The "Glee" soundtrack makes me shake my moneymaker

So, when Fox sent me the soundtrack for its new musical comedy series "Glee," I tried to be professional. I put it in, and listened to it critically. Being a technical moron, I hadn't downloaded the songs from iTunes like everyone else, so this was my first chance to weigh whether certain songs were more or less appealing when not accompanied by the choreography and spirited personalities of the show's winning cast (more in some cases, less in others). I pondered whether I preferred the CD's version of "Can't Fight This Feeling" to the show's version, which simply had Finn (Cory Monteith) singing the song in the shower (I prefer the latter -- but then, I'm a dirty old lady).
Then, I arrived at track three: "Gold Digger." That's when I stopped analyzing and started dancing. Like really dancing. I mean, butt-slapping was involved (what can I say? To quote another new series, that's how I make the horsey go).
This, friends, is the magic of "Glee." One second, you're cursing the stupidity of a husband who can't tell that his wife is faking a pregnancy. And the next, you're shaking your moneymaker as funky white boy Will (Matthew Morrison) croons "Bust a Move."
See, "Glee" is, at its heart, about the power of music to make people happy. Thus, so is the "Glee" soundtrack. True, some tracks are a bit of a drag. I honestly can't stomach that song "No Air," despite the always-fine vocal chops of Monteith and Lea Michele, who plays arrogant ingenue Rachel. But when these songs click, there's nothing quite like them. And there's plenty of click on this album, particularly the two tracks featuring diva Kristen Chenoweth, and those hip-hop inflected tracks sung by Morrison. I was a little disappointed that the soundtrack didn't feature the "Glee" version of "Push It," or the songs performed by rival choral group "Vocal Adrenaline" (or, for that matter, the songs sung by the series' short-lived male choral group, Acafellas).
But I'm confident that at least some of those tunes will be on "Glee: The Music, Volume 2," to be released Dec. 8. In the mean time, I plan to shake it "Gold Digger" as much as possible.
"Glee: The Music, Season One" is in stores now.