What's so good about the Beatles?

GuyBoden

I find that their harmony and melodies were outstanding, and very original for the pop music of the day. Also, they had a great sense of humour...........

One of my favs:

lloyd

We could be here some time.....

Above all else it's great songwriting, one of the only bands that adults and young kids can listen and enjoy their songs.

Fretwired

What's so good?

They split up ....

Gassage

They inspired Neil Finn to write songs.

That's a astounding gift in itself...

richardhomer

The greatest band ever. (Don't tell @Koneguitarist about this thread - he'll be along to tell us it was really the Beverley Sisters, or some such)

DulcetJones

I was 9 years old in 1964 when they did their famous Ed Sullivan show for the North American audiences.  No band, artist or entertainer of any kind has had the impact they had on me since.  And I was banished to the back of the living room by my older sister and her pack of screaming fanatics......, they then went on to release a string of hits that turned the radio charts upside down for about 4 years, then they released a string of iconic albums that still sound fresh to me....I'll stop now....

jellyroll

Lennon & Harrison.

chrishill901

Im not speaking for this forum but I understand their brilliantly crafted songs and musicianship but I reject the notion among all of society that its a crime not to like them because they 'did it first' - I was brought up on hard rock and as such like that - but of course all I get is 'well they wouldnt be here without the beatles'. That may be true but doesn't mean they are automatically inferior.

I like my 2014 iMac with 32gb of RAM... you can shove your 1986 beige tower up your *** - im not saying the beatles are rubbish, they are far from it, but society wont let them not be my cup of tea, and because they did it first doesnt necessarily mean they are the best. I prefer the Kinks anyway.

Jalapeno

Today, not much tbh, back in the day they revolutionised pop, and made the album rather than single ( a hang over from 78rpm discs) the artistic vehicle. Plus a huge back catalogue of great tunes, probably a bit dated now.

Danny1969

Well generally bands back in their day released records written by other people .... EMI wanted their first single to be the Mitch Murray "How do you do" for example. The model was songwriter - song  performed by band. The Beatles changed that. They also revolutionized recording techniques in close mic'ing, using loops, reverse audio and edits.  

Personally I can hear their influence in bands as diverse as Radiohead and Tool, they pretty much changed everyone and everything

RocknRollDave

DulcetJones said:

I was 9 years old in 1964 when they did their famous Ed Sullivan show for the North American audiences.  No band, artist or entertainer of any kind has had the impact they had on me since.  And I was banished to the back of the living room by my older sister and her pack of screaming fanatics......, they then went on to release a string of hits that turned the radio charts upside down for about 4 years, then they released a string of iconic albums that still sound fresh to me....I'll stop now....

The amount of US artists/ band who cite the Beatles on Ed Sullivan as a seminal moment in their lives is quite staggering. Even allowing for the Woodstock effect (i.e. if you can remember being there YOU WEREN'T THERE), it just shows how new and exciting it must have been at the time.
For those of us too young to remember when Pop music first exploded, it's almost impossible to imagine what it must have been like. OK, the Beatles weren't the first famous band, or the first musicians on TV but all the same, for many they represent some kind of Year Zero, even more so than Punk did for the teens of the late 70's.

DesVegas

Ringo's drums on Come Together

GuyBoden

Fav tracks?

PolarityMan

Well for me, I don't like them, or even think they are very good but I think for me it's because I'm more into rhythm and groove than clever harmony and melody. 

Skipped

They are fascinating in many different ways.

What happened to them in Hamburg (they slowly became very, very, very tight musically) is an important lesson for anybody who is in a band. IMO.

DulcetJones

I totally get the age thing, I would have probably been more of a punk fanatic than I became for a while there if it had happened when I was a few years younger.  As it was though, going into my teens I was exposed to bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath that turned me into a rabid long haired, black T-shirt fanatic befitting a Spinal Tap fan(!).   Oh, and even though Woodstock happened only a few hundred miles from where I lived I didn't even hear about it until it was over and making news because of the event it turned out to be.  I still remember that day in the mid 80's when I crossed paths with a human being who hadn't heard of the Beatles.  It was inconceivable for so long after their initial impact that I had a hard time processing it.  Through all the changes and styles popular culture has seen since the Beatles it's understandable that each generation would have it's heroes.  I do recall a lot of people just a few years older than me that were Elvis fans and remained Elvis fans throughout Beatlemania and were ready to give you a downright hard time if you disagreed with them!  And my Dad......he absolutely hated the Beatles until he heard "When I'm 64".  Actually he didn't believe me when I pointed out to him that it was the Beatles, and was only convinced when the DJ stated it after the song.    

Reverend

RocknRollDave;581670" said:

DulcetJones said:

I was 9 years old in 1964 when they did their famous Ed Sullivan show for the North American audiences.  No band, artist or entertainer of any kind has had the impact they had on me since.  And I was banished to the back of the living room by my older sister and her pack of screaming fanatics......, they then went on to release a string of hits that turned the radio charts upside down for about 4 years, then they released a string of iconic albums that still sound fresh to me....I'll stop now....





The amount of US artists/ band who cite the Beatles on Ed Sullivan as a seminal moment in their lives is quite staggering. Even allowing for the Woodstock effect (i.e. if you can remember being there YOU WEREN'T THERE), it just shows how new and exciting it must have been at the time.

For those of us too young to remember when Pop music first exploded, it's almost impossible to imagine what it must have been like. OK, the Beatles weren't the first famous band, or the first musicians on TV but all the same, for many they represent some kind of Year Zero, even more so than Punk did for the teens of the late 70's.

That appearance on that show could well be the single most influential moment in American music. How many guitars were sold the next week?

capo4th

beed84

Anyone who says they don't like The Beatles are either being controversial or lacking a pair of ears. I find it hard to comprehend how a band can be that good, prolific and consistent.

ICBM

It's the quality and the advances they made as well as the prolific output that really impresses me.

They went from Love Me Do to She's So Heavy in less than seven years. Popular music and possibly the world in general were almost unrecognisably different at the end from the start, and I think they were an important part of why that happened.

richardhomer

ICBM;583168" said:

They went from Love Me Do to She's So Heavy in less than seven years.

They went from 'Love Me Do' to 'A Day in a Life' in four years....

Unbelievable progress....