Underrated or Overrated: The Beatles

[Shadowmancer]

I think we should start off an occasional thread idea from me here in the Music section. I know the idea isn't an original one, but this should cause some sort of debate in here.

Underrated or Overrated.

A bit of information here for any drongos out there that have never heard of the Beatles.

* Please Please Me (Parlophone, 1963)
* With The Beatles (Parlophone, 1963)
* A Hard Day's Night (Parlophone, 1964)
* Beatles for Sale (Parlophone, 1964)
* Help! (Parlophone, 1965)
* Rubber Soul (Parlophone, 1965)
* Revolver (Parlophone, 1966)
* Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone, 1967)
* Magical Mystery Tour (U.S. only. Released as a Double EP in the UK) (Capitol, 1967)
* The Beatles ("The White Album") (Apple, 1968)
* Yellow Submarine (Apple, 1969)
* Abbey Road (Apple, 1969)
* Let It Be (Apple, 1970)

there are all of the albums, they have sold over one billion albums all over the world, I don't think anyone has sold as many or as much, but Im not sure on that. They are critically acclaimed for their influence on modern music.

The Question I put to you is:

Are The Beatles Overrated or are they Underrated, or are they rated correctly?


My view on this is that they border between the realms of being Overrated and Underrated at the same time, yet are never rated correctly. The influence that they have had on Modern Music is emmence, however certain songs that they wrote are absolute crap, such as "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". And yet others are of sheer brilliance and are almost never brought up like "Here Comes The Sun", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "A Day In The Life". However it is difficult to call them the most influential from their time period when you factor in the likes of The Doors and the Jimi Hendrix Experiment among others into the music of the 60s, this is certainly something that needs to be factored in when assessing whether The Beatles are Overrated or Underrated.

 

[Gutter Phenomenon]

I would definitely agree with a lot of what you said. I think, today, people might rate them a little higher than they actually should be.They wrote some great songs that really had a big influence in its day. But, I would say they don't have nearly an influence that bands like The Doors, Hendrix, Zeppelin, and Floyd. I would also say their songs are a lot less creatively great than people give them credit for. Although, I would say the whole Paul McCartney being dead, with clues all over the place is genius...

 

[Dragonslayer]

I'd definitely say the Beatles are not overrated. In my opinion, they are the most influential Rock band of all time. Why?

Well, for one, they are probably the most successful band ever. However, mainstream appeal alone should not count for everything, as lot of other very influential bands that have already been named (such as Hendrix, The Doors or Floyd) definitely are also great and musically interesting, however were not as hugely successful as the Beatles. But at the same time, this is my main argument for their greatness: The Beatles, like no other band, managed to combine musical skill and musical sophistication with a tremendous mainstream appeal - and THAT is testimony to their greatness.

Sure, Pink Floyd definitely wrote a lot more complex songs than the Beatles. But the Beatles reached just so many more people while still maintaining a really high musical level, especially in later works. Of course they also had some "bad" songs as has been said - but then again, every band has some "bad" songs; no matter if we're talking about The Beatles, The Doors, Hendrix or Pink Floyd or whoever you want. For every piece of utter genius, there will be at least one or two songs that are just nothing special or great.

But if you take a look at "Yesterday", which is probably the Beatles' most popular song, and then look at the harmonies of that song, it is fascinating to see that in truth, this song is a lot more sophisticated and complicated from a musical point of view than the prima facie simplicity of the song might make it seem. Add to that the fact that The Beatles do not have only one so tremendously successful and great song, but numerous classics that still to this day hold true in the test of time, and still to this day manage to reach new audiences again; that only once again underlines the quality of their music.

Now while I personally am not the hugest Beatles fan in that I do not listen to them all day long simply because it is not entirely my type of music anymore as I've mostly switched to metal meanwhile, I still can't but acknowledge the musical genius behind their work, combined with a mass appeal that is truly unparalleled which together constitute the impact and greatness of this band and thus leads me to my concluding statements: The Beatles just can't ever be overrated.

 

[Gutter Phenomenon]

I think the reason they were more commercially successful was because a point you just made. Their songs were less complex than Pink Floyds in many cases. I'm not saying The Beatles weren't good musicians. I'm just stating that the music they played was definitely easier to listen to and looked upon better by the mainstream at the time. If both bands came out as new bands today, I think they could both sell nearly an equal amount of albums.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Hm I wouldn't agree on that - The Beatles and Pink Floyd just come from two entirely different genres. Beatles are more "Pop-Rock" and were always directed more towards a broader audience whereas Pink Floyd were always a Prog Rock band, and had an entirely different way of writing music.

This is like comparing a band like Tool or Dream Theater of today with bands like Nickelback or something like that (I'm trying to use examples here that are familiar to the American readers). The earlier are Progressive Rock/Metal bands with complex songs but which will never get Airplay in the radio (which holds true for most of Pink Floyd's stuff too, even though they have a few songs that get played ruglarly such as "Another Brick in The Wall II", "Wish You Were Here", probably "Money" and sometimes even "Shine on you crazy diamond", though that is rare unless you're listening to a pure rock station I guess), whereas the latter is a more "easily digestable" straightforward Rock band, which is more accessible to a broader audience, but which in turn provides "simpler" songs. Now the point I was trying to make is that the Beatles were at the same time tremendously successful AND had intelligent and musically sophisticated songs. Of course not all of them are - but they had quite a few, and many of those were actually their most popular ones.

Pink Floyd may have had more of those "complicated" songs, but they were also a lot less popular with the mainstream because of that. My point is that the Beatles managed to achieve both: A high level of musicianship and musical sophistication AND this huge level of popularity. And that is precisely what makes them that great in my opinion.

And I think that if both bands came out today, the Beatles would still sell more than Pink Floyd, simply because many of the same mechanisms are still at work in the music scene today that were back then.

 

[Jane]

Im gonna go a different route and say that, even though The Beatle's were a huge influence on music, this isn't the reason I would call them rated correctly. They just are a great band. Actually, they are probably my favourite band. Pink Floyd and Hendrix were more influential, but does that make them better? No, just different. A band could come around one day and start screaming into a microphone and it would be called influential to all the idiots who flocked to buy this genre. Actually, that exact thing happened with all the crap music today. But what i'm saying is, a band doesn't have to be the most influential to be the best. Not to put down Floyd and Hendrix. Others of my favourites. But The Beatles are great.

Anyway, back on topic. The Beatles were around 8 years. And in these years they accomplished alot more than a band like the Rolling Stones has done in 43 years. This was a big part of it. Who knows if The Beatles could of still kept it up. The best part is they never reached that point where they were releasing songs just to release songs, and I really don't hate any one. "Revolution 9" isn't a song. There are a few I don't love, but they all have their own charm. Someone said "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da." This song is fun and I think it was just so they could have some fun, and alot of people like the upbeat tune. The Beatle's were on top of the world when they quit. Maybe it wasn't the high point of Beatlemania, but they were still huge. They had released the most controversial album of all time, The White Ablum, put out the incredible Abbey Road, and were already completed Let It Be, which had some amazing songs. They were young and still at the top of there game.

Now for the individual songs. The early ones were great, "Please Please Me," "She Loves You," and "Love Me Do," all set the tone for a great future. Though these songs were good, they weren't even the best they could do, because next up we have a couple of albums I kind of group, despite being pretty different. The sound tracks you could say. "A Hard Days Night" and "Help!" became two of the most played radio songs of all time, and the albums included some great songs that can sometimes be overlooked, such as "Can't Buy Me Love," "It's Only Love," and "I've Just Seen a Face," are all good songs and it was around this time The Beatles began their transformation from the mop tops to the new Beatles of Rubber Soul. Speaking of which, next up is my third favourite album of all time. Rubber Soul had some of the most incredible songs I have ever listened to, and it all flowed nicely. I love the catchy songs like "Drive My Car," "The Word," and "You Won't See Me." We had some dark tones with "Girl," and the weakest point of the album, "Run For Your Life." Of course you also have the incredible "In My Life," a song that really gets to me. Some other good ones are "Nowhere Man," "Norwegian Wood," and "Michelle." Then in 1966 came Revolver, the most revolutionary album of the time period, I think. The song had some of the best there ever will be. My second favourite album included the acid-ridden "She Said, She Said," the beautiful "For No One," the trippy "Tommorow Never Knows," the million dollar childrens song "Yellow Submarine," and my favourite of the album, "I'm Only Sleeping." The album completed the transition: The Cavern playing boys from Liverpool to the mysterious death faking Beatles of the late 60s. The next year we got Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. We got megahits like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "A Day in the Life," and "With a Little Help from My Friends." Their are also a handful of underrated tracks like "Getting Better," "Lovely Rita and "She's Leaving Home." Up next is Magical Mystery Tour. Ok, so despite all the criticism of the movie, and the "reused" tracks, this album has three things that make it what it is. "I Am The Walrus," "Penny Lane," and "Strawberry Fields Forever." These songs are incredible. They are three different styles, all on one album, and all going down in history. The next album is probably the most confusing and mysterious album of all time. People would buy this album just to listen to "Revolution 9," or the little bit of "I'm So Tired" backwards. But it wasn't all about that. You had so many songs on one album. I'll just name some of the best. You had "Rocky Racoon" covering your "country," "Julia" to relax you and take you away to another place, "Yer Blues" for, uh, blues? I don't really know. Anyway, every sone has special meaning. Great album, but next comes the greatest album of all time. Abbey Road took everything great about the Beatles and put it on one album. "Octopus Garden" was just a fun song giving Ringo something to do. "Here Comes the Sun" is Georges greatest song of all time. "Oh! Darling" was a masterpeice in my opinion. "Come Together" was a nice one too. Listening to the side two medley, you just sit there and get transported away to a new world. When "The End" comes, even years later, you feel as if something, a legacy, is over. Then comes Let It Be, which included some good ones, though this is an example of why The Beatles saved themselves by breaking up early. I kinda wish it never came out, and "Let It Be" and "Across the Universe" were singles cause the rest kinda weren't worth it. But it still couldn't tarnish thier reputation.

In conclusion, I know I went a bit off topic, but I wanted to just say that The Beatles had so many great songs that they could never be overrated. You were probably thinking that I forgot "Get Back," and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and, of course, "Hey Jude." Well thats the thing. They have so many songs that I can't even list them all. They have to many. They deserve all the praise not for influence, but for the memory of what they were. All the girls who fainted at the sight, all the people who spent days listening to the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever," all the people who rushed home to hear what The Beatles released next. That is why they are the most incredible band of all time, and why nobody could ever overrate them.

And they were more popular than Jesus. Not better, more popular.