High School Musical: Hits Collection [Box Set]

High School Musical: Hits Collection is far more complete than its title suggests, gathering the full soundtracks to High School Musical and High School Musical 2, the live album High School Musical: The Concert and karaoke versions of the movies' soundtracks. High School Musical is still a pretty engaging mix of music and empowering messages, most of which can be found in earnest ballads such as "Start of Something New," "When There Was Me and You," and "Breaking Free." While High School Musical 2 is slicker, it still has its moments, including "Work This Out," which finds the gang livening up their summer jobs, and "I Don't Dance," which turns big-band brass, a melody borrowed from Prince, and a stomp section into a jock jam. Meanwhile, "You Are the Music in Me" is a big, sweeping love song that sounds fairly funky and young while nodding to show tune traditions. With the concert album delivering the closest thing to seeing Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan, Chad, and Taylor in person and the karaoke discs offering fans a chance to step into the shoes of their favorite characters, this is the definitive High School Musical soundtrack experience -- until High School Musical 3 inevitably arrives.