Original Cast Recording, “High School Musical 2″ (Disney)
You don’t have to worry about “Breaking Free” from the “Start of Something New” because the “High School Musical 2″ soundtrack will “Get’cha Head in the Game” and, if history serves, “Bop to the Top.”
If you didn’t catch at least one of those “High School Musical” song references, you’re in a itty-bitty clique that didn’t see the made-for-Disney Channel movie, listen to the soundtrack or go to the arena concert tour of this multi-platform pop-culture phenomenon responsible for the best-selling album of 2006.
Or maybe you’re just in denial.
Whatever the case, everyone can catch up with Troy, Gabriella and their East High classmates before “High School Musical 2″ debuts Friday on the Disney Channel with the soundtrack’s 11 new tunes.
This time around, school’s out and poolside hijinks replace the original locker-lined backdrop. Just like the bouncy “Saved by the Bell” and “Beverly Hills, 90210″ gangs before them, the Wildcats are spending their summer at a ritzy country club. Some simply lounge. Others have part-time jobs. Everyone sings.
Naturally, the catchy sun-soaked songs tackle seasonal specific topics, such as bemoaning those summertime gigs with almost every percussion instrument known to man (“Work This Out”) and playing baseball amid a heavy “hey batter, batter” chorus (“I Don’t Dance”).
Unlike its fun-but-kinda-flat predecessor, “High School Musical 2″ successfully embeds some late ’80s/early ’90s candied nostalgia within its mega-produced mega-mixed mega-beats, although typical “High School Musical” fans — ahem, squealy 14-year-old girls — will probably be more thankful for totally way more Troy.
Smiley Zac Efron, who transcended the small-screen as Link Larkin in this summer’s “Hairspray,” has much more of a vocal presence on the “High School Musical 2″ soundtrack as East High’s conflicted jock/drama nerd Troy, most notably with his synth-savvy Michael Jackson-style solo “Bet on It.”
Teens and tweens will dig “You Are the Music in Me,” Troy’s gushy ballad with Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), and its more rockin’ reprise featuring Veruca Salt-flavored temptress Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale). Parents, however, will appreciate the wholesome affirmation of songs like “All for One” and “Everyday.”
Everyone else, meanwhile, shouldn’t deny themselves the cheesy pleasure of it all.
CHECK THIS OUT: “What Time Is It.” Sure, it’s already August, but summer of ‘07 will feel fresh again after just one listen to this full-bodied supersong that’s the most reminiscent of “We’re All in This Together,” the popular pep rally anthem that closed out the first film.
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