I must admit I was genuinely surprised that Riptide managed to beat out 2013's number 2, Royals by Lorde. Everyone I asked could tell me the title was Royals and that it was composed and sung by New Zealander Lorde. As for Riptide? People could tell you that the song was used in an advert for health insurance, but that's about it... I went one step further - I couldn't even tell you which provider it was for.
That's not to say that Riptide isn't a great song - it is - there's just nothing about it that makes it memorable in the same way that Wonderwall by Oasis is (the 2013 All-Time #1). The guitar/ukulele (not 100% sure here) sounds beautiful, and the way the instruments build up into that chorus is fantastic. To be quite honest, the vocals, while a joy to listen to, are the most forgettable component to Riptide.
Riptide does grow on you over multiple listens. However, don't do what I did and listen to it more than a couple of times on loop (this is how I review and rank songs). I can guarantee you will get bored and go back to disliking it with a passion.
Would I listen to more of Vance Joy's work? Absolutely. Is it number 1 material? Not quite, but it's definitely right up there. At the very least, it's better than Do-Re-Mi's Man Overboard.
Wonderwall is a song that has stood the test of time. Released in October 1995, it peaked at number 1 in Australia, New Zealand and Spain, plus number 1 on the US Alternative chart and Canada's RPM Alternative 30. In addition, it was in the top 10 charts for Norway, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and France.
This got played a lot at my primary school's disco nights. It also gets broken out at least once whenever I end up somewhere with a jukebox or a karaoke machine and there's alcohol involved. We still thought fondly of it in 2009, when it placed 12th in that year's all-time list. And in 2013, almost 18 years after its release, a lot of people still think it's so damn awesome it's the hottest song in 20 years.
There's certainly a case for it. Year-end charts for 1996 had Wonderwall placed at 19 in Australia, 26 in Canada and 56 in the US. I can tell you right now that I'll have this stuck in my head for a little while. It's not the most effective earworm (my brain won't just repeat lyrics or riffs like I do with other songs), but it does stick.
Wonderwall, however, is not the most technical song out there. Tripod, an absolutely brilliant musical comedy group, have this to say on the matter:
From a recording perspective, Wonderwall is pretty damn terrible too. Wikipedia tells me that the producer, Owen Wilson, used a "technique" called brickwalling to "intensify" the song's sound.
BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD. Here's what the waveform looks like:
MP3 compression stuff aside (I really should hunt down the CD so I can use a Wave file instead), that is one square waveform. Basically, there's no headroom. When you listen to it closely, it just sounds like there's no life in the mix. Also, it's very flat dynamically... The only intensity in Wonderwall comes from the cello and Liam Gallagher's (slightly off-pitch at times; not a bad thing in this instance) vocal performance.
Despite all this, Wonderwall is still a powerful and decent enough song to have meaning to a lot of people, even if Noel Gallagher is a douche and changes his mind about who the song is about. In a book called Oasis Supersonic Supernova by Michael Krugman, I found the following (pg. 99):
"It's about my girlfriend, Meg Matthews," Noel explained to NME's Andy Richardson. "She had a company which folded and she was feeling a bit sorry for herself. The sentiment is that there was no point in her feeling down, she has to sort my life out for me because I'm in bits half the time."
"The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it," said Gallagher.
"And how do you tell your Mrs it's not about her once she's read it is? It's a song about an imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself."
Wonderwall, regardless of where it finally ends up on my charts once all of this is over, will remain a song I don't mind listening to and might even sing along to really badly if I'm drunk enough. Just don't expect me to be "ZOMG OASIS ARE THE BEST!!!!!1!!!!!!1!!!!!!!ELEVENTY-1!"
Twenty years of Triple J's Hottest 100. The task befalling Australia: what 100 songs are the best and most awesome over the years?
Australia decided on Wonderwall by Oasis for number 1. My boyfriend was pretty outraged by this. I couldn't understand how it was in first place; Seven Nation Armyby The White Stripes (number 2) is far livelier and has a more complex sound (not by much though; the heavily-used riff has something like 7 notes in total).
After witnessing the raging and celebrations on Facebook, which generally read like this:
SERIOUSLY?! OASIS?!
Considering
people have been talking about, arguing about, playing and singing
Wonderwall pretty solidly since it came out 17 years ago, even if I
wasn't a fan I would say there is a good argument for it being number 1
in the last 20 years.
I'm surprised that the station for indie douchefuckers and 7th
year Arts students managed to make people mad with a popularity contest. </sarcasm>
Will you PLEASE SHUTUP about the top 100 over the last 20 years? WE
OBVIOUSLY ALL HAVE THE INTERNET SO 50
'OMG WONDERWALL?!' statuses aren't necessary.
People
complaining that 'Wonderwall' being voted as #1 song of the last 20
years is a sign that Triple J has gone downhill are conveniently
forgetting that the J's were the first station to thrash that song to
hell when it was released. If anything, it's a return to what they were
in the late 90s.
YAY WONDERWALL!!!!!
I decided that I'm going to listen to every single song ever included on any of Triple J's Hottest 100 lists and rank them myself. If nothing else, I'll never have to care about what places where ever again, simply because my list will be better. (Continue kidding yourself, yes?) Anyway, as I read over the wrap-up, I noticed a few oddities that I'm not sure I'm okay with. For instance, Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap and Naïve by The Kooks have never previously featured in a Hottest 100 list. The only Icelandic artist to make it onto the list was Of Monsters & Men; Björk, who is definitely far more known, did not chart. As I'm sure there are other oddities over the years, here are the rules that I'll be following when I compile this list:
Only songs that have appeared on a chart will be included.
I have to listen to every song.
Any bias (including the fangirl variety) must be mentioned in the post relating to the song.
I'm sure I'll make more rules as I think of them. I'll do my best to remain neutral, but as mentioned earlier by someone on Facebook: "It's a popularity contest." As Wonderwall is the song that's inspiring me to start this blog, it'll be the baseline for All-Time Number 1.
