Artist: Various
Album: High School Musical OST
Released: January 10, 2006

1. Start of Something New (Gabriella & Troy)
This opening song is excellent in terms of its composition and the vocal performances from both Drew Seeley/Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. I really like the harmonies in between the two voices. The song itself is typical of pop songs but it has a nice drive, and sweet melody and a nice introduction to the soundtrack.

2. Get’cha Head in the Game (Troy and the Wildcats)
This song is EXTREMELY catchy. I love the introduction to this song with all the basketballs bounching in that rhythm — kind of reminds me of Stomp. The song itself has a very strong bass line going on to add a strong pulse throughout the song.

3. What I’ve been looking for (Sharpay & Ryan)
I love this version of “What I’ve been looking for”; it’s upbeat, and the piano in this song is excellent. The harmonies between the two vocalists are very good as well. Both singers bring out excellent energy in this song.

4. What I’ve been looking for (Reprise) (Gabriella & Troy)
The slower ballad version of the previous song. I wished they did a full version of the song, because this version is very good as well. The accompaniment is simply a piano in the background and is quite pretty. Loving the harmonies as well.

5. Stick to the Status Quo (HSM Cast)
This song is amusing beyond comprehension. As much as the lyrics tend to annoy me at times; the song is just so freakin’ catchy! This brings out the “musical” aspect of the movie’s title. This song in itself lacks a bit of energy for it to be totally effective in terms of the audio recording of it. If you watch people perform it, it’s not as obvious because the people are moving and dancing, but the audio by itself can’t stand by itself. Ashley Tisdale’s (Sharpay) bit near the end is a little awkward when she first comes in… in terms of the strange key she comes in.

6. When there was me and you (Gabriella)
Vanessa Hudgens’ weaknesses as a vocalist is evident in this song. When she sings as a duet, it’s harder to notice and her pitch kind of corrects itself a bit because she’s listening to someone else sing with her. But this song really shows some of the lack of vocal ability she has. The song itself is nice, but Hudgens’ vocals can’t do this song justice.

7. Bop to the Top (Sharpay & Ryan)
Tisdale’s little random stuff at the beginning is HILARIOUS. Like WTF hilarious. Grabeel and Tisdale are such an awesome pair though; if you ever see them perform this… they’re such little bundles of energy. This song is short but full of energy and some “latin” flavour.

8. Breaking Free (Gabriella & Troy)
I’ve never really understood the greatness in this song. Anyways, this is a decent song but I like “Start of Something new” better than this song. In any case, Drew Seeley’s vocals on this track is a little over the top at points, in my opinion. But generally, this is a decent song.

9. We’re All in this Together (HSM Cast)
Group numbers are always a great treat. I love this song and the beat to the song adds a pulse to this song. This fares better than the other group number on this track. Good energy overall from all the vocalists.

10. I Can’t Take My Eyes off of You (Gabriella, Troy, Sharpay, Ryan)
This is the weird song out of the album; it has a different sound to it, but I really like it. Again with the nice harmonies between two vocalists. The song here has a lot of percussion going on in the background.

11. Get’cha Head in the Game (Pop Version) (B5)
I personally prefer Drew Seeley’s version of this song B5′s version because of the introduction and Seeley’s vocals have more energy than this version. This is like a watered down version of Seeley’s other version.

12. Start of Something New (Karaoke Instrumental)

13. Breaking Free (Karaoke Instrumental)

Overall-
Favourite track: What I’ve been looking for (both versions)
This is a very catchy soundtrack for a less than stellar movie. Most of the tracks on this album have the ability to get in my head for hours. While there’s also quite a bit of what people would call “manufactured bubble gum pop”, there’s quite a few excellent songs. Both versions of “What I’ve been looking for” are excellent in composition and the harmonies. While the vocals aren’t excellent throughout the album, they are decent for the most part. A pretty good soundtrack for the movie. It could do without the extra karaoke versions though.