The Beatles from Best Bands of All Time
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential act of the rock era. Rooted in skiffle, beat, and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several musical styles, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as "Beatlemania", but as the group's music grew in sophistication, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, they came to be perceived as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the counterculture of the 1960s.
Comments
Whether or not the Beatles are the greatest band of all time will always be up for debate. But really, few can deny that there's definitely something about their music that ultimately improves the quality of your life.
They make the world a much brighter place. An audio best friend. They pick me up no matter. You know you're eternally obsessed when you could mime every instrument note to every song in their discography. Well, and their bootlegs. There's no word to describe their greatness.
Of course, one of the bests bands ever. They totally changed te music, creating new ways to compose music, and new kind of music. They made really mind-blowing almubs, like Sgt Peppers and Revolver, that will never dissapear of my top ten. However, after i passed my moment to only listen The Bealtes, I realized that there are many things that I'm unconfortable with, like the fact they thet sold themself as artist.
Yes I love the Beatles. No I do not think the Beatles are objectively the greatest band of all time. Yes I recognize that all four Beatles were, as instrumentalists, average at best, and yes I recognize that almost all of the musical innovations credited to the Beatles are in fact the innovations of other (probably more intelligent) artists, and that whatever innovations the Beatles are responsible for was more the project of George Martin's ingenuity than anything. Yes I understand where people are coming from when accusing the Beatles of being masters of the "faux avant-garde" (of pretending to be avant-garde musicians while actually writing relatively simple pop songs), except here's the thing, the Beatles are pop musicians, self-proclaimed in fact, without any pretenses of being anything more. They wrote 3 minute pop songs, and occasionally utilized more or less experimental techniques that had already been developed by everybody from the Byrds to the Velvet Underground, and to that end (to the end of their being essentially pop musicians), the Beatles are utterly brilliant at what they do. John Lennon and Paul McCartney could craft some of the most beautiful and catchy melodies of any of the era's musicians, with harmonic perfection rivaling that of The Beach Boys. Sure they may not have necessarily broken as much new ground as many Beatles fans more fervent than I will claim they did, but they were masters of their craft, whether that craft be crafting catchy pop ditties or Indian-influenced psychedelic tunes. The Beatles were just a band, but they were a damn good one
The main band that changed music and my life. Each album and songs are incredible, so many moments. The 60's was a great decade for rock to grow up and also for popular music with this band full of creativity. Thank you John, Paul, George and Ringo. Thank you Beatles.
I never subscribed to the notion that the Beatles are/were the greatest band of all time, because I don't think any such thing exists. Nevertheless, the pace at which they evolved, innovated and changed over their short tenure, and the influence they exerted, is nothing short of breathtaking. Their earlier works are enjoyable in their own way, but from 1965-69 they were remarkable. On a personal note, the Beatles are the first band I really listened to, rather than just sort of enjoyed. They were the gateway to discovering a whole host of other artists from a bygone era that I greatly enjoy.
There's no doubt that The Beatles are the greatest band n history of music. Someone could not like them, but anyone who has a bit of intellectual integrity wouldn't deny their importance.
Calling The Beatles anything other than the greatest band of all time is impossible
The Beatles are the gold standard of harmony. 3 gifted song writers: John, Paul, and George. As for Ringo, well, he really lucked out.
Don't really understand the recent hate on The Beatles. I can understand people thinking they're overrated, but outright disliking them? The Beatles reached critical and mainstream success like no other band in history, either when making pop rock music, or experimenting. They had arguably had one of the biggest influences in the music industry period, and still manage to be relevant today. Surely one of the greatest ever.
When it comes to one of my favorite activities, compiling top 10 (or 25 or 50 etc) lists, one list I tend to go back to and rework quite often is the list of the greatest bands of all time. The Beatles will never lose the number 1 spot. What they were able to accomplish in terms of songwriting, popularity, sales, and of course influence, cannot be described by words. The Beatles are more than music, they are more than pop culture, and are more than any one person. The Beatles are, in a word, magic. Like them, love them, hate them, they are the greatest rock band of all time. Forever.
In terms of influence, 100 without a doubt. Abbey Road is great, Sgt Peppers and Revolver have more than a few great tracks, but I can't help but feel like many of their songs are simplistic snooze fests. Hate me if you want, that's just how I feel.
I'm hesitant to agree when people say "(so and so) wouldn't exist if not for (influential musical artist of the past)." And to be clear, I think there's something more important to focus on when it comes to The Beatles' impact on modern music. Inevitably, modern music was going to have a history; it was going to evolve somehow. But what's noteworthy is that it was not inevitable that one single group of musicians was going to assume as prominent a role as The Beatles did in the innovative process of modern music, nor was it inevitable that so much would evolve in such a short period of time. So to those who suggest that "Someone was going to come along and do it, and it just so happened to be The Beatles," I say: we will never know how many musical artists or groups it would take - in a hypothetical, alternate universe - to contribute to music as much as The Beatles did. Regardless, they wrote history, it didn't just conveniently fall into their laps.
By the most objective, scientific of criteria The Beatles were the best ever. No band in history has appealed to such a broad range of people. In their early days they wrote incredibly simple but catchy tunes with great hooks that were instantly memorable. In later years they progressed in more challenging directions that changed the face of popular music forever.
Pure genius, the best for a reason. I try not to set them aside but it's just impossible. They never sound the same, and despite the fact that they are not virtuosos at their instruments, there is something about them that just sets them apart. 1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 98% - Era-defining 2. Revolver 98% - THE sound of mid-60's psychedelic rock 3. Abbey Road 97% - Astounding album, epic, classic 4. Rubber Soul 95% - Mature and tinged with psychedelia 5. The White Album 94% - Somehow, this works out perfectly 6. Magical Mystery Tour 92% - Pure psychedelia at its best 7. Help! 90% - Just excellent, pop-rock masterpiece 8. Please Please Me 88% - Excellent debut, pure talent 9. With the Beatles 87% - Cleaner and neater than debut 10. Beatles for Sale 86% - Soft and fun 11. A Hard Day's Night 85% - Fun, lovely 12. Let It Be 80% - Playful, funny, odd way to leave ... and Yellow Submarine 75%
There may have been other bands who have been an equal in versatility, in innovation, in influence, or in talent. But no one has come close to combining these factors as the Beatles did in seven short years. They reinvigorated rock when it needed a new life and jumped across continents to inspire a nation reeling from Kennedy's death -- and a year later had moved onto a completely different plane. Their continual drive to find their next sound, their next feel sparked genre after genre, their explorations expanding the very idea of what music could achieve, and along the way they created the modern idea of an album: a band-chosen collection of cohesive tracks the same across the world they so inspired, and still do.