Are The Beatles the greatest band of all time?

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

But all bands have influences. The more interesting question is whether a band can refine what they are influenced by or just doing a karaoke version of their influence. Weller turned 'Taxman' into something else.

Yes but Oasis werent just INFLUENCED... they COPIED!!!! Wonderwall is the only song of theirs I can listen to without gnashing my teeth at the blatant plagiarising.

 

[Johnny Crumplin Football]

No, I don't think they are

 

[Seagull on the wing]

Ah! Yes.....the Kinks.....one of my favourite songs.......youtube.com/watch?v=FsHjvJ1aw40

 

[dougdeep]

The Beatles were one of the few bands that were truly progressive. Starting with pop/ R&B and moving through the the Eastern phase and onward.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Lost all credibility when you mentioned Queen. ****ing awful band. The guitar sound alone makes me feel murderous

Nonsense. You might not like them, and they certainly are not cool, but 'awful'? Their output was vast and varied, covering all manner of styles and they even got a mini-opera in Bohemian Rhapsody to number 1 twice. And, they were an incredible live band. I was lucky to see them as a teen and to this day I maintain it is the best show I have seen. Why do you think they were so '****ing awful'? If you want to remain credible you will need to explain yourself

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Stick on 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and you have the Chemical Brothers and the whole Big Beat genre 30 years before it even started....

No you dont. You have a an influence which the Chemical Brothers used to good effect...nothing more.

 

[Bold Seagull]

No you dont. You have a an influence which the Chemical Brothers used to good effect...nothing more.

The Chemical Brothers themselves, refer to Tomorrow Never Knows as, and I quote "Their Manifesto".

Have you never listened to 'Setting Sun' followed by 'Tomorrow Never Knows'? You should, it's the C Bros. tribute to the track.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

What a ridiculous thing to say. Its about the songs not the technological advances. The melodies are there. Look beyond the production. Black and white movies can be masterpieces.

But some films also look very dated. I think Buzzer's comment was fine. I have a vast collection of music and some of it does sound very dated indeed. Equally some carries forward very well. And I cannot always give a consistent reason as to why this is. I was listening to some old thrash metal the other day. Metallica's Master of Puppets still sounds great, Reign in Blood by Slayer sounds as fresh as it did 25 years ago, Anthrax's Among The Living sounds shockingly dated. Why? I'm not fully sure but the production does play a part. And the two formers albums still drag me in and put a smile on my face like they used to. Anthrax doesnt, it's missing something which I cannot define.

 

[Buzzer]

In summary, I agree with Bold Seagull.

In summary, I agree with Herr Tubthumper.

And you showing appalling snobbery with your views on Queen which considering some of the stuff Paul McCartney came out with quite risible. There's no need to guess which parts of 'A Day In The Life' were written by which Beatle is there?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The Chemical Brothers themselves, refer to Tomorrow Never Knows as, and I quote "Their Manifesto".

Have you never listened to 'Setting Sun' followed by 'Tomorrow Never Knows'? You should, it's the C Bros. tribute to the track.

I'm not disputing this. I am disputing that it was "big beat 30 years before it started" which I do not feel it was.

And yes I have both Revolver and Dig Your Own Hole in my collection (and seen both Chemical Brothers and Noel Gallagher play Setting Sun in their sets) . Both great songs.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Cracking thread though. I just love music debates.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Cracking thread though. I just love music debates.

Great thing is, no one has mentioned a band I don't like yet! (well, not sure I've given Anthrax or Slayer a great deal of playtime time though.....).

Mellotron, you've gone too far dissing Queen my friend!

 

[Bold Seagull]

I'm not disputing this. I am disputing that it was "big beat 30 years before it started" which I do not feel it was.

And yes I have both Revolver and Dig Your Own Hole in my collection (and seen both Chemical Brothers and Noel Gallagher play Setting Sun in their sets) . Both great songs.

I saw Chemical Brothers in the dance tent at V97 (I lived in Chelmsford at the time), Blur were on the main stage, it was raining, they played some obscure opening tracks, and we thought sod it we'll head to the dance tent.

To this day it is arguably the best live set of music I've been to. The atmosphere, the sheer power of the set was just amazing, the whole place just erupted. It's with great regret I've not seen them live since, but effectively a rain influenced decision led to one of my favourite live music experiences.

 

[Buzzer]

What a ridiculous thing to say. Its about the songs not the technological advances. The melodies are there. Look beyond the production. Black and white movies can be masterpieces.

It's not ridiculous at all in my opinion. It's the songs themselves. They haven't dated half as well as some of their contemporaries. Their earlier stuff - Help, Hard Day's Night, Ticket To Ride, I Saw Her Standing There - just sound....well...I'm not sure but I wouldn't choose to listen to it. I agree that it's certainly much better by the time they got to the White Album and Abbey Road and I love Something, You Never give Me Your Money but....but...but...most of the tunes are just not half as timeless as some of the other bands of that era. I'm not denying their influence nor their appeal nor their talent. Well...maybe I'd question Paul McCartney's song-writing. Someone should have applied a much stricter filter to the stuff put out in his name.

 

[Bold Seagull]

It's not ridiculous at all in my opinion. It's the songs themselves. They haven't dated half as well as some of their contemporaries. Their earlier stuff - Help, Hard Day's Night, Ticket To Ride, I Saw Her Standing There - just sound....well...I'm not sure but I wouldn't choose to listen to it. I agree that it's certainly much better by the time they got to the White Album and Abbey Road and I love Something, You Never give Me Your Money but....but...but...most of the tunes are just not half as timeless as some of the other bands of that era. I'm not denying their influence nor their appeal nor their talent. Well...maybe I'd question Paul McCartney's song-writing. Someone should have applied a much stricter filter to the stuff put out in his name.

You don't like Mull of Kintyre!!??!

 

[The Large One]

It's not ridiculous at all in my opinion. It's the songs themselves. They haven't dated half as well as some of their contemporaries. Their earlier stuff - Help, Hard Day's Night, Ticket To Ride, I Saw Her Standing There - just sound....well...I'm not sure but I wouldn't choose to listen to it. I agree that it's certainly much better by the time they got to the White Album and Abbey Road and I love Something, You Never give Me Your Money but....but...but...most of the tunes are just not half as timeless as some of the other bands of that era. I'm not denying their influence nor their appeal nor their talent. Well...maybe I'd question Paul McCartney's song-writing. Someone should have applied a much stricter filter to the stuff put out in his name.

Largely... this.

I don't suppose at the time that they were writing songs with the main aim of standing the test of time; they were writing songs for contemporary audiences.

It's often an accident of design rather than a deliberate ploy to write and record a 'timeless' song - 'She's Leaving Home' as a statement is still valid today, and is one of my favourite Beatles songs, even though it's not necessarily one of their best, production or playing-wise. 'If I Fell' and 'If I Needed Someone' are also great tracks, but are very much in the 1960s pop mould.

That's not necessarily a statement on The Beatles (about 'timeless' songs) - it could be about any band.

Any way, in response to the main thrust of the original argument, if the Beatles aren't the band who've inspired the most others, they're certainly right up there.

 

[Buzzer]

You don't like Mull of Kintyre!!??!

Quite.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I saw Chemical Brothers in the dance tent at V97 (I lived in Chelmsford at the time), Blur were on the main stage, it was raining, they played some obscure opening tracks, and we thought sod it we'll head to the dance tent.

To this day it is arguably the best live set of music I've been to. The atmosphere, the sheer power of the set was just amazing, the whole place just erupted. It's with great regret I've not seen them live since, but effectively a rain influenced decision led to one of my favourite live music experiences.

I've seen Chemical Brothers twice and both times they were great. I think live they just turn every thing up to 11 and go for it...but it works for them.

 

[terryberry1]

Id personally say a1 was the greatest band of all tine

 

[Icy Gull]

Having though about this a little my vote goes to Pink Floyd's contribution up until Wish You Were Here. They were more ground breaking than the Beatles during that period imo and I get more from those albums these days than I do from any of the Beatles albums. I can happily listen to all of them all the way through, I tend to get a bit bored with the Beatles after less than an album nowadays.

Atom Heart Mother
Meddle
Dark Side of the Moon - arguably the greatest album ever
Wish You Were Here

Not a big fan of anything from the Wall onwards though.