You know when you plug in your iPod into your computer, it will automatically launch iTunes and it displays all the mp3s that you have on your pod? Well, of course you do. What I didn’t know was that when I plug in my iPod to the computer at the office, I can automatically see other people and their playlists on the same LAN who’s using iTunes as well, and in turn they can see mine too.
I only realized this when I was minding my own business (ie. surfing non-business related websites) and I suddenly get this pop-up instant message from my colleague saying :
“Dude.. Westlife? What the Fuck, dude?”
And I was like.. wha? He then explained that he was browsing through my mp3s and saw a significant number of songs by Westlife in my pod. Westlife. A boy band, for fucks sake. Well, there was no escape for me, so I had to pretend as though I was not embarassed that I was just outed as a Westlife listener.
Truth of the matter is, I really do actually like Westlife. Truth of the matter is, I think the singer can sing extremely well. He really can. What’s his name.. Shane? The guy who’s always singing the solo bits. I think he’s a really excellent singer. Put him in any Idol competitions in any seasons, in any country and you’ll see what I’m talking about. He will put all of them to shame.
Boybands aren’t all that bad (yeah, I can’t believe I’m saying this), but I guess what gives them the bad name are their teeny-boppy music, corny lyrics, cheesy music videos and hideously annoying teenage and kiddies followers. But if you put all those away, there are actually some amazing singers in certain boybands (of course, this RARELY happens) and this Shane person is one of them.
Don’t believe me? Take listen to these two comparisons :
You Raise Me Up - Westlife (cover version - 5.9 Mb - Right click and Save As)
You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban (original version - 6.8 Mb - Right click and Save As)
Now how many times have we listened to people attempting a Josh Groban song? Quite a lot. And how many times have these people butchered the song. All the time. ALL THE TIME.. except this one exception. At first I thought he (the Westlife guy) was really good, but when I first heard their rendition of this song, it really helped confirm the fact that he is an exceptional singer.
We don’t get a lot of good male singers nowadays (I mean, look at the choices we have… Kanye West? Justin Timberlake? Robbie Williams? 50 Cent? Bitches, please) and when the very few comes our way, right under our noses, we are so quick to dismiss them just because they’re in a boyband. Another victim of this boyband curse is Bryan Abrams from Color Me Badd.
That said, I still won’t go out parading that I’m a huge fan of boybands, but I do make exceptions for good singers in a boy band (which only happens to be 3 or 4 in a billion anyway).So there.
April 12th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
I really really really liked their first album. second album was rather crappy and everything else that followed were just really a waste of time. i think they’re now more of a “covers” pop group because I doubt they can ever succeed again doing original material.
June 26th, 2006 at 11:26 pm
[…] I know I’ve always liked country music, (I know… ewww) it’s just that I’m not really proud to admit it in the open (just like my Westlife? WTF Dude? entry previously), but country music really can tug your (okay, MY) heartstrings sometimes. And this song.. well, I just wish I had the talent to write such deep, meaningful and such beautiful lyrics. It’s poetic and it really definitely strike a cord within me. This song is deep, man. So deep. Seriously? I think I’m about to hit the deaded mid-life crisis. Country music. Feeling sentimental. What the fuck? But enjoy this song, anyway. […]