A new respect for the Beatles

[CP]

I posted an earlier topic asking was there a better rock group than the Eagles. Got alot of different answers, alot of Beatles fans. After much listening (my wife bought me the Beatles "1" Album), I submit. The Beatles are probably the best rock band ever. You can here the growth in their playing and writing. I never really paid attention to their music. I was always a fan, but now that I am studying music, I look at them differently now. Still think the Eagles had some great musicians. But the Beatles music is so diverse. And some of their music is so meaningful. I will never doubt the Beatles again.

[RABid]

I think the Eagles and Beatles are comparable when you match 10 songs against 10 songs, but when you look at the total volume of hits the Beatles wrote, no other band has been as productive.

 

Robert

[Llarion]

This is a tough one to argue. The Beatles have been not only prolific, but also very skilled in several TOTALLY differen "flavors" of rock.

 

Most definitely, a good part of it was the genius of the songwriting. They did indeed evolve, not only as musicians, but as songwriters.

 

I mean, what other band can you ask hey, do you like "X", and have a legitimate response be "what era?"

 

And I'm not even that huge a Beatles fan; I just have to agree with the premise.

[Tedster]

I'm a hyooge fan of both bands. For me, comparing the Beatles and the Eagles is like comparing Chinese food with Italian food. They're both great, but different. They both play(ed) pop-rock, both had fantastic harmonies, but there the similarity ends.

 

But, there was a mystique surrounding the Beatles. To me, they'll always be in a separate league by themselves, compared to any other band. They were the band that led us through the sixties, bridging the gap between 50s doo wop, early sixties surf, and the psychedelic stuff that happened in the late 60s/early 70s. I guess I know what it is. Rock "grew up" with the Beatles. No other band can claim that to that degree. They were trend setters, rather than followers. Sure, like anything else, they started out following trends of their American soul and rockabilly heroes. But they abandoned that and took stuff to new planes.

[ELP71]

[surfjunkie]

Originally posted by Llarion:

I mean, what other band can you ask hey, do you like "X", and have a legitimate response be "what era?"

yes, i do like X, early-80's is my favorite era. i like their 1980 album Los Angeles, produced by Ray Manzarek.

[Dave Bryce]

The first song that I remember knocking me on my ass was "She Loves You". I must have been 4...I owned the German version of "Help!" when I was 5.

 

The Beatles are certainly still one of my favorite bands. I listen to and play their music with startling regularity. It has truly stood the test of time.

 

dB

[Dan South]

Originally posted by CP:

After much listening (my wife bought me the Beatles "1" Album), I submit. The Beatles are probably the best rock band ever. You can here the growth in their playing and writing. I never really paid attention to their music. I was always a fan, but now that I am studying music, I look at them differently now.

Congratulations, your assimilation has been a complete success.

[Bobro]

I was thinking about the Beatles the other day. The first time I heard a Beatles album, I was 16 years old (White Album). As an "unassimilated person" , I could clearly hear the bad vibes between the members of the band- fighting, ego clashes, whatever, in the music. Years later, hearing an off-the-record account from someone who was at the sessions, it was no surprise to hear about the "tension", put mildly.

 

But that's the Beatles I like- real imperfect people, making great music with all the good and bad of real life. Their later stuff (1966-7 +) is wonderful, the earlier stuff doesn't turn me on.

 

If current popular music is any indicator, I'd say there are many musicians who have heard the Beatles, but have never actually listened to them.

 

-Bobro

[SolipsismX]

I know I'm in the obvious minority here, but I'm just not a beatles fan. Not to say I don't appreciate what they've done. They've certanly helped rock grow up more than any other band, but I just don't like the music.

I'm on the younger side on this board though which could explain some things, but beatles songs to me are just cliche for me. I'm not saying this in a way that means their style wasn't original, it's just that listening to the beatles to me would be like listening to nursery rhymes or something. They're just songs that I've always known. There's no edge to these songs cause I've grown up on them like ludwig's 5th,

Obviously I'm talking mostly about their singles, so when I listen to stuff I never heard of as a child (my housemates' favorite band is the beatles so I've pretty much heard everything), it just doesn't do it for me. It just sounds really 60's to me and to be honest, I'd rather listen to some other bands from the 60's than the beatles.

I'm also wondering, (and I'm not trying to stir up a fight or anything), how much of the innovating that the beatles did would have happened anyway? I'm not at all assuming the majority of their innovations would have been done anyway, it just seems like a lot of the things they did were sort've "duh, rock should already be doing this in the first place,"

I guess to me, the beatles made rock grow up, but it was other bands that sort've brought it to it's potential. So with the exception of songs like a day in the life, you won't really hear me listening to their stuff.

[Graham English]

My Mom used to see The Beatles in Liverpool when she was a kid. She gave me The White Album for my first record. I was like 5! But I loved it! I had no idea what some of those songs were about but it didn't matter. Classic songs

The other album she gave me was of Thelonius Monk. What a great Mom!