Glee Drops a CD, Jane Lynch Drops In to Party Down

Having a crappy day at the office? I can't offer you a new episode of Glee tonight. (I can tease you that I've seen next week's episode, in which the on-again, off-again show is on again.) But in the meantime, the next best thing, Glee: The Music, Volume 1, has just been released online and wherever it is that they actually sell CDs these days. (Target? Gas stations? Home Depot?)

Since Glee's "soundtrack" is entirely cover versions of pop songs, even more than an original musical soundtrack the experience is tied to the visuals of the show, or at least the memory of them. Translation: for me, big Lea Michele numbers (like "Take a Bow") hold up better in audio-only than Matthew Morrison's rapping. But as the kids say, YMMV. Incidentally, while it seems bizarre to spoiler-alert a CD, the last two tracks on the CD are taken from the next unaired episode, "Wheels"; the last ("Defying Gravity" from Wicked) is actually a pivotal performance plot-wise in the episode, though in the re-recorded version, it doesn't give anything away.

In other Glee-related good news, Jane Lynch, who was stolen from excellent new Starz sitcom Party Down by Glee's success, will be back on that show in season 2 (which returns in April)—for one episode only. Also guesting again will be Kristen Bell, who worked with series producer Rob Thomas in Veronica Mars. Now if we can just get them to duet.