Quote:
Originally Posted by defcon
Simple. Four piece band, Drummer is and always has been total shit (Ringo Starr) and has shown no talent progression for the length of his career). Easiest to attack the weakest link first and the universal consensus is that Ringo sucks. George Harrison was probably the best musician of them all, certainly respectable as a lead guitarist. Paul is a great lyricist, but his musicianship leaves much to be desired. Very charismatic, like John, who has a cult of personality and good looks. Again, nothing special, just the pop blowup of the 60s, much like N'Stink, the Backdoor Boys, One Direction, etc...except at least they play instruments.
The best thing about the Beatles was that Lennon knew how to make drugs and music work together as a lyricist and musician, but he was nothing to write home about as a vocalist. Good, sure. Great? No. The Beatles are the result of pop hysteria. They were and still are perhaps the greatest marketing pop/rock band ever.
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What made the Beatles great wasn't their individual musicianship but their cohesiveness, creativity, studio ingenuity, and their work ethic. They were a band in the truest sense of the word. They also mastered the art of melody; I remember reading something that analyzed all their songs and found they hadn't repeated the same melody once throughout their entire catalog.
The Beatles were also absolutely great musicians in their own right. Paul played bass in a higher register than most during his era (especially the earlier years) which made that sound pop more on a record than others before him. Were John and George the greatest guitarists to ever live? No, there's no dispute, but sometimes with music, less is more and it's about massaging the song rather than beating the listener over the head with it. The Beatles' guitar solos complimented the songs without defining them.
I also don't think anyone with an appreciation for rock music could say that John Lennon and Paul McCartney don't have great voices. Just listen to live versions of Twist and Shout, John's vocals give me chills. Same for "I've Got a Feeling" or "Oh, Darling!" for Paul. Two absolutely stellar rock and roll voices in the most classic sense.
And I'm not going to try to defend Ringo, he is what he is, but the Beatles were so fucking good that they didn't need John Bonham or Keith Moon behind the kit. Their melodies and their vocals were the centerpiece of their songs. Ringo is also criminally underrated when it comes to maintaining an incredibly quick right hand without sacrificing consistency; it's a minor detail but one that gets overlooked, especially considering Ringo was actually a lefty drummer playing backwards on a right-handed kit (as opposed to someone like Carter Beauford who plays open-handed).
TL;DR: The Beatles are the greatest band of all time, period, stop.
I do agree with you about rap/hip-hop, though. That shit gives me an instant headache. Not to sound all "old man yelling at a cloud" but I honest to goodness cannot find one redeeming quality in that genre.