Warren's Walrus Reveal

Author: warren42
Music
Games

Posts

Total: 41
Topic's author
#1
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Hello and welcome!

Thank you all for submitting your songs to me. There were some that I already loved that I got to listen to again, some new ones I really enjoyed, and fortunately none that I actively disliked! I saw the idea for this game and really liked it because it allows us all to discover some new music while also making it kinda fun in a game format.

Scoring
My personal scoring system is more or less as follows:
  • 0.0-1.9: This song either did not fit the category or it was terrible. Maybe both.
  • 2.0-3.9: I disliked this song but it was tolerable. Will probably never listen again.
  • 4.0-5.9: If this song came on I probably wouldn't skip it, but I wouldn't seek it out either. These songs were okay, I neither actively liked nor disliked them.
  • 6.0-7.9: These songs are relatively enjoyable. I'd put them on a playlist if they fit the playlist well, or would seek this song out to play it if I'm in the right mood.
  • 8.0-9.9: I really like this song. Maybe I already know it and it's a song I really enjoy, or maybe it's something I listened to for the first time and liked quite a bit.
  • 10.0: This is a song that is or just became one of my all time favorite songs.
  • The scoring for the covers category is a bit different. It's some combination of my opinion on the song and how it stacks up to the original. For example, if I think your version is a 7, but the original is a 9, that hurts your score. If I think your version is a 5, but the original is a 4, it helps your score. It's not as formulaic as the scoring for the other categories.
Some Results (No Spoilers)
  • The highest score I gave was a 10. Apparently I was stingier than I thought with anything above 9, because there were only two of those.
  • The lowest score I gave was a 3.2.
  • The category that scored best, on average, was dead artists with an average of 8.54, and your favorite artists were the second highest with 8.08.
  • The category that scored lowest was the one without words, probably unsurprisingly. I expected this, to be honest.

Topic's author
#2
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
-->
@RationalMadman
@Vader
@Discipulus_Didicit
@Trent0405
@PressF4Respect
Thank you all for participating! Without further ado here is the first category.

Might be a slight delay between each pair of categories as I have to C/P each little write-up and hyperlink the song.
Topic's author
#3
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Category 1: A song about a mode of transportation (Bikes, planes, cars, trains, etc)

Had a variety of modes of transport here, no two about the same type. Kinda a hodgepodge of songs, but I felt like this allowed some creativity in submissions and might be fun. With that, let's begin.

5th Place: I’m On A Boat (The Lonely Island)
Submitted by Press
I enjoyed this song, but it doesn’thave much nuance in the joke or anything. I liked it a lot when it first cameout but now it’s not nearly as funny to me. The score benefits from me enjoying it as a younger teen. Score: 6.2

4th Place: I’ve Got a Thing About Trains (JohnnyCash)
Submitted by Trent
Johnny Cash is an artist I’ve alwaysliked but not loved. This song kinda fit that perfectly. I liked the sentimentallonging for something that most people kinda just left in the past. Score: 6.7

3rd Place: Learn to Fly (Foo Fighters)
Submitted by Supa
I feel like I’ve heard this beforebut never listened to it, if that makes sense. Enjoyable but not anything thatdifferent. Score: 7.3

2nd Place: The Distance (Cake)
Submitted by Disc
This is such a weird song but onethat I’ve always liked. Like… I don’t think you can call what the guy is doingsinging because he’s got very little inflection, but it’s definitely notrapping either. You could maybe argue it’s spoken word, but that doesn’t feelquite right? I don’t know. I feel like I shouldn’t like this song but I do. Score: 7.8

Category Winner: Handlebars (Flobots)
Submitted by RM
This is a great song. I love the simpleguitar that repeats through the whole song. Something about how they slowly addin more instruments throughout the song is very cool too. The simplicity of thestart of the song contrasts nicely with the climax. I think this is the firsttime I’ve seen the music video which is also interesting (but the music videosaren’t being taken into account, so unfortunately no boost for that.) Score: 8.6

Congrats on winning this category RM!
Topic's author
#4
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Category 2: A song by an artist that has died

For this one I believe it was the only time two people submitted the same artist (across all categories, unless I'm mistaken) and both were by Linkin Park. I gave credit if it was a dead solo artist or the frontman of a group had died. Also it feels bad giving last place to two people that tied with 7.9, cause that's literally higher than the overall winner's average score, so great job in this category to everyone!

T-4th Place: Somewhere I Belong (Linkin Park)
Submitted by RM
I’m a big fan of Linkin Park and I’msurprised I’ve never heard this one before. I definitely liked it, but itcertainly isn’t one of my favorites of theirs. As a side note, I pulled up Spotifyto add this to my Linkin Park playlist and was surprised to see that Bleed itOut is one of their most listened to songs. I thought that was more of a deepcut. Huh.
Score: 7.9

T-4th Place: Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye)
Submitted by Trent
Greatsong, great talents. As someone born in the late 90s I always associate it with Remember theTitans, which helps because I love that movie. Score: 7.9

3rd Place: Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles)
Submitted by Disc
This song is so simple and happy. Idon’t know how you can listen to it and your mood isn’t boosted immediately. Ialso was going to take half a point off since I assumed McCartney and Lennonwere the vocalists and obviously the former is alive, but apparently this issung by George, which I never knew. Learn something new every day!
Score: 8.4

2nd Place: SAD! (XXXtentacion)
Submitted by Press
Man, he was a terrible human being,but I sure enjoy X’s music. This isn’t my favorite song of his, but I stilllike it quite a bit. Score: 8.5

Category Winner: What I've Done (Linkin Park)
Submitted by Supa
This was my favorite song for adecent chunk of my life. Hard to beat it. Was going to give a 9.8 but then therefrain hit and I started strumming the hell out of my air guitar and went tomy room to play this on my actual guitar. Fuck it. Score: 10

Great songs everyone, again it sucks that such a good score still got 4th, but alas. Congrats Supa!
Topic's author
#5
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Category 3: A song with a number in the title.

Just for fun, numbers ranged from one to one million here.

5th Place: 7 Years Old (Lukas Graham)
Submitted by Press
I really like the intro on the pianoas well as the flipping of a flight board or whatever the sound is before thefirst verse. This song is good but not something I’d seek out. Ironically Igive it a 7.

4th Place: If I Had $1,000,000 (The Barenaked Ladies)
Submitted by Disc
You’ve done it again, another songthat is better than it should be. So catchy, so lighthearted, a lot of fun. Score: 7.6

3rd Place: Nothing to No One (Gin Wigmore)
Submitted by RM
At first I thought I might not likethe singer’s voice but the song grew on me quite a bit as it went on. I likeit. Score: 8.1

2nd Place: 16 Tons (Tennessee Ernie Ford)
Submitted by Trent
I liked this song quite a bit.Something about the instrumentals felt perfectly chaotic. It was enough to keepyou on your toes and actively engaged, but not constant chaos. It also for somereason reminded me of the pre-chorus of Ex’s & Oh’s by Elle King. Score: 8.4

Category Winner: 1901 (Phoenix)
Submitted by Supa
You’re in luck with my current musictaste, been in a mood where I'm listening to a lot of stuff along these lines, this song included. I like the synthyintro a lot. Score: 8.7

Another round of good submissions, and another congrats to Supa for winning another strong category.
Topic's author
#6
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Category 4: A song by your favorite artist

I liked the artists I knew and was pleasantly surprised by the one I did not know (from Trent) so I'm happy that I didn't give any low scores on this category, because I'd have felt bad about it haha

5th Place: Story of My Life (Chris Webby)
Submitted by RM
I liked the refrain and the lastverse a lot, the other two were okay. Overall a decent song that I liked. Score: 6.8

4th Place: When It’s Springtime in Alaska(Johnny Horton)
Submitted by Trent
This song was good. I ironically havebeen looking at Alaska a lot recently and that probably helped the score forthis song, as I’m longing to visit. The imagery and Horton’s voice were bothvery good. Score: 7.7

3rd Place: Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith)
Submitted by Disc
Good song. I always liked the weirdsounds at the beginning a lot (though the link you used didn't have them! It cut that part out. Boo.) More of a Dream On guy myself, but then again soare a lot of people. Score: 8.1

2nd Place: Imagine (John Lennon)
Submitted by Press
Obviously a great song with a greatmessage, but I’ve always felt it was a bit overrated. Also why are some peoplesuggesting this to be the new national anthem? That’s a tangent but whatever. Very good song but not as great as people seem to think. Score: 8.2

Category Winner: Runaway (Kanye West)
Submitted by Supa
Masterpiece.Need I say more? Score: 9.6

For the third time in a row now we've had a high-scoring category that Supa won. Congrats!
Topic's author
#7
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Category 5: A cover that's better than the original

I imagine it hurts an artist's confidence when another artist takes a song and does it better than the original, but that's showbiz baby!

5th Place: Someone You Loved (RoadTrip TV,originally Lewis Capaldi)
Submitted by Supa
Sorry, but I like the original quitea bit better. This one is okay, the original is good. Score: 4.7

4th Place: Creep (Vintage Postmodern Jukebox,originally Radiohead)
Submitted by RM
This is weird for me because theoriginal is good, this one is also good, and both have parts that make thembetter than the other. I think this woman is definitely more talented than theoriginal singer and that her voice, as well as the instrumental backing her aregreat. Unfortunately, I feel like they didn’t capture the emotion and self-doubtor self-hatred of the original. For a song like this that's pretty important. Score: 6

3rd Place: I Still Haven’t Found What I’mLooking For (Disturbed, originally U2)
Submitted by Disc
Interesting cover. I prefer the originalbut not by a ton. The guitar solo is good, but feels kinda out of place to me.Score: 6.8

2nd Place: Killing Me Softly With Her Song (PerryComo, originally Lori Lieberman)
Submitted by Trent
For anyone keeping track, the original is “Killing Me Softly With His Song” This version is good, but is boosted because it’s just so muchbetter than the original. I listened to a couple other versions to see if thePerry Como version was just the best version by far or if the original was justthat much worse than the rest, and in my opinion it’s the latter. His version was still the best of the good ones too, though. (That doesn’tcount for scoring, I just compared yours to the original, it’s just for my owncuriosity.) Score: 8.5

Category Winner: All Along the Watchtower (JimiHendrix, original Bob Dylan)
Submitted by Press
I like Jimi Hendrix, like Bob Dylan,and really like Bob Dylan’s brand of folk. That said, I don’t remember havingever listened to either version of this song. I went in expecting to probablygive you a not-so-good score because I figured I’d like Dylan’s version better, but no! His was good but Hendrix rocked it. Score: 9

Even the ones I didn't like so much were interesting to hear, I always like hearing a different artist's take on a song. Unless it's Darius Rucker's version of Wagon Wheel, which is an abomination to the far superior original by Old Crow Medicine Show. (The song has a cool history and anyone into that type of music should listen to the podcast about it hosted by Midland on Spotify.) Anyway, congrats Press!
#8
RationalMadman
RationalMadman's avatar
Debates: 574
Posts: 19,931
10
11
11
RationalMadman's avatar
RationalMadman
10
11
11
The favourite artist one was unfair. If I'd been a metalhead or edm fanboy, I'd have lost even harder to your taste.
#9
Discipulus_Didicit
Discipulus_Didicit's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 5,758
3
4
10
Discipulus_Didicit's avatar
Discipulus_Didicit
3
4
10
-->
@warren42
3rd Place: I Still Haven’t Found What I’mLooking For (Disturbed, originally U2)
Submitted by Disc
Interesting cover. I prefer the originalbut not by a ton. The guitar solo is good, but feels kinda out of place to me.Score: 6.8
I'll be honest, the original is actually a lot better imo. I did warn you I put very little effort into this lol.
Topic's author
#10
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Sorry for all the words where the spacing is messed up and two words are run together likethis. I'm copy/pasting and too lazy to fix it.
#11
Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,984
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
The cover was the hardest for me
Topic's author
#12
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
-->
@RationalMadman
That's a decent point and I probably should've thought of that
#13
RationalMadman
RationalMadman's avatar
Debates: 574
Posts: 19,931
10
11
11
RationalMadman's avatar
RationalMadman
10
11
11
-->
@warren42
I like indie bands like The Killers too, it's just that I felt I couldn't go ahead and lie to you or do wrong by Chris Webby to deny he's up there as my fave. There's another rapper I hold equal or even superior to Webby but Webby is my fave even as a person so yeah.
Topic's author
#14
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Category 6: A one-hit wonder

Oh the glory of having one song that defines your entire career because you struck gold once.

5th Place: Who Let the Dogs Out (Baha Men)
Submitted by RM
Man, this song is another one ofthose ones that has no right to be as good as it is but you can’t help butenjoy it. Also has some nostalgia to me because my mom used to play it and mybrother and I would dance around in our room as kids. Score: 7.3

4th Place: Somebody That I Used to Know (Gotye)
Submitted by Press
This song is good, but kinda like 7Years I wouldn’t necessarily seek it out. Has a bit of a nostalgia boost. I waswriting the above before the chorus hit and I immediately belted it out. Maybea bit better than I was originally going to score it. Score: 7.7

3rd Place: One Night In Bangkok (Murray Head)
Submitted by Disc
Just to make sure there weren’t othersongs I’d forgotten about, I went to check each artist’s Spotify page to makesure they truly were one hit wonders. Three of this guy’s four most popularsongs are all different versions or remixes of this. It’s always funny to mewhen that happens. I like this song, it’s funky. You really have a penchant forselecting songs where I think to myself “This song is better than it deservesto be but damn is it good.” Score: 7.8

2nd Place: Stacy’s Mom (Fountains of Wayne)
Submitted by Supa
Good song with good memories, theband always played this (for whatever reason) at my university’s soccer games.I’m a soccer fan and the team was good, so that might’ve helped the placement,but still I like Stacy’s Mom a lot. Score: 8.1

Category Winner: Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
Submitted by Trent
Man, this song is very emblematic of80s music in my opinion. The synth, the singer’s voice, the fact that it’s aone hit wonder (which I realize was the category so obviously that's true here but reminds me of the 80s) isall just so 80s. Very good song. Score: 8.3

More good submissions, good job Trent! Congrats!
Topic's author
#15
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
-->
@RationalMadman
Yeah, my personal favorite artist is Hoodie Allen so I should've considered that, because if someone had asked for that I probably wouldn't have done well. Maybe I should've made it *one of* your favorite artists to give some more leeway.
#16
RationalMadman
RationalMadman's avatar
Debates: 574
Posts: 19,931
10
11
11
RationalMadman's avatar
RationalMadman
10
11
11
-->
@warren42
I like him but his negative 'vibe' and stuff isn't entirely my taste.
Topic's author
#17
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Category 7: A song without words

I expected these last two to be the ones that might not appeal to me as much and I was right, but I still liked the ideas and there were some good submissions.

5th Place: Disc, who didn't submit. Lame!

4th Place: 107 Final Destination (Takeshi Arai etal)
Submitted by Trent
This song was fine for a videogame butI wouldn’t listen to it otherwise. Score: 3.2

3rd Place: Symphony No. 40 in G minor (Mozart)
Submitted by Supa
Well that was quite the journey.Overall it was fine. Not my favorite Mozart piece, and I’d be lying if I said Iwasn’t discouraged by the length of it. I didn’t dislike it but also didn’tenjoy it. Score: 4.5

2nd Place: Sandstorm (Darude)
Submitted by Press
Kinda a meme but also pretty good. Ihonestly feel like my score on this could vary depending on my mood, so I’ll listen again later and average the two scores. Score: 7.4

Category Winner: Mad World (Brooklyn Duo)
Submitted by RM
Was immediately pleased that this wasmore like the Gary Jules version than the Tears for Fears one. Both are good,but the former is way better in my opinion. I expected to enjoy this but dideven more than I thought I would. Score: 8.2

Congrats RM. This was a good song!
Topic's author
#18
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
Category 8: A song by an artist from a non-English speaking country (the lyrics, if any, can be in English, but it has to be the artist's second language)

Was surprised that only one person submitted an English song from a non-native speaker, but I liked the variety!

5th Place: Ciao Regazzi Ciao (Adriano Celentano)
Submitted by Trent
This song was fine. Didn’t love it,didn’t hate it. Score: 5.8

4th Place: La Romana (Bad Bunny)
Submitted by Press
Was pleasantly surprised by the firsthalf. The guitar or whatever string instrument was used in the background wasnice. The second half I didn’t like so much and unfortunately brought it down.Score: 6.5

3rd Place: Petro Fiel (Shakira)
Submitted by RM
Good song. Shakira is incrediblytalented. Score: 6.6

2nd Place: Greek song, not even going to try tofigure out what is the artist and what is the title cause it's a completely different alphabet and I’ll probably bewrong
Submitted by Supa
This song was kinda fun, the generalfeel of it reminded me a bit of the song Danza Kuduro by Don Omar just in thegeneral feel of the song, but not quite as club-esque. Maybe toned down a bit.Score: 7.1

Category Winner: The Last Stand (Sabaton)
Submitted by Disc
The first 45 or so seconds of thislooked like shots from Guitar Hero the way it had silhouettes of the fans’hands with the “rock on” hand gesture and the band was all banging their headsin unison with the long hair. Not really my thing with their type of music andit having heavy Christian themes but I still liked it a lot. Might end up checkingout some more of their stuff. Score: 8.3

Congrats Disc! If you'd described that song to me as a hard rock/maybe metal song with heavy Christian themes I would've guessed it would get last but like I said I really enjoyed it!
Topic's author
#19
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
So if my math is right, based on total points we have
  1.  Press: 60.5
  2. Supa: 60.1
  3. RM: 59.5
  4. Trent: 56.5
  5. Disc: 54.8
So congrats to Press for winning! I was surprised how close it all was, and appreciated all the submissions.

Also Disc, you shoulda submitted for the 7th category because you had the highest average for the seven categories you submitted for, the zero really hurt. Based on your taste maybe Cliffs of Dover or something?

Anyway, thanks again guys! Figured this might be a fun way for us to share music and make it a little competitive for fun!

#20
Trent0405
Trent0405's avatar
Debates: 34
Posts: 471
3
9
11
Trent0405's avatar
Trent0405
3
9
11
This was good fun. 
#21
RationalMadman
RationalMadman's avatar
Debates: 574
Posts: 19,931
10
11
11
RationalMadman's avatar
RationalMadman
10
11
11
I am proud of my selection. The one hit wonder pick by me was definitely a  intentional 'just pick the one most won't pick' attempt. I wanted to have zero replication-picks even with me outing mine first and picked what I found beautiful but would match your taste. I disagree a lot with your comment on 'who let the dogs out', it has more lyricism and effort+passion than a lot of catchy tracks, let alone one hit wonders. It's probably because of the severe accent and slang that you think they are just saying nonsense, that's a language barrier and that's what's so amazing about it. They made that song to be a Carribean-only hit, it ended up an international one. It's the epitome of one-hit wonder, they weren't trying to make big bad hits.
#22
PressF4Respect
PressF4Respect's avatar
Debates: 10
Posts: 3,159
3
8
11
PressF4Respect's avatar
PressF4Respect
3
8
11
-->
@warren42
I’m actually really surprised I won lol. Some of the songs (like Darude Sandstorm) I literally came up with off the top of my head and didn’t expect to get a really good score. Anyways, thanks for this, it was really fun, and I discovered some good songs that were submitted here!
#23
Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,984
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
-->
@warren42
Μετρώ Αντισροφα means countdown 😂😂
#24
Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,984
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
The cover and no music really cost me. Otherwise I would’ve won. It was hard to find a taste based on liking. Ironic because I had the two worse scores and two best scores
#25
RationalMadman
RationalMadman's avatar
Debates: 574
Posts: 19,931
10
11
11
RationalMadman's avatar
RationalMadman
10
11
11
-->
@Vader
@warren42
He definitely told half-truths about his taste. Based on what he told us, your Greek song should have been far too autotuned and Pop for his palette. I'm not complaining, I would use this information in a rematch.
#26
Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,984
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
-->
@RationalMadman
Fair, but I think with foreign music, sometimes poppier is better because it’s not as generic and it’s got better instrumentals
#27
Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,984
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
-->
@RationalMadman
I also think sometimes you like songs in genres you hate overall. For example, I hate country. I think it’s tone deaf overall. But I won’t deny there are some good country songs
#28
RationalMadman
RationalMadman's avatar
Debates: 574
Posts: 19,931
10
11
11
RationalMadman's avatar
RationalMadman
10
11
11
-->
@Vader
Country isn't tone deaf compared to the mumble rap you love. ;)

Please host this, I'll impress you.

#29
Vader
Vader's avatar
Debates: 30
Posts: 14,984
5
8
11
Vader's avatar
Vader
5
8
11
-->
@RationalMadman
Actually sounds like a good idea. I may do one

Topic's author
#30
warren42
warren42's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 1,888
3
3
6
warren42's avatar
warren42
3
3
6
-->
@RationalMadman
He definitely told half-truths about his taste. Based on what he told us, your Greek song should have been far too autotuned and Pop for his palette. I'm not complaining, I would use this information in a rematch.
I didn't, I was honest about my tastes.
I really like rap, country, folk, indie, rock, alternative, etc. The genres I like least are pop, classical, harder EDM, and heavy metal, but even those I enjoy a good portion of the time, so really don't shy away from anything!
The winners in each category were: rap, rock, alternative, rap, rock, pop/rock I guess?, didn't really fit a genre but was an instrumental cover of an alternative song, and hard rock/metal which I marveled multiple times about how much I'd enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Overall, I think the bolded means that you shouldn't have been too surprised by my selections. I gave my general tastes, but like I said there are a good number of songs that break the mold. And just because a song fit the genres I like most doesn't mean that it's a song I'm going to automatically like. For example, if I say "I like rap" that could mean I like stuff like Grandmaster Flash, Tupac, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Hoodie Allen, or Cardi B. (For the record, I like stuff similar to all of those artists except Cardi B)

I gave honest generalizations because I didn't want to be too specific and get suggestions that were too tailored. I wanted to hear new songs through this, and I'm happy I did.