Artist: Various
Album: High School Musical: The Concert
Release Date: May 1, 2007

1. Start of Something New (Cast)
“WHAT TEAM?!”
“WILDCATS!”
Ok, I’m done (on with the song). I think it’s kind of interesting how they start off the show. They give little tidbits of each song in the musical, but highly altered before getting into the real song. Drew Seeley has a very strong tenor voice, I’m quite impressed. Vanessa Hudgen’s singing is pretty clean, and she harmonizes well with Drew, but her voice is a little on the thin side. The only moment she uses a fully tone is during the bridge and when she chooses to use her vibrato. You don’t hear the rest of the cast very much, since Drew and Vanessa are the highlights of this song (as it is their duet). Great opener.

2. Stick to the Status Quo (Cast)
The thing I love most about this song is the sheer “musical theatre” feeling it gives. While most of the songs in this musical can easily become simple pop tunes, this one really sets itself apart and makes me think of the musical as it’s being played out. For most of the cast, they’re just singing the chorus after each mini solo goes by (but the mini solos are played from the movie itself). I love the first soloist. I like the intensity of his singing. The second soloist is a little flat, but she’s not bad either. The third soloist is also pretty good but once he hits the higher notes, he kind of loses control and he ends up sounding strained. Going back to the chorus, they sound like any chorus, but the male voices seemed to be drowned out by the females because I can barely hear them. More balance there would fix that problem. I’m very impressed with Ashley Tisdale’s solo here. She actually sounds better than her recording. When she begins to harmonize with Lucas Grabeel, they don’t seem to be completely in tune. That all being said, this is a great song nonetheless, and very fun to listen to (and to perform I’m sure).

3. I Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You (Cast)
New song (and no, it’s not a cover of the one you’re probably thinking of). I believe Drew starts off the song (whoever it is, starts off nice and smoothly). Vanessa still sounds a bit weak in her singing. I definitely like Lucas and Ashley’s duet more. The way they nailed the vocal switches between themselves was amazing and they never let a beat slip. Ashley’s voice sounds pinched for some reason though, so it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb at times. Once again, this was a catchy song, but the vocals seem somewhat shakier than the previous two performances.

4. When There Was Me and You (Vanessa Hudgens)
First (and only) solo of the actual musical. I don’t like how she’s consistently under the tone when she’s singing quietly or in her lower register. She makes the mistake of not supporting herself enough and ends up not singings the notes on pitch. She improves at the song progresses, but that’s because as the song becomes more intense, she starts to open up her voice and sing out with more support. I think she needs to learn to support her singing at all times, and she won’t sound a monotone during the moments where she isn’t belting. Her tone is amazingly inconsistent in this song, so once again, a very thin tone during most of the song, with some strong moments. It’s a very nice ballad for Vanessa, and definitely showcases her vocal range, so with some more improvement, this could have been breathtaking.

5. Get’cha Head In The Game (Drew Seeley, Corbin Bleu)
I always thought this was one of the less appealing songs of the musical. I like this arrangement for the concert version. I like the live band accompanying them. I can’t really hear Corbin Bleu, other than his “What team?!” moments, even though he’s creditted as a soloist. Again, catchy song, but it has a pretty low key vocal performance from Drew. This probably would be better if it was seen performed live than listening to it on a CD.

6. What I’ve Been Looking For (Drew Seeley, Vanessa Hudgens)
All the music in high school musical is rather good, especially the duets between “Troy and Gabriela”. This is longer than the soundtrack version and the piano accompaniment is better and stylish (the original accompaniment sounded very choppy and dull), so it’s definitely a treat for the hardcore fans. Once again, Vanessa’s singing is very light and thin. I think she would blend a little better with Drew if she sang with more tone (as evident in the second verse/chorus). She also has a tendency to sing out of tune, particularly when she’s not taking the melody. Drew is still singing well, but not as well as he was for the opening and he is scratchy at times. He also allows himself to be drowned out especially when he has the melody and Vanessa is providing the harmony. This isn’t a vocally challenging song for either of them (so it seems), so I don’t know why they didn’t take advantage of it and concentrate on their tone to improve their overall sound.

7. What I’ve Been Looking For (Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel)
Finally, we’re getting some new vocalists. I guess it was more convenient to have consistent vocalists instead of changing them too often. This is the more upbeat version of the nice ballad that was preceding it. There’s dancing involved too so it’s a fun performance overall. I like how Lucas is actually singing out and matching Ashley’s voice. Ashley has a much higher pitched type of voice, so she’s going to sound more prominent, but Lucas is not letting himself be drowned out. I really don’t like how lazy Ashley’s singing is. She slurs all her words excessively, it comes off a little too amateur. She’s good at keeping in tune when she’s singing alone, but she has a little trouble holding her own when it comes to the harmonizing. I would like to see Lucas use more vibrato on his solo parts. Otherwise, this is a cute rendition of the ballad with a great ending, and it was stronger vocally.

8. Bop To The Top (Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel)
This seemingly cheesy song is actually quite catchy and fun. Both Ashley and Lucas’ solo parts were sung with more flare and turned out much better than the previous duet. The unison parts were pretty rough, but the harmonizing parts turned out better this time around. I really like how they nailed the random syllables (the technical term seems to elude me at the moment). Those could get potentially confusing. They were also right on for the last note and Lucas did a great job belting it out. I was much more impressed by their performance here.

9. Breaking Free (Drew Seeley, Vanessa Hudgens)
Another duet from our lead characters, and a very good one at that. It’s so addicting and catchy that I can get it stuck in my head for days on end. I find it’s more challenging and suitable for our vocalists here. There’s a lot of opportunity for the two of them to show their strengths. The unison parts could be a bit more together coming in and out of their words and syllables, but their tuning is clean. Drew pushes it a little too much during the chorus, because his voice cracks a few times. Plus, it would be better if he didn’t give it 110% on the first chorus so that he could leave himself some room to build towards the key change or last chorus entry (but thanks to the highly responsive audience, he was saved). Amazingly, Vanessa is letting herself be drowned out this time and she has the melody. Vanessa sounds a bit subdued, especially next to Drew. She eventually sings out more towards the end though. It would also be nice if they could make a decision when to sing “So, we’re breaking free” and “Yeah, we’re breaking free” instead of both at once. This is a really nice song, but it had a rather rough performance. It started out pretty well, but seemed to run out of momentum by the end of the performance.

10. We’re All in This Together (Cast)
Alright, 7 minutes, brace yourselves. I’ll admit right now, it is not my favourite tune from the musical. I find it pretty annoying and once again, it’s catchy, but I hate having it stuck in my head. Drew sings well in his solo here, after his shaky “Breaking Free” performance, so that’s one relief. Vanessa’s solo was a little monotone, but it was fine other than that. I dont’ think Lucas has his best moment here because he pushed a little too hard in this singing, so it turned out a bit wild. Ashley’s solo was so short, I don’t even want to comment on it. I find the adlibbing from Vanessa happening during the chorus is so unnecessary and distracting (it isn’t because of her singing though) . The Wildcat’s portion of the song I can do without, but the movie and song cannot, so I won’t complain. I like how the cast voices blend during the choruses overall. They produce a nice sound. The band solos at the end are pretty exciting too. A great performance overall, even if it isn’t one of my favourites.

Bonus Concert Tracks-
11. Push It To The Limit (Corbin Bleu)
I have to admit, Corbin’s voice is much higher than I had expected. His lower register is on the weak side. I have a hard time hearing him whenever he has to sing the lower notes. This is a very powerful song and full of energy, but I feel that Corbin lacks the energy to project and keep up with the band. It’s highly repetitive, so I have to say that it does get a bit boring towards the end. More power from Corbin himself would make this a perfect song for him. A song like this requires the vocalist to carry the song through with less dependence on the band.

12. Say OK (Vanessa Hudgens)
This is a big disappointment in comparison to Vanessa’s works as Gabriella, so I was a taken by surprise by how many things went wrong here. First of all, I don’t understand a single word from her. She isn’t enunciating her words and especially with a melody that doesn’t travel, I eventually tuned out the verses. During the choruses, many of her high notes she sings with an airy tone and barely gets them out. Her low notes are all under the pitch because she comes down on them hard. There is barely any dynamic contrast in her singing, and perhaps her most mechanical performance yet, with the exception of that one note she strains to reach. She should really stay away from songs like these until she learns to sing with more musicality, but there’s no denying that this song was boring to begin with.

13. Dance With Me (Drew Seeley)
Drew is having a similar problem with enunciation, but he seems to forget the consonants at the end of some of his words (yes, it’s very important to sound them out or else you’re stuck with a song with funny lyrics). This song suits Drew very well. For the most part, he sounds good while singing this song, except for the lack of detail and technique during some moments of the song. He comes across as a very dynamic and energetic person, and I like how that shows through his singing.

14. We’ll Be Together (Ashley Tisdale)
This song is a nice slow pop song. I really like the acoustic feel to it, but Ashley’s singing kind of ruins it for me. Once again, I liked Ashley more singing as Sharpay. I dislike how she twists her words even more, and sings notes that shouldn’t even exist in her song. She has a breathy tone and it keeps changing throughout the song, with no control. She seems to have a rhythm problem and speeds up every now and then. Her low notes are rather weak and unsupported. Of the four solo performances, I liked this one the most, and if Ashley could sing with more support and phrasing, this could have been very well done.

Overall -
Favourite Track: N/A
This was a very long album. I can’t say that I liked it all that much, and I probably would have preferred watching the concert (there’s a DVD too) instead of listening to it on a CD. It lacks all the visual aspects of the concert, and leaves a lot of the songs feeling as if they lack something, particularly the more musical theatre dependant tracks. What I do like about it, that would make any fan happy, the extended version of “What I’ve Been Looking For” by Drew and Vanessa. The solos are a nice bonus as well. It’s good to have this to complete your collection, and maybe to have to listen to on the road (or elsewhere) without being limited to the DVD.