The Beatles suck

[aMetalhead1966]

The entire Beatles suck/don't suck issue is mostly a matter of generation. It all comes down to what was king when a person was experiencing their formative years. For the most part, what you discover as your musical taste and preference in your years as a teen and young adult determines what you will stand by and rabidly defend as you age. For a lot of people, hearing someone say their favorite band, or genre, or musical taste sucks, is on par with saying, "Your wife's a whore", and we've seen this on an almost daily basis when posters have gone absolutely bugshit when a beloved artist has been disrespected. It's human nature. If it was before my time, how can I possibly appreciate it? How can I even briefly entertain the notion that what my parents listened to might have been cool? It was cool... in 1945, and right up until a new generation of music came along and blew the big band era right out of the water. It was new; it was hip; it was happening; it was groovy, man. American rebels like Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, and Elvis pioneered this new sound, and they were the emerging kings. Hell, they were gods to that generation. But their influence on that generation spawned imitators and innovators to take it to the next level, and that's where the British Invasion kicked in. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, and many others rose to take the torch from the gods with scores of garage bands cropping up and driving parents to distraction, as the previous generation sought to quell the logical next step of the advance of that "heathen rock and roll." But there was no turning back. There was Beatle Mania, and if you weren't around to experience at least the tail end of it, you really have no idea how insane it was. It lasted for several years and it was madness on par with what had been experienced several years before with Elvis. There is no denying that The Beatles were the last act that generated such hype and hysteria. They owned a generation. There have been acts in the post Beatle era that generated fanfare, but nothing remotely like what they garnered over several years from the masses. By and large, if you were a teen when The Beatles were at the crest of their wave, you went fucking nuts over them. That type of prolonged hysteria simply hasn't occurred for any act following them.

 

And their influence was even greater than that of the pioneers with their disciples taking what they learned from them to reach the next level, which began to shift some of that focus from the British Invasion towards another crop of new artists - this time on a global level of emerging talents. Rock and roll had been gaining momentum throughout the world and it had now arrived in full force. To coincide, the new generation gradually pushed The Beatles back from the limelight as the new gods took over, and rock and roll branched off in assorted directions. These new artists were the new kings of cool, and it became in vogue to dismiss The Beatles as "yesterday's news" - despite the protestations of those artists, who praised The Beatles as the influence they could not exist without. In almost biblical proportions, these artists begat the next artists, who begat the next artists, and so on - each generation weakening in their understanding that the trail blazers were a vital component to the existence of the current incarnation of cool. To suggest that "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" has any bearing on what you hear being produced today will open one to scorn and derision by the current generation, but history shows the current crop of artists will be "yesterday's news" to following generations, and those people will make the same generalized dismissals of what is considered cool today.

 

I just caught the tail end of the hysteria generated by The Beatles, and my formative years were about a decade after their unfortunate demise, so my taste was arrived at during the hard rock as king era, but nothing I've seen since that time period of the mid to late 1960's has even come remotely close to the madness of Beatle Mania. Seeing as my favorite artists were able to forge a new genre that has given me the sounds I listen to today, I have nothing but respect and admiration for all that The Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion, as well as the pioneers of rock, did to make that possible. They may suck to your ears compared to your taste, but somewhere along the line, those sounds you like today, are undeniably influenced by previous gods.

 

Exactly what I meant to say

 

Well said!

Backed..this is one of the most respectful,informative posts ever!!

[Geoff]

I won't deny any of them their place in history, but I hate when people assume you have to like them out of obligation or something.

 

I can understand this position., cuz that's how I feel about a lot of bands, Led Zeppelin for one... yeah, OK, maybe they were a huge influence on a lot of the bands I listen to, but LZ honestly never did a damn thing for me.

Preach on Brother Keith!!! Backed completely.

[Fat Freddy]

I won't deny any of them their place in history, but I hate when people assume you have to like them out of obligation or something.

 

I can understand this position., cuz that's how I feel about a lot of bands, Led Zeppelin for one... yeah, OK, maybe they were a huge influence on a lot of the bands I listen to, but LZ honestly never did a damn thing for me.

Preach on Brother Keith!!! Backed completely.

 

 

I'm glad someone understands... cuz when I was in high school, saying "I don't really like Led Zeppelin much" was tantamount to saying "I wear a dress."

[Jez]

I won't deny any of them their place in history, but I hate when people assume you have to like them out of obligation or something.

 

I can understand this position., cuz that's how I feel about a lot of bands, Led Zeppelin for one... yeah, OK, maybe they were a huge influence on a lot of the bands I listen to, but LZ honestly never did a damn thing for me.

Preach on Brother Keith!!! Backed completely.

 

 

I'm glad someone understands... cuz when I was in high school, saying "I don't really like Led Zeppelin much" was tantamount to saying "I wear a dress."

 

Was it a nice Pink one with frilly bits?

[heaven&hell]

for me I HATE the Who ..utter rubbish IMO

 

Wow!!!!!Really?

Damn I think The Who were an amazing band and were full of great musicians.

They had so many great songs and were a great live band plus they rocked so much more than the Beatles or the Stones.

[SamboraRocks86]

You know I kid you alot about some of the stuff you listen to Geoff... But the one band you and I both admire is SR-71. The funny thing is... Two bands that you have no respect for are the two bands that most inspire Mitch and the music of SR-71. Those being Cheap Trick and the Beatles. I'm sure you know that on the SR-71 debut there is even a song called "Paul McCartney". Personally, I've always prefered McCartney over Lennon, but thats just me.

Yeah, that's a great example of how being inspired by a band doesn't translate into sounding anything like them. As I said in that same thread, Cauterize are inspired by Green Day (who I despise).

 

Oh, and 'Paul McCartney' is a good song too. Better than anything I've ever heard from The Beatles.

 

 

Just the fact that so many great bands were inspired by the Beatles make them an important part of rock history. I just don't see how people who listen to the music listed here on HH can say the Beatles suck. Thats like saying that most bands listed on the site have a crappy taste in music since many of these bands were directly influenced by the Beatles. I have a feeling some responses are more of a direct poke at Sambora than actual hate toward the Beatles.

 

PS- Mitch has delayed his solo disc again.... He should be writing with and producing for some pretty big acts in the near future.

 

backed!

 

firstly Geoff, i never once said that you guys had to like The Beatles, what i did say was that you should recognize Lennon for being an Icon....i wasnt talking about their music but what they symbolise, which is an evolution in music, and the bands they influenced might have sounded totally different to what they actually sound like now if it werent for The Beatles...

 

they are a keystone IMO, if there were no beatles, then im willing to bet that the music we lsiten to now would be very different (when i say now i mean current bands, not our 80s stuff)

 

its like in Back To The Future II, where one change eskews the future....it would be a butterfly effect, if you took them away then the change in music would get greater as time moved on.....by now, 40 year later, it would probably sound very different, because the bands that influenced modern bands, were probably influenced by The Beatles. once you establish a chain of influences, if you remove the first one, then the 5th band would sound very different, because the 2nd band would sound slightly different, the 3rd moreso, the 4th even moreso and the 5th might not even exist in an alternate reality...

 

however, this could be said for the stones, or the who aswell, but i digress...

 

as for this quote:

 

"Yeah, that's a great example of how being inspired by a band doesn't translate into sounding anything like them."

 

i never meant to come across as "the bands you like liked the beatles, so you should too", i meant that the bands you like, might not even be famous if they werent influenced by The Beatles, they may have never gotten the urge to start playing, and if they did it would have sounded different....a slight difference, or a huge one, who knows, but they wouldnt be the same.

 

also, ive noticed that 90% of rockstars, sound NOTHING like their influences, i mean just off the top of my head;

 

Kiss > Pantera

Beatles/Southside Johnny > Bon Jovi

Stones/Led Zeppelin > GnR

New York Dolls/Aerosmith > Motley Crue

 

you'll probably point out that Pantera were once glam, fair enough, but they werent anything like Kiss once they made their breakthrough, which is the era im referring to.

 

in summary, whether you listen to the band or not, you cant deny the impact they made, because you can trace it up to your favourite band...

 

 

 

in terms of wether you like the music or not, i dont think its fair to say theyve sucked unless, like Geoff, you've heard the entire catalogue.....because nearly every album sounds different, you cant tell me that I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Back In The USSR, Yellow Submarine, Sgt Peppers and Oh Darling all sound the same....can you? im not a huge fan of Please Please Me, but i love Abbey Road, its seriously one of my all time fave albums, and Sgt Peppers aint bad either, but i find White Album to be overrated and Revolver doesnt do much for me at all...

 

and as Metal T said, theres nothing wrong with the songs, ive heard some GREAT covers that alot of you would like, infact, theres the "Butchering The Beatles" album which takes those songs but theyve been re-recorded with a more rock/heavy metal sound, heres the tracklist:

 

1. Hey, Bulldog - Alice Cooper, Steve Vai, Duff McKagan 4:11

2. Back In The Ussr - Lemmy Kilmister, John 5, Eric Singer 3:30

3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - Billy Gibbons, Vivian Campbell, Mike Porcaro, Greg Bisonnette, Joe Fazzio 4:05

4. Tomorrow Never Knows - Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw, Doug Aldrich, Marco Mendoza, Virgil Donati 4:04

5. Magical Mystery Tour - John Bush, Stef Carpenter, Mike Inez, John Tempesta 4:30

6. Revolution - Tim "Ripper" Owens, George Lynch , Tim Bogert, Chris Slade 5:01

7. Daytripper - Kip Winger, Bruce Kulick, Tony Franklin, Aynsley Dunbar 3:45

8. I Feel Fine - Billy Idol, Steve Stevens, Blasko, Brian Tichy 3:39

9. Taxman - Geoff Tate, Michael Wilton, Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo, Simon Wright, Scott Warren 3:49

10. I Saw Her Standing There - Jeff Keith, Phil Campbell, CC Deville, Chris Chaney, Kenny Aronoff 3:58

11. Hey Jude - Doug Pinnick, Steve Lukather, Tony Levin, Steve Ferrone 5:22

12. Drive My Car - Jeff Scott Soto, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jeff Pilson, Frankie Banali

 

im sure a few of you beatle haters would actually like this album if you threw all Beatles hate out the window for a minute and listened to the songs as they are, songs...

 

the Jeff Scott Soto version of Magical Mystery Tour is actually amazing, its very 80s rock!

 

audio samples here:

http://www.amazon.com/Butchering-Beatles-H...s/dp/B000ICMF58

 

 

this turned out to be a longer post than expected, but i jsut remembered that album, and i think it proves that even if you dont like the original stuff, this might be more up your street, same songs but different production and arrangement, with some great musicians on it!

[cdjunky41]

for me I HATE the Who ..utter rubbish IMO

 

Wow!!!!!Really?

Damn I think The Who were an amazing band and were full of great musicians.

They had so many great songs and were a great live band plus they rocked so much more than the Beatles or the Stones.

HELL YEAH!!

[SamboraRocks86]

from the other thread:

 

The crunchy/grooving guitar sound and the rhythmic drumming is to be found all over the modern Metal bands - like Slipknot, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Trivium etc - and they were so obviously influenced by Dime's style that, without him, these bands would sound a lot different or not exist...

 

so The Beatles influenced Kiss, who influenced Dime, who influenced Slipknot (and more directly, Jim Roots biggest influence was The Beatles and The Stones)

 

so, what would Slipknot sound like without The Beatles in the mix?

[Geoff]

Mate, no one said all their songs sound the same. A few people just believe that they wrote a few good ones, but a much larger percentage of shit ones. As far as I know, no one said anything at all which relates to them sounding the same.

 

Anyway, a lot of your argument is based around butterfly effect / sliding door assumptions. It's impossible to say either way with any accuracy because history is just what it is, but I don't think The Beatles are the reason we listen to the bands we love today.

 

And I've said it many times before, I'm pretty sure I dislike every Beatles cover I've ever heard too, bar one or two ('Helter Skelter'). Because I simply just don't like their songs.

[SamboraRocks86]

Mate, no one said all their songs sound the same. A few people just believe that they wrote a few good ones, but a much larger percentage of shit ones. As far as I know, no one said anything at all which relates to them sounding the same.

 

Anyway, a lot of your argument is based around butterfly effect / sliding door assumptions. It's impossible to say either way with any accuracy because history is just what it is, but I don't think The Beatles are the reason we listen to the bands we love today.

 

And I've said it many times before, I'm pretty sure I dislike every Beatles cover I've ever heard too, bar one or two ('Helter Skelter'). Because I simply just don't like their songs.

 

check out JSSs cover of Magical Mystery Tour

[Geoff]

from the other thread:

 

The crunchy/grooving guitar sound and the rhythmic drumming is to be found all over the modern Metal bands - like Slipknot, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Trivium etc - and they were so obviously influenced by Dime's style that, without him, these bands would sound a lot different or not exist...

 

so The Beatles influenced Kiss, who influenced Dime, who influenced Slipknot (and more directly, Jim Roots biggest influence was The Beatles and The Stones)

 

so, what would Slipknot sound like without The Beatles in the mix?

Surely you can't think there is any merit in a discussion like this??

 

What if Van Halen had done this? What if KISS did that? What if Led Zepplin did this?

 

Complete waste of time, mate. What's happened did happen.

[Geoff]

Mate, no one said all their songs sound the same. A few people just believe that they wrote a few good ones, but a much larger percentage of shit ones. As far as I know, no one said anything at all which relates to them sounding the same.

 

Anyway, a lot of your argument is based around butterfly effect / sliding door assumptions. It's impossible to say either way with any accuracy because history is just what it is, but I don't think The Beatles are the reason we listen to the bands we love today.

 

And I've said it many times before, I'm pretty sure I dislike every Beatles cover I've ever heard too, bar one or two ('Helter Skelter'). Because I simply just don't like their songs.

 

check out JSSs cover of Magical Mystery Tour

Nah, if I didn't like a covers album from Tesla there is no hope for any band ever.

[SamboraRocks86]

from the other thread:

 

The crunchy/grooving guitar sound and the rhythmic drumming is to be found all over the modern Metal bands - like Slipknot, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Trivium etc - and they were so obviously influenced by Dime's style that, without him, these bands would sound a lot different or not exist...

 

so The Beatles influenced Kiss, who influenced Dime, who influenced Slipknot (and more directly, Jim Roots biggest influence was The Beatles and The Stones)

 

so, what would Slipknot sound like without The Beatles in the mix?

Surely you can't think there is any merit in a discussion like this??

 

What if Van Halen had done this? What if KISS did that? What if Led Zepplin did this?

 

Complete waste of time, mate. What's happened did happen.

 

well maybe not, but surely theres merit for me moving the quote to this thread instead of bringing Lennon back into the Dime thread

 

and this thraed stemmed from us talking about how much impact the beatles had on modern music, so theres my argument...

[Stefan]

At least the price sucks on this Beatles item

 

White Album

[Nelson]

Funny, but I like The Beatles. I think I just understand THAT brilliance that most people that like them understand. But I like mostly their songs starting only from 1967. Not that crazy about She Loves You, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.

[Glen]

You know I kid you alot about some of the stuff you listen to Geoff... But the one band you and I both admire is SR-71. The funny thing is... Two bands that you have no respect for are the two bands that most inspire Mitch and the music of SR-71. Those being Cheap Trick and the Beatles. I'm sure you know that on the SR-71 debut there is even a song called "Paul McCartney". Personally, I've always prefered McCartney over Lennon, but thats just me.

As I said in that same thread, Cauterize are inspired by Green Day (who I despise).

 

 

Green Day's next album is going to be power-pop.

 

Another Yellowcard??

 

Who knows.

[Geoff]

You know I kid you alot about some of the stuff you listen to Geoff... But the one band you and I both admire is SR-71. The funny thing is... Two bands that you have no respect for are the two bands that most inspire Mitch and the music of SR-71. Those being Cheap Trick and the Beatles. I'm sure you know that on the SR-71 debut there is even a song called "Paul McCartney". Personally, I've always prefered McCartney over Lennon, but thats just me.

As I said in that same thread, Cauterize are inspired by Green Day (who I despise).

 

 

Green Day's next album is going to be power-pop.

 

Another Yellowcard??

 

Who knows.

If they record a half decent album I will publicly offer my severed testicles for auction on this site.

 

That's how sure I am of their inability to create good music.

 

Yellowcard were still a good band before the stunning 'Paper Walls' album. Green Day have never shown an ounce of promise.

[Dead Planet]

At least the price sucks on this Beatles item

 

White Album

 

 

Damn I own one of those....no way it can be worth that kind of money.....

[Guest UltimateSin]

I'll give The Beatles credit for breaking down some barriers. No one was singing about drugs or anything controversial before them. I will also give them credit for being real catchy. A lot of their songs stick in your head and some of Beatles songs don't sound out of place on the radio which is a great accomplishment for a band that is 40+ years old. This is where my credit for them stops. I don't like sugar coated pop music, I never have! Cheesy stupid pop jingles like I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You. I can't stand crap like that it makes me want to puke. Later in their career they started doing stoner rock that makes no sense to anyone but other stoners. Yellow Submarine, The Walrus, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds all have weird stupid lyrics. It really sounds like they had a acid trip and wrote whatever they saw down as lyrics. To me that is lame.

[Metal T]

goo goo g'joob...

[aMetalhead1966]

for me I HATE the Who ..utter rubbish IMO

 

Wow!!!!!Really?

Damn I think The Who were an amazing band and were full of great musicians.

They had so many great songs and were a great live band plus they rocked so much more than the Beatles or the Stones.

Tis True...I will say that they have done some cool stuff and Certainly

Laid the Foundation for Hard Rock, but I just have NO interest in them

what so ever...Same for the Doors...It probably stems from the fact

that growing up I heard them ALL the time( from Uncles, Cousins,etc) and I'm SO burnt out

on them that I can't even listen to them...plus I think they are Over-rated...

[Stefan]

Suck or not suck, the only one who suck is my girlfriend..........

 

 

 

 

[cdjunky41]

Funny, but I like The Beatles. I think I just understand THAT brilliance that most people that like them understand. But I like mostly their songs starting only from 1967. Not that crazy about She Loves You, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.

Yeah!

It's just as bad as american Doo Wop!

[SamboraRocks86]

Later in their career they started doing stoner rock that makes no sense to anyone but other stoners.

 

Made sense to me!

 

 

oh, wait

 

Yellow Submarine, The Walrus, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds all have weird stupid lyrics. It really sounds like they had a acid trip and wrote whatever they saw down as lyrics.

 

they did, that was the magical mystery tour!