‘Glee’ music preview: Naya Rivera returns, but ‘Teenage Dream’ takes it

The episode of “Glee” that many fans have been dreading is now only three days away, and we have some of the first music now from this “Break-Up” episode to have you tearing up before you even know what is going to be happening for sure in the hour.

In our mind, there are really two standouts among the songs featuring Darren Criss in some sort of prominent role … but all of them are still worth a listen.

“Teenage Dream,” sung by Darren Criss – Remember when this was one of the biggest songs in the history of the show back in season 2? It also was the first song that Blaine ever performed with the Warblers. This time, he goes it alone in what is a beautiful and stirring slowed-down version of the song. We know that in the context of this episode he sings it while tearing up at a club in New York City to Kurt; could this be the beginning of the end?

“Mine,” sung by Naya Rivera – Naya’s first song for the season is ironically a song when she is actually singing about someone else being in college. Like “Teenage Dream,” it is a slowed-down version of a song that in this case was originally performed by Taylor Swift. Naya has a surprisingly good country-music voice, and we hope this song will bring Brittany and Santana somehow closer together.

“Give Your Heart a Break,” sung by Lea Michele and Dean Geyer – It’s an “X Factor” tie-in! Demi Lovato gets her first song performed on the show, and yes, it is surprisingly that it is not “Skyscraper.” As if Finn and Rachel weren’t in enough trouble already, this more or less proves it.

“Don’t Speak,” sung by Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Darren Criss, and Chris Colfer – Personally, this is probably the weakest performance of the episode, but that’s really a matter of personal preference. We just don’t think the song adds that much to the episode, but we also never really liked the original version of this song much.

“Barely Breathing,” sung by Cory Monteith and Darren Criss – This is one of those songs that we were like “what is this?” before we actually listened to the song. Then, we remembered. It’s a good performance, and it does at least provide a minor dose of fun in a collection of songs where there is little to be had.

“The Scientist,” sung by Cory Monteith, Darren Criss, Naya Rivera, Chris Colfer, Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison, Jayma Mays, and Lea Michele – Coldplay’s most-powerful ballad (sorry, “Fix You”) gets the “Glee” treatment here, and it is stunning. There may not be a better heartbreak song out there, especially one that mimics the pain of being young, in love, and so uncertain. The only issue with the song at all is that Rachel does not need to come back in over everyone else at the very end of the song, as much of its beauty lies within subtlety.

Do you have a favorite song among the group? We want to hear from you below!