The series is no better or worse than it was before. That's my say on this.
EDIT: Also, you DO realize that this is a fan site dedicated to a series about singing dinosaurs, right, landbeforetimelover? There's a ton of singing in LBT. What's so wrong with singing in MLP? I'm not being a jerk here. I just find the statement "I'm glad there hasn't been much singing in MLP S2" odd coming from a Land Before Time fan.
Ditto. To me, the songs are really what makes the show. One would honestly be very hard pressed to find a show on nowadays that has musical numbersof this scope and quality...In fact, this side of 2000, the only show I can think of with songs as catchy and good as these, is Phineas and Ferb. The songs in FiM just add so much more to it. Granted, some of Pinkie's little 1-minute wonders can be a tad annoying, but when you look at the big songs, they are spectacular!
Winter Wrap-Up- showstopper with impressive dual-harmony vocals and a very intriguing opening. Not to mention a melody that is impossible to get out of your head.
Art of the Dress- Like something straight out of a movie musical. Also, reprises make anything awesome.
At The Gala- 20 person choir. Into The Woods parody. That is all.
Find A Pet- IMO, the most impressive song so far. Not only does it take such a mundane task as choosing a pet and made it into a full-blown orchestral song, but the song itself, rather than being a showstopper that makes the story pause while it goes on, actually progresses the story itself. In that sense, it's almost like a bit out of a theatrical musical or even an opera!
Also, the songs serve as a very good way to see the difference from e other previous shows and movis, wherein the songs usualy ranged from annoying but catchy, to uninspiring and forgettable, to bland and trite, to just plain stupid.
And yes, I have to agree that neither season 1 or 2 is better to me, at least storywise. However, animation wise, S2 is an improvement: The studios had all of season 1 to experiment with the animation style, but were still a little tight about it all. S2's animation is much more loose and free, and much more cartoony. That makes it, to me at least, much better.