Gather round, the reveal will commence soon
cha cha cha
Category: Delusions of Grandeur. Songs that feature an orchestra, are symphonic in scale (not length), are bombastic or just have a big, elaborate production in the broadest sense.
I do not mean regular songs that are played (“covered”) by or with an orchestra and having an orchestra is not necessary at all. The most important criteria is still if I like the song.
You folks submitted thirteen songs that couldn’t have been any more different. I already knew about half of the submissions. The range in this category is impressive though. Despite this there is very little that stood out out as the runaway winner(s). The podium has had three open slots for a long time before the gold, silver and bronze winners emerged.
What ranking this very diverse group felt like:
All the submissions were in the spirit of the category. Some matched it a bit more than others but that is okay and category fit will only occasionally affect the rankings.
WHAT WOULD I HAVE SUBMITTED?
In case your wondering what I had in mind when I created this category here are three examples because posting only one would not do it justice as evidenced by the broad range of your submissions:
The first one obviously isn’t for everyone but you might still get the idea. It features relentless double bass metal, a growler, a screaming banshee, an orchestra and a choir.
Dimmu Borgir – Gateways (Live)
Hip-hop mixed with a rock riff supported by a string section:
Puff Daddy [Feat. Jimmy Page] – Come With Me
(Song starts at ~1:00)
but it could also be something like
Manchester Orchestra’s “The Silence” which I submitted for a previous Walrus:
If your song anything like this then you are golden.
In 13th place scoring 1 point [*]: “It’s All Coming Back To Me” by Celine Dion
No idea who submitted this. I bet this contestant had high hopes for their submission but as any veteran of the Walrus game knows we need to peter the field before we reach the lofty heights of the podium. Unfortunately there is no parachute in the world that can keep this walrus from hitting the ground with terminal velocity. How this one won its song primary is a mystery to me. It should have dropped out before Super Tuesday.
It all seems to be the same thing over and over again. How did they know when to stop recording? Did they agree on a number? “We’re going to do this 8 times.” - “8 times? Alright.”. Anyway, this is just more kitsch than I can handle.
[*] Disclaimer: All scores are preliminary. If this was submitted by Yuv it’s -6 instead. This rule will apply to all future scores.
That’s a bold pick. Not sure who would name-drop a Bronte sister in a Walrus write up. Maybe skydiver?
Interesting theory. I will have to think about that.
In 12th place with 2 points: “Pruitt Igoe” by Philip Glass
Before even seeing what album this is from I thought to myself this sounds like the soundtrack to a video game or movie. The song is from the American experimental film “Koyaanisqatsi”. I have never seen that film but I can imagine this track works just fine as background music. As a stand-alone track not so much. At least not for me. There isn’t enough there to hold my attention. It can work as relaxing music I give it that but it’s not what I typically look for in music.
Pretty sure that’s a Kate Bush reference.
And I’m out. Bonjour, tristesse
Probably that too. Wuthering Heights, though.
Sorry about that. For most songs I don’t even have a guess who submitted it. For this I would have gone with pyatnitski because it’s the kind of more cerebral music I associate with him.
In 11th place scoring 3 points: “An American Trilogy” by Elvis Presley
Whoever submitted this had the right idea what I was looking for, in theory at least. It fits the category nicely but I still have to like the song. The three songs of the trilogy aren’t all that great. Sure, that Elvis fella can sing and he’ll make it big some day. It’s a testament to his talent that he can make this listenable and he still needed all the help he can get from his band.
This is a pretty elite nodium group IMO
This rounds out the nodium and there is one more that I only kind of liked before we get into the quality stuff.
I was about to say this is a high calibre reveal we got goin on, but I will hold off paying you the compliment until I find out if I am revealed next or not…
In 10th place scoring 4 points: “All You Need Is Hate” by The Delgados
This reminds of the Beatles and judging from the song title this is no coincidence. It’s nice enough but the subdued singing drags this down. They were probably going for the contrast between the vocals and the lyrical content but it just doesn’t work for me. There’s some well-done production and it’s what keeps me from getting lulled to sleep. That’s an exaggeration but the vocals keep this song from ranking higher than its competition that is yet to be revealed. I see what they were aiming for but they miss me.