I hated them. I despised them. I mocked anyone who liked them and made fun of their music as tired boy band pop.
Ok, maybe those words are just a bit too strong. I didn’t actually hate the Beatles as much as I didn’t get them. Why were these guys considered the kings of pop music? What did they do that was so original? Why do music critics and the general populace alike eat these guys up?
These were questions that plagued me, so instead of actually researching the band, I claimed I didn’t like their music, that it wasn’t real rock, and that they were a bunch of pansies.
And then I started to listen. OK, maybe their first few albums are full of weak pop music, but once Rubber Soul rolled around, and certainly by Revolver- these guys were a rock band playing music that no one had ever played before.
Their genius comes from the fact that they were able to push the boundaries, while still creating music that people ate up; kind of like Radiohead, but with less boundary pushing and more popularity.
So while I don’t think these guys are gods when it comes to music, I’ve come to respect them as the great musicians and songwriters that they are.
The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles- Strawberry Fields Forever
The Beatles- I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
4 comments:
It's not just the kind of music they wrote and performed, it is that they were simultaneously inventing it. They created much of the vocabulary for rock and roll and pop that is still used today.
Everyone loves The Beatles, dude. You can't fight it.
When you listen to music charts before the Beatles and then after, then one can see the revolutionary effect the Beatles had on popular music in general.
Helter Skelter came up on my ipod the other day and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Heavy metal. I have listened to the Beatles for 30 years now and I still hear things that surprise me as I put their music in context of the times. This song was out while Jimmy Page was still playing in the Yardbirds. Zeppelin still to come.
Realize that these guys were able to successfully change their sound album after album with not just one or two incredible songs but essentially an entire album of incredible songs.
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