton has a singing group called the Dalton Academy Warblers and has a cute soloist named Blaine Anderson, who is played by the half-Filipino Darren Criss.

So there developed the sub-plot of a separate life for Kurt away from McKinley High that includes his own home, school and romance issues with lots of songs to tell his own story. Viewers and I suppose Glee itself welcomed the Dalton diversion. They also loved the Warblers and the music. Besides those boys really look handsome and wholesome in their black and maroon uniforms. And that was how this new CD, the seventh in the Glee series, came about.

Truth to tell, this is the sort of album that only a few people would have paid attention to if it had been just another regular release. An a capella boy group? They look like refugees from a barbershop quartet or a school choir. Too serious, perhaps. Kids will not listen to those. But because this is another offshoot from Glee with the same, sing popular tunes with a twist formula, fans bought the album and it is now a big seller.

Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream with Blaine in the lead introduced the Warblers in the show. Kurt later joins the group, first as part of the background boys in Hey Soul Sister by Train and then moving little by littIe into duets with Blaine, Animal by Neon Trees and then his own solo, Blackbird by The Beatles. Colfer is always a moving vocalist and this wistful song is one of the highlights of the album. The Dalton story has now progressed into the possibility of a gay relationship between Kurt and Blaine. Should they or should they not? Have they? Will this be good for the show? Or not?

That does not really concern this piece. Let us leave the discussion about that to experts in that field. Gay or not, the Warblers CD is surely one of the best to come out of the Glee factory. Darren, who sings lead in almost all of the cuts, has this eager pleasant voice that is well suited to pop tunes. And since this is only the Warblers’ first album, they have come up with a great line-up with some rarely heard pieces. Among those I like best are the lovely Candles by Hey Monday and the sweet Somewhere Only We Know by Keane.

I wanted more songs by Kurt but maybe because this is only a side trip for him he does only a few. Fans should continue to check him out in the regular Glee releases and it has been announced that the eighth album is set to come out soon. Back to the Warblers. The rest of the songs in the CD are Bills, Bills, Bills by Destiny’s Child; Silly Love Songs by Paul McCartney and Wings; When I Get You Alone by Robin Thicke; Misery by Maroon 5; Raise Your Glass by Pink; What Kind Of Fool by Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb; and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy by Rod Stewart.