Irish Aris's Walrus: The Reveal

Irish Aris

And this is the YouTube Playlist I created.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUaRXycpvvkEJNAkGG3qOlThYUVHXEFI-

I have already started listening to the next 2 categories and for now targeting to do the next reveal on Friday evening, I will confirm it on Friday morning.

Yay, very happy to get on the podium here! I think (though I may be wrong) that Grace Jones went unrecognised in the previous threads like 'Best 80's song' and 'Best Song sung by a Woman', so that's what made me pick her amongst a huge bunch of possible entries here. Also really fun live, and in unbelievable shape for a woman now in her 70's!

Very interesting bottom two. Have to say I'm not a fan of Every Breath You Take at all, and definitely agree about it being overplayed. I just can't warm to The Police in general, I'm not that mad about Sting's voice (he seems like a fairly irritating person too, which doesn't help) and their songs all just seem to drag on a bit, even the ones that aren't actually that long.

On the other hand I really like End Of The Line (even better than Handle With Care imo), that probably would have been in the Top 5 for me from that selection.

quickbeam

Deleted User wrote: »

Very interesting bottom two. Have to say I'm not a fan of Every Breath You Take at all, and definitely agree about it being overplayed. I just can't warm to The Police in general, I'm not that mad about Sting's voice (he seems like a fairly irritating person too, which doesn't help) and their songs all just seem to drag on a bit, even the ones that aren't actually that long.

On the other hand I really like End Of The Line (even better than Handle With Care imo), that probably would have been in the Top 5 for me from that selection.

I do like The Police, but Every Breath is way overrated. They have much better songs, which aren't played to death.

Agree with your second paragraph there.

Necro

Irish Aris wrote: »

And in 1st place, submitted by

Necro

, Tears For Fears-Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Necro was the first to send me songs and I immediately knew that it would take something really extraordinary to beat this song. This is just one of those iconic songs that define 80s. I have seen Tears For Fears live twice the last 3 years and they started with this song both times. Where Shout is a powerhouse of a song in a slightly obvious way, Everybody Wants To Rule The World unveils its strengths so naturally. I think it also has to do with Curt Smith’s soft, sweet voice which always brings a kind of vulnerability to the songs he sings. Excellent pop music and though Tears For Fears will never be my favourite band of all times, they were consistently very good.

Well this is a very nice thing to come back to

Whoop!! Actually discovered this song only a couple of years ago and (I think) was reminded of it through one of the tournaments, tis on my always playing list and actually happened to be listening to it when I saw Irish put up their Walrus so figured, why not

osh

Was going to change to this, but never ended up doing it

Irish Aris

osh wrote: »

Was going to change to this, but never ended up doing it

ah, really like this song, it would have probably placed a few places higher.
I haven't listened to it in years and a year or so go one of new favourite pop bands, Roosevelt did this great cover:

ShaneU

Ah mediocrity, we meet again

Irish Aris

ShaneU wrote: »

Ah mediocrity, we meet again

Electric Nitwit

Irish Aris wrote: »

In 14th place, submitted by

Electric Nitwit

, The Wedding Present-Take Me

Ah well, that was always a gamble but I happened to be listening to it soon after reading the categories and I love it. I also guessed it might be new to you so I went with it, I'll take my medicine (and I'm buzzing from Liverpool’s trophy lift so you could have thrown anything my way )

To be honest, I'm more offended that I finished above...

Irish Aris wrote: »

In 15th place, submitted by

Sawduck

, Joy Division-Atmosphere

JohnGreenFan

Irish Aris wrote: »

In 20th place, submitted by

JohnGreenFan

, The Travelling Wilburys-End of the Line

Another one of the 4 songs that I didn’t know. I know The Travelling Wilburys as a supergroup but they never took off in Greece and except for Handle with Care I don’t know any of their other songs. This was initially last, but the harmonies in the vocals sound really nice and I moved it up one spot.

This does not bode well for my other entries since I thought this would be the best of the lot!!
Still love the song though. Fingers crossed I don't come last in my first walrus...

s1ippy

I have to say I was never that mad cracked on eighties music, having been born a couple of months shy of the decade... but there were solid tunes throughout that reveal. Very disappointed that The Police didn't get more love but that was my only qualm.

It was a very fair list.



Not to be confused with this extremely fair Liszt.

beakerjoe

Well done Necro, great choice.

I remember watching a trailer for Independence Day when I was small and the backing track was this song, and my first real listen to it. Loved it ever since.

Irish Aris

JohnGreenFan wrote: »

This does not bode well for my other entries since I thought this would be the best of the lot!!
Still love the song though. Fingers crossed I don't come last in my first walrus...

I wouldn't worry about it (. . .yet. . .). In an 80s category this song would never hit the higher places, but in any other category against different competition it would have done well. This was a category that I liked all songs, none of them was really eliminated early, they were all in the mix so just tough luck.

Irish Aris

Electric Nitwit wrote: »

Ah well, that was always a gamble but I happened to be listening to it soon after reading the categories and I love it. I also guessed it might be new to you so I went with it, I'll take my medicine (and I'm buzzing from Liverpool’s trophy lift so you could have thrown anything my way )

To be honest, I'm more offended that I finished above...

I have made a conscious decision that if I don't know a song and its competing against a song I know, I will give the advantage to the newcomer. That's why The Wedding Present ended up above Joy Division on the day.

On the next category I only know 3 of the 21 songs and like all 3 of them but there are at least 2 songs that really impressed me so things will get mixed up a bit.

Green&Red

Next category You say? When can we expect that?

Irish Aris

Green&Red wrote: »

Next category You say? When can we expect that?

Aiming for tomorrow evening

Electric Nitwit

Irish Aris wrote: »

Aiming for tomorrow evening

Brilliant
I aimed to address this point...

Irish Aris wrote: »

...you don't know what real noise is

:pac:

Irish Aris

Electric Nitwit wrote: »

Brilliant
I aimed to address this point...


:pac:

You, Sir, really made a great job on that aspect!! :pac:

Electric Nitwit

Irish Aris wrote: »

You, Sir, really made a great job on that aspect!! :pac:

Ha ha, I've no idea if that bodes well for my score

Irish Aris

Electric Nitwit wrote: »

Ha ha, I've no idea if that bodes well for my score

Irish Aris

OK folks, I finished placing and notes for the second category (The Irish Aris Connection, songs released on or after October 2011) and we can go on with the reveal on Friday 7 pm. I am free all evening and flexible on time if it suits more people to start a bit earlier or a bit later.

Here are 3 songs from that period that I have enjoyed a lot.

beakerjoe

Mel C had new music ? Always loved her solo album (loved going down in particular).

Irish Aris

We'll start shortly.
This category was dominated by variations of indie rock. This made the middle section of ranking (between places 6th and 15th) a bit tricky as with every listen I would discover something new to songs and kept changing positions. Top 5 was locked early in the process but songs changed positions within it. And the bottom 3 was decided fairly early as none of the songs initially in it managed to escape it.

While you wait, I'll leave you with a band that I only discovered last year and is fronted by the fellow Greek Yannis Philippakis

JP Liz V1

beakerjoe wrote: »

Mel C had new music ? Always loved her solo album (loved going down in particular).

The talented spice girl

Irish Aris

beakerjoe wrote: »

Mel C had new music ? Always loved her solo album (loved going down in particular).

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

The talented spice girl

I was aware of some of her solo hits but really got into her music after I saw her live at the Olympia Theatre a few years ago (managed to get a free ticket through a competition as it hasn't sold well) and was really impressed by her.

the purple tin

s1ippy wrote: »

I have to say I was never that mad cracked on eighties music, having been born a couple of months shy of the decade... but there were solid tunes throughout that reveal. Very disappointed that The Police didn't get more love but that was my only qualm.

Yes the Police were a great outfit. Andy Summers was an excellent rhythm guitarist.
When people say Ever Step You Take is overplayed they are really talking about that naff puff daddy song that used Summer's guitar riff (for which he didn't get a penny btw despite he came up with it) it was on the radio nonstop for years.
There was tension between Sting and Copeland I understand, I saw an interview once where Summers was talking and Sting got Copeland in a headlock messing but half serious. Suddenly they were really fighting, wrestling and crashing about the room. Summers didn't bat an eyelid he just looked at the interviewer like 'why me?'. So it must have been a common occurence.

Irish Aris

OK, let's go.

In 11th place, submitted by

ShaneU

, The Regrettes-I Dare You

I liked the melody and rhythm from the first few seconds and thought that it could be one of the great discoveries of this list, but it didn’t go very far. The funny thing is that despite all the movements of songs around it, it never left from the middle 11th spot.

ShaneU

11th again?



Funny thing about that song I thought it sounded like a female version of The Strokes. Later found out The Strokes singer Julian Casablancas wrote it

Irish Aris

the purple tin wrote: »

Yes the Police were a great outfit. Andy Summers was an excellent rhythm guitarist.
When people say Ever Step You Take is overplayed they are really talking about that naff puff daddy song that used Summer's guitar riff (for which he didn't get a penny btw despite he came up with it) it was on the radio nonstop for years.
There was tension between Sting and Copeland I understand, I saw an interview once where Summers was talking and Sting got Copeland in a headlock messing but half serious. Suddenly they were really fighting, wrestling and crashing about the room. Summers didn't bat an eyelid he just looked at the interviewer like 'why me?'. So it must have been a common occurence.

You're right that the P Diddy cover (I'll Be Missing You) was also overplayed.
I guess I'm thinking Greek radio here. Every Breath You Take was a very frequent inclusion in many radio stations. That and Roxanne were the 2 that got the most time. Years later a friend of mine started listening to them more and I got introduced to 2 songs that I like, King of Pain and Spirits in the Material World.

Irish Aris

ShaneU wrote: »

11th again?



Funny thing about that song I thought it sounded like a female version of The Strokes. Later found out The Strokes singer Julian Casablancas wrote it

hahahaha, as soon as I finished the placing and I checked who submitted what and saw that you were 11th again I cringed. I swear, I'm not doing it on purpose!!! :pac:

Necro

ShaneU wrote:

11th again?

It's better than where I'm expecting to place after my table topping first round :pac:

Green&Red

Irish Aris wrote: »

OK, let's go.

In 11th place, submitted by

ShaneU

, The Regrettes-I Dare You

I liked the melody and rhythm from the first few seconds and thought that it could be one of the great discoveries of this list, but it didn’t go very far. The funny thing is that despite all the movements of songs around it, it never left from the middle 11th spot.

That’s a class song, never heard it before

Irish Aris

In 12th place, submitted by

Deleted User

, Villagers-Nothing Arrived

I don’t know any of the Villagers’ songs but I have seen Conor O’Brien perform live in an event on David Lynch (in National Concert Hall) and liked his voice. And this made the difference in this song. Though the tempo of the song is in no mans land, the melody and his voice leave a positive note and I liked the long outro too. This started from the lower ranks and jumped a couple of places after every listen.

Green&Red

If that’s 11th and 12th there is some serious competition here

Irish Aris

In 10th place, submitted by

Necro

, One Direction-Best Song Ever

This song benefited for being one of the very few pop songs in the list. I wouldn’t be familiar with One Direction, I was 40 when they became famous and way past the pop boyband/girlband scene and the only song I could name is What Makes You Beautiful. This was a fun, summery song with a very catchy chorus and a fun video - and to quote Harry from the videoclip "cute as a button every single one of them"

Necro wrote: »

It's better than where I'm expecting to place after my table topping first round :pac:

well, well, well. . .

the purple tin

Irish Aris wrote: »

In 12th place, submitted by

Deleted User

, Villagers-Nothing Arrived

I don’t know any of the Villagers’ songs but I have seen Conor O’Brien perform live in an event on David Lynch (in National Concert Hall) and liked his voice. And this made the difference in this song. Though the tempo of the song is in no mans land, the melody and his voice leave a positive note and I liked the long outro too. This started from the lower ranks and jumped a couple of places after every listen.

Quite a nice song that, but my what a depressing vid

Green&Red

the purple tin wrote: »

Quite a nice song that, but my what a depressing vid

Just watched it and was going to say the same thing!

Irish Aris

In 13th place, submitted by

Zaph

, Vampire Weekend-Unbelievers

This made a good first impression on me and it looked like it could secure a top-10 spot. Good clean production and great balance between voice and instruments. But it didn’t grow on me as much as the competition around it and lost a few places towards the end.

Zaph

Irish Aris wrote: »

In 13th place, submitted by

Zaph

, Vampire Weekend-Unbelievers

This made a good first impression on me and it looked like it could secure a top-10 spot. Good clean production and great balance between voice and instruments. But it didn’t grow on me as much as the competition around it and lost a few places towards the end.

As long as I don't feature in the dreaded final six I'm OK with that

Irish Aris

Green&Red wrote: »

If that’s 11th and 12th there is some serious competition here

I hope I won't disappoint you. There are some poppier songs further up but also some rock songs that made a great impression on me.

Irish Aris

In 9th place, submitted by

JohnGreenFan

, Delorentos-Right To Know

This made a good first impression on me. A solid melody that though never strays far away from the main rock concept, is interesting enough and I liked the bridge around the 2:15 mark and the build up back to the main melody. For a while it lingered outside the top-5 but lost a couple of spots towards the back end of business.

the purple tin

Irish Aris wrote: »

I hope I won't disappoint you. There are some poppier songs further up but also some rock songs that made a great impression on me.

I can't remember what mine is for the life of me.
A few days after i enter a walrus I complelely forget what i entered

Zaph

the purple tin wrote: »

I can't remember what mine is for the life of me.
A few days after i enter a walrus I complelely forget what i entered

I'm the same. For this round I checked what the category was a few minutes before the start and knew which band I'd entered, but I couldn't remember which song.

Irish Aris

In 14th place, submitted by

osh

, Low-Part of Me

There is nothing particular I didn’t like about this song. Just that I didn’t find it memorable enough. When I listened to it I liked what I was hearing, but if you’d asked me 10 minutes later I wouldn’t be able to tell you what was going on. One of the bands though that I will keep in my radar for future reference.

Irish Aris

In 8th place, submitted by

lassykk

. Breaking Benjamin-Ashes of Eden

I don’t think I have ever heard a Breaking Benjamin song before. On the first listen I was really impressed by Benjamin Burnley’s voice. The song itself is a typical power ballad without any significant crescendos, but there is a brilliant string section that elevates it nicely. And at the last listen it managed to go up a few places.

Irish Aris

In 15th place, submitted by

Green&Red

, The Howl & The Hum-The Only Boy Racer Left On the Island

This was the song that gave me the hardest time to place. There is a great melody and Sam Griffith’s voice sounds quite nice. I just felt that it took a long time to get going. The first 90 seconds were an average slow tempo, and only after that the song really lifted off nicely, before ending to a rather obvious and somewhat unnecessary crescendo. It kept moving around outside the top-10, before settling in 15th place (and as I type this and listen to the song I think again that I may have been harsh with this place. . . )

Irish Aris

In 7th place, submitted by

Kolido

, Paramore-Still Into You

I discovered Paramore with their 2017 album After Laughter and enjoy their uplifting happy sound-Rose Coloured Boy is my favourite song of theirs. I didn’t know Still Into You and it didn’t disappoint: a song that makes me wanna get up and dance. Plus I like Hayley Williams’ voice.

Green&Red

Irish Aris wrote: »

In 15th place, submitted by

Green&Red

, The Howl & The Hum-The Only Boy Racer Left On the Island

This was the song that gave me the hardest time to place. There is a great melody and Sam Griffith’s voice sounds quite nice. I just felt that it took a long time to get going. The first 90 seconds were an average slow tempo, and only after that the song really lifted off nicely, before ending to a rather obvious and somewhat unnecessary crescendo. It kept moving around outside the top-10, before settling in 15th place (and as I type this and listen to the song I think again that I may have been harsh with this place. . . )

Very harsh!!

Saw them at Other Voices in Ballina this spring, they were the highlight IMO

Irish Aris

Green&Red wrote: »

Very harsh!!

Saw them at Other Voices in Ballina this spring, they were the highlight IMO

I think it just got unlucky in the moment, on another day it could have been higher. This is another band that I made a mental note to search a bit further after I finish the Walrus.

Irish Aris

In 16th place, submitted by

phatkev

, Animals as Leaders-Woven Web

This one benefited from being an instrumental. The sound is a bit too progressive rock/metal for my liking but the lack of voice helps concentrate on the music and there are some good ideas in the song, it’s not just a heavy guitar sound. It started as a bottom 3 candidate but managed to stay out of it and gain a couple of places towards the end.