Quote:
Originally Posted by suds79
Yeah no doubt they were the first and changed history. No argument there. I just hate their sound.
I know it's a me thing. I've come to accept that.
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Understandable.
But to me, 'the Beatles' went through 5 extremely different phases, and as a result can almost sound like 5 different bands :
1. early days - fast swinging 'beat' rock and roll w/huge soul/Motown influence on ballads...lots of 'boy-meets-girl' lyrics. (1962-64)
2. middle period - marked by more lyrical and instrumental experimentation; transitional period, but progressive (1965)
3. Psychedelia - complete sonic and aesthetic overhaul; music was in black and white before; the Beatles made it in technicolor with Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. Orchestral, hall, jazzy flairs, eastern influence - a complete and total synthesis of every existing type of music on earth.
4. The soloists - (1968) - for the White Album, they worked on each song almost as a 'solo performer' with a backing band. Stripped of psychedelic trappings, earnest and raw, again reaching heights no one before had attained. Hey Jude and Revolution date from this period, as do Lady Madonna and Old Brown Shoe. The first (and superior) Across the Universe dates from this period.
5. The End - where they finally coalessed into a complete whole one last time to make the grand definitive statement in Abbey Road. They had never sounded better, before or since, either together or apart.
So, to me...'their sound' is a bit of a misnomer; they were very broad.