Westlife top of music charts/Westlife discussion

[sligoman]

Hehe, I'm liking this debate:D :p. Good job Limerick are playing Galway United on Friday, than all matters should be resolved:p

[sligoman]

'No', said the guy who owned the house, 'they are American. Like the Bee Gees'.I hope you set him straight and told him they were Irish?;) :D

[Eire06]

Eire this is disintegrating into a really tired and tawdry handbags about how sh1te or not Westlife are.

I'm not explaining for a third time how and why I believe Westlife and their kind are a pox.

If you want to debate the considerable relative merits of The Prodigys 'Smack My Bitch Up' I suggest you start a new topic on it -where I'll be happy to joust. Stick on topic.

You have made no valid points on the matter and you know you were talkin crap..
The point was not if westlife were any good or not.. you were trying to claim that they were evil and a bad influence ( you still haven't made any valid points to back that up) I was simply disagreeing with you..
I used the prodigy as an example to put a point across in this discussion so therefore it was keeping with the discussion topic..

[Lionel Ritchie]

You have made no valid points on the matter and you know you were talkin crap..
The point was not if westlife were any good or not.. you were trying to claim that they were evil and a bad influence ( you still haven't made any valid points to back that up) I was simply disagreeing with you..
I used the prodigy as an example to put a point across in this discussion so therefore it was keeping with the discussion topic..

Eire -I had just sacrificed much of my lunch break typing a response which added detail, colour and background to why Westlife are yet should not be celebrated in this country -when I accidently hit the back key and erased my post.

As I'm not going to let four fat lads rob whats left of my lunch I'm going to sum up in one sentence.

Westlife embody the rush to the center ground that is killing music, destroying creativity, conditioning -dare I say GROOMING -kids to expect particular Barry Manilow-esque mundanity from their music and making sure ther'll only be coleslaw and dick sandwichs left in the canteen.

[Eire06]

Eire -I had just sacrificed much of my lunch break typing a response which added detail, colour and background to why Westlife are yet should not be celebrated in this country -when I accidently hit the back key and erased my post.

As I'm not going to let four fat lads rob whats left of my lunch I'm going to sum up in one sentence.

Westlife embody the rush to the center ground that is killing music, destroying creativity, conditioning -dare I say GROOMING -kids to expect particular Barry Manilow-esque mundanity from their music and making sure ther'll only be coleslaw and dick sandwichs left in the canteen.

Still have to disagree, you under-estimate kids and over-estimating the effect Westlife have on them... Most kids I know listen to a wide variety of music, they usually start with whats in the charts at the moment but then they move onto appriciating other artists who don't make it into the single's charts.. The end up liking a lot of bands

and anyway most Westlife fans are now in their 20's or older

BTW you should enjoy your lunch away from your computer, its unhealty to be spending too much time online;)

oh and they're not fat:eek:
he he

[sligoman]

Eire -I had just sacrificed much of my lunch break typing a response which added detail, colour and background to why Westlife are yet should not be celebrated in this country -when I accidently hit the back key and erased my post.A likely story;)

:D

[Lionel Ritchie]

Still have to disagree, you under-estimate kids and over-estimating the effect Westlife have on them... Most kids I know listen to a wide variety of music, they usually start with whats in the charts at the moment but then they move onto appriciating other artists who don't make it into the single's charts.. The end up liking a lot of bands

and anyway most Westlife fans are now in their 20's or older

BTW you should enjoy your lunch away from your computer, its unhealty to be spending too much time online;)

oh and they're not fat:eek:
he he

Heh heh got the last chicken sambo!

I'm underestimating the kids? On what basis. There's voluminous evidence there that the kids buy what they're told to when told to go buy it. Record companies can literally bank on "the Kids" running out and buying particular types of records at particular times of year.

...in fairness - it lamentably extends beyond pop - Witness or Oxygen or whatever they're calling it next year is apparently close to sold out if you believe the hype -but the organisers haven't announced a single act for it.

Back O/T -I appreciate most Westlife fans are in an older bracket now but their inception is still the same as any other boyband - soppy muck targeted at 7-12 year olds who just happen to have grown up at this stage.

I hope you appreciate that anything I apply to Westlife I apply with equal disdain to any of their carbon copies and with increased disgust to the McFlys and Busteds who are an attempt by the industry to "mop up the stragglers" -boys in particular who find the Westlife type model too syrup-ie.

But much of my annoyance is with the way they're treated here in Ireland. A country that claims the likes of U2 (not a fan) to The Cranberries (not a fan) to Therapy (AM a fan) to Ash (nyih can take em or leave em) to Divine Comedy (am a fan) to The Thrills (not a fan) as it's own now that they've had some success did absolute jacksh1t to help any of them before they left here.

Yet when some shower hop up and start prancing like a bunch of tits and miming a Bee Gees song -they not only get the radio play and the TV appearances -they're interviewed as guests like they've done something remarkable.

The classic example of this is the disgraceful introduction of Boyzone to the Irish public on RTEs flagship programme 24 hours after they were formed in a room above a nightclub. I genuinely believe the producer should've been fired for it.

They'd never made a record, never performed anything anywhere and waltz onto the Late Late show. That's not "pull" and it's not "contacts" it's just wrong like.

Where were Whipping Boy that night?
Were there no actual bands out there who'd gone to the bother of producing something, who might've been up for a late late show slot that night?

Eire you're from Galway -where were Toasted Heretic? What stretch of dangerous back road were Toasted Heretic being bounced around in the back of a Hiace with no seats going to do a gig in some godforsaken hole while they could've been on the Late Late instead of half a dozen chavs with nothing to say? A disgrace so it was.

The Cranberries got about the same length feature as Boyzone did a month or two later -but The Cranberries had to get into the US top 10 first.

I'll say it again. We're a disgrace.

[noby]

*clap clap clap*

[Green Tribe]

Go Westlife, go Westlife! :D
Basically Eire06, Lionel Ritchie is just jealous of them. I think they're a nice bunch of lads, I appreciate them because they're from Ireland and they are sound lads, no arrogance or look-at-me! They are not setting a bad example to young people unlike some famous 'role models'...

[sligoman]

I appreciate them because they're from Ireland and they are sound lads, no arrogance or look-at-me! They are not setting a bad example to young people unlike some famous 'role models'...Know them well do you?:confused:.

Kian Egan is one of the most arrogant pr!cks in the music industry at the moment;).

[gustavo]

ill second that about Egan i dont know any1 in town that has a good word for him!

[Eire06]

Lionel I still think think you have a totally wrong view of westlife... If they weren't there there would just be another band just the same in their place..

They have a talent and they are making money out of it fair play to them I'd do the exact same as them if I could..
Yes there is people who are better singers, dancers and musicians than them that cannot get that break in to the industry but that is not westlifes fault they got the chance to make it and they did

As for appearances on TV like it or not they are very popular by people young and old, and they are one of our country's highest selling music artists..

You are just simply a begrudger.. People enjoy their music like it or not ( And no they aren't all 'brainwashed' kids they are adults who are well able to distinguish between what they like and don't like despite the pushy advertising)..



*clap clap clap*
Sorry to hear that but you can get antibiotics to clear it up

[Lionel Ritchie]

Go Westlife, go Westlife! :D
Basically Eire06, Lionel Ritchie is just jealous of them. I think they're a nice bunch of lads, I appreciate them because they're from Ireland and they are sound lads, no arrogance or look-at-me! They are not setting a bad example to young people unlike some famous 'role models'...

GT -the thing that just flew right over your head was the point I was making.

I don't know anyone in Westlife, don't want to know anyone in westlife and their individual characters and fortunes in life are a matter of utter indifference to me.

I couldn't care less if they give all their royalties to charity, make cocoa for their mammies at 10pm before toddling off to bed themselves and are sweet as honey to wee babies.

The institution they front, like many other carbon copies with different faces is, in my opinion, irredeemably a bad thing and they way it's celebrated in this country as some wonderful achievment on all our behalves, when it is patently not, is irredeemably worse.:cool:

as for no arrogance or look-at-me! -I'll take your word for it.;)

[Lionel Ritchie]

Lionel I still think think you have a totally wrong view of westlife... If they weren't there there would just be another band just the same in their place..

They have a talent and they are making money out of it fair play to them I'd do the exact same as them if I could..
Yes there is people who are better singers, dancers and musicians than them that cannot get that break in to the industry but that is not westlifes fault they got the chance to make it and they did

As for appearances on TV like it or not they are very popular by people young and old, and they are one of our country's highest selling music artists..

You are just simply a begrudger.. People enjoy their music like it or not ( And no they aren't all 'brainwashed' kids they are adults who are well able to distinguish between what they like and don't like despite the pushy advertising)..



Sorry to hear that but you can get antibiotics to clear it up


See response to Green Tribe above -I'm bored with this Eire.

I'll just add that I agree with you on your first point that if it wasn't them it'd be someone else. That doesn't make it a good thing.

and for your last point

-begrudger and proud of it! Fcuk 'em -Fcuk 'em right in their ear.

[Jerry The Saint]

"Every so often a song comes along that catches the heart of a nation"

Normally I couldn't care less what The Westlifes get up, good luck to them, to but I have to say that song is just poison.


When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be

"Burdened be" eh? Nice. Well I'm sure everyone can relate to having a burdened-be heart whenever troubles come so that's not so bad...


You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas


What the f--:confused: Aren't mountains commonly measured by their elevation above sea level? In order to be raised up to walk on seas (and I'm not even going to start on the whole Westlife-think-they're-Jesus-they-can-walk-on-water-now thing...) they would have to be lowered from the mountain and deposited in some form of fortified cave below sea-level. In which case, who is this b@stard that's lifting them out of their cosy little hole and putting them out at sea IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM!?!? :eek:

Still, that chorus is catchy. So friggin' catchy they decide to repeat it around SEVENTEEN friggin' times in case we, as a nation, don't understand how much this bullsh!t song has "captured our hearts"!!!:mad:

[Lionel Ritchie]

Normally I couldn't care less what The Westlifes get up, good luck to them, to but I have to say that song is just poison.



"Burdened be" eh? Nice. Well I'm sure everyone can relate to having a burdened-be heart whenever troubles come so that's not so bad...



What the f--:confused: Aren't mountains commonly measured by their elevation above sea level? In order to be raised up to walk on seas (and I'm not even going to start on the whole Westlife-think-they're-Jesus-they-can-walk-on-water-now thing...) they would have to be lowered from the mountain and deposited in some form of fortified cave below sea-level. In which case, who is this b@stard that's lifting them out of their cosy little hole and putting them out at sea IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM!?!? :eek:

Still, that chorus is catchy. So friggin' catchy they decide to repeat it around SEVENTEEN friggin' times in case we, as a nation, don't understand how much this bullsh!t song has "captured our hearts"!!!:mad:

testifah!!!!!!!!!!

My heart is less burdened be for that.

Now in the wise words of George Michael and S Club 7 let us all reach for every "mountain high"

[Dublin12]

They have a talent and they are making money out of it fair play to them I'd do the exact same as them if I could..


They have no talent,infact they have no natural talent at all and are making money out of gullible punters and kids who fall for their airbrush cd covers and their fat good looks and btw we have enough dross in this country so don't even think about doing the same as them.

[noby]

Jerry the Saint,
when I mentioned earlier that this song has been done by 103 different artists, it seems 102 of them are filed under "Christisn rock" or some such category

[Eire06]

They have no talent,infact they have no natural talent at all and are making money out of gullible punters and kids who fall for their airbrush cd covers and their fat good looks and btw we have enough dross in this country so don't even think about doing the same as them.

Thats just not true they can all sing...
No their not the best in the world but the can hold a note...
Its just childish you calling them Fat because they're not, they are fitter than the average Irish man :rolleyes:

[Green Tribe]

Know them well do you?:confused:.

Kian Egan is one of the most arrogant pr!cks in the music industry at the moment;).

No, but Kian's not my fav, so I don't pay attention to him

[Green Tribe]

I think a lot of guys are jealous of boybands, although they slag their music etc and call them fat :confused: , you sound like a couple of bitter wee witches. They are jealous of the attention they get from women. And also a guy from your town/area that has done 'well' for himself creates a similar bitterness. It really annoys any guy if Westlife come on the tv and a girl goes "Ohhhh, Westlife, great" :D It's hilarious...

[Dublin12]

Thats just not true they can all sing...
No their not the best in the world but the can hold a note...
Its just childish you calling them Fat because they're not, they are fitter than the average Irish man :rolleyes:

Have you got their posters on yer bedroom wall then:p,you seem very defensive:D .

[Tired&Emotional]

True, they can all sing...I doubt many of the begruders here don't know the first thing about singing or musical talent but just spout ignorant judgement about the subject from the sidelines....!

As for questioning the lyrics of the song a)Westlife didn't write the song so who are we slagging off here exactly??

b) "mountains...stormy seas" etc it's all metaphoric or maybe you're intelligent enough to see that but just like to take the p!ss anyway!

c) "burden be" etc....it's called song writing, it's an art, think of it like poetry-to-music, son. It's not meant to be a conversation from "the man in the street"

.....just to put an angle of reality to it all!

now, where did i put that copy of Hello??!

[Eire06]

Have you got their posters on yer bedroom wall then:p,you seem very defensive:D .
No my Boyfriend made me take them down :rolleyes:

Are you intimidated by them you seem very critical?

[Dublin12]

No my Boyfriend made me take them down :rolleyes:

Are you intimidated by them you seem very critical?

I know how your boyfriend feels,I made my kids take them down aswell,now they thank me for it:D ,they have moved onto better music and nicer posters;) ,maybe you should move on aswell.

[Eire06]

I know how your boyfriend feels,I made my kids take them down aswell,now they thank me for it:D ,they have moved onto better music and nicer posters ,maybe you should move on aswell.
Move on how dare you :rolleyes:
Child abuse! Your poor children should be alowed like any band they want to :eek:

I was just complaining about the unfair critisism the get from mainly Irish males..
I like a lot of different music, Westlife wouldn't be my favorite but I like some of the songs they sing

[Green Tribe]

Its just childish you calling them Fat because they're not, they are fitter than the average Irish man

very very true Eire06. Shane ;) Mark ;) but the latter prefers men :(

[sligoman]

but the latter prefers men :(haha, you miss out there so:p :D

[Lionel Ritchie]

No, but Kian's not my fav, so I don't pay attention to him

So ....................you have a favourite then? who is it then? the cuddly one, the broader one, the dumpy one or the ..um... fat lad?


Thats just not true they can all sing...
No their not the best in the world but the can hold a note...

Oh dear ...has anyone got a Kleenex? ;)
This reminds me of a heady day in the summer of 1985 when I brought a similar debate with two 12 year old girls on my road to a crashing conclusion when I announced that "George Michael is nattin' but a steamer!!!". They might've ran home crying and yes, I was forced to apologise, but many years later -the argument was mine.:cool:


I think a lot of guys are jealous of boybands, although they slag their music etc and call them fat , you sound like a couple of bitter wee witches. They are jealous of the attention they get from women. And also a guy from your town/area that has done 'well' for himself creates a similar bitterness. It really annoys any guy if Westlife come on the tv and a girl goes "Ohhhh, Westlife, great" It's hilarious...

You know -if I were to recline on a leather couch with the back of my hand across my forehead in exhibition of how withered by it all I am ...and you were to sit across from me on an armchair, knowingly sucking on a biro, that little piece of straight-out-of-TV-Now pop psychology would have extra zest.:p

[Dublin12]

No my Boyfriend made me take them down :rolleyes:



said the actor to the bishop:eek: or is that a Westlife quote:D

[sligoman]

Thats just not true they can all sing..In fairness, even most Westlife fans would admit this, only Shane could continue on his own, Kian can most certainly not sing, if he can, why is he never given a solo bit? It's always Shane and used to be Bryan too;)

[Green Tribe]

I just think Shane or Mark:eek: are the best looking. I like some of their songs too, I wouldn't buy their cds mind.

[Green Tribe]

In fairness, even most Westlife fans would admit this, only Shane could continue on his own, Kian can most certainly not sing, if he can, why is he never given a solo bit? It's always Shane and used to be Bryan too;)
Mark can sing :mad: :D

[The Stars]

in fairness sligoman,mark can sing aswell as shane.
the other 2 cant sing thats why they never do.

[Eire06]

The can all sing its just Shane and Mark are the better singers

[Lionel Ritchie]

There's an easy way to get to the bottom of this ...but I'll need some cable ties, telegraph poles, rope and some well hung Fianna Fáil County Councillors.
...oh ...plus a railway sleeper and Mary Harney for which ever one of them is the gay lad.

Then we'll find out just exactly who can sing.

[Eire06]

:D, class. Kian Egan can not sing. No doubt about it;)
yep he can I heard him

[Peadar]

Give me Westlife over the Beatles any day.
At least Westlife don't claim to be anything other than a boyband.

[Lionel Ritchie]

is this something to do with bigger than jesus?
Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu usssssssssssss!!!!!!!!! Christians just never let anything go do they :eek:

What else are they likely to claim to be -Astrophysicists? Quantum Mathematicians? Musicians?

BTW Peadar -try to compare like with like. I know boybands try to trace their origins back to the beatles and the the stones but even their connection to the monkees is a tenuous one. these groups origins can more accurately be traced back to the likes of the osmonds, brotherhood of man and showaddywaddy.

[Peadar]

BTW Peadar -try to compare like with like.

I meant that the beetles were a boy band who couldn't read music, couldn't sing but yet were very popular.

All the beetles have ever done is give us simple melodies which were easily converted into football songs.

[Eire06]

I meant that the beetles were a boy band who couldn't read music, couldn't sing but yet were very popular.

All the beetles have ever done is give us simple melodies which were easily converted into football songs.
very true:D

[Lionel Ritchie]

I meant that the beetles were a boy band who couldn't read music, couldn't sing but yet were very popular.

All the beetles have ever done is give us simple melodies which were easily converted into football songs.


I'll go along with that to a point. For lads who had no formal music training beyond the Lonnie Donegan records they were listening to though I think it's reasonable to opine that the Beatles pushed the boat out a good but further than any boyband would have the remotest interest in doing.

I find it hard to see an act like westlife taking a chance on composing and releasing even a track like Penny Lane -which notwithstanding a lovely melody -would be considered highly parochial by the standards of modern pop as it relates to the bands own social and geographical origins.

The Beatles ability to sing, as with any boybands actually, is a subjective matter. I'm not a great fan of virtuoso if there's nothing of substance to it and that's where The Beatles win hands down for me.

Likewise I can appreciate that Celine Dion or Barbara Streisand have mechanically good vocal chords -yet there's nothing I find attractive or pleasant in the way they use them. Truthfully I could listen Pampered Pets Kennels go up in a blaze with less discomfort than listening to either those lasses.

[noby]

I meant that the beetles were a boy band who couldn't read music, couldn't sing but yet were very popular.

All the beetles have ever done is give us simple melodies which were easily converted into football songs.


Sounds like something a lot of bands strive towards. Writing a simple melody is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Just ask the people who write Westlife's songs. Whoever they are.

[tetsujin1979]

Sounds like something a lot of bands strive towards. Writing a simple melody is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Just ask the people who write Westlife's songs. Whoever they are.
The Bee Gee's isn't it?? ;)

[dublinred]

Give me Westlife over the Beatles any day.
At least Westlife don't claim to be anything other than a boyband.

If fact they have had more UK numbers ones than the beetles , I think Elvis is the only artist above them.

[Lionel Ritchie]

If fact they have had more UK numbers ones than the beetles , I think Elvis is the only artist above them.

A stat that is distorted beyond recognition by the fact that single sales these days are a fraction of what they were in the past, that pretty much anyone with a profile can get a number one these days due to a combination of those declining sales and the mass media marketplace. Also these days most singles are only number one for a week thereby meaning more records make it to the "top spot" whereas even as recently as the 80's they averaged a month at the top and -finally -I don't think the Beatles released 4,5, and 6 singles off the same 12 track lp.:cool:

[gustavo]

I cant believe any of ye are even comparing Westlife to the Beatles . they were one of the most sonically inventive bands ever and their music will live on forever. Thats the Beatles by the way.

[Tired&Emotional]

I cant believe any of ye are even comparing Westlife to the Beatles . they were one of the most sonically inventive bands ever and their music will live on forever. Thats the Beatles by the way.


Just about to post something similar.......have just come back to this thread after a few days and can't believe how it's evolved into a Westlife v's Beatles discussion....it's all crazy talk:confused: :D

[sligoman]

I'm glad I started this thread. It's really livened up the Music forum.:D

[Peadar]

...can't believe how it's evolved into a Westlife v's Beatles discussion....it's all crazy talk

Crazy talk because you like the Beatles but don't like Westlife. You may need to consider that just because that's your preference, someone who prefers the opposite isn't wrong, just has a different opinion to you.

I can't see anything significant about the Beatles and therefore hold them with less regard than Westlife. Simply because, they don't entertain me.