Which was most influential

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Hence why I said it could be argued "as they matured"... although by that time they weren't really pushing an envelope that hadn't already been pushed by bands like The Beach Boys with multi-track recording and Phil Spector with his wall of sound. Even Paul McCartney admits that a ton of what came out on Sgt Peppers was inspired by Good Vibrations.

They simply weren't very ground breaking. Again, top 50 in the 20th century in that regard... maybe.

Google the story about how Rubber Soul drove Brian Wilson.

And I see your differentiation between influence and innovation, I can't credit the Beach Boys with widespread influence as, aside from an era of surf music that they influenced and were influenced by, they pretty much stand on an island alone. You'd be hard pressed to come up with a large list that you'd label 'Beach Boys 2.0,' or 'Beach Boys of 80s/90s/some other subgenre' If something sounds like the Beach Boys, 9 times out of 10 is IS the Beach Boys, or offshoot project.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Google the story about how Rubber Soul drove Brian Wilson.

I know it... but that is "inspire" not innovate. Yes, I know I am changing the direction and defining my own terms.

Nothing about Rubber Soul was particularly new, Brian just felt it was "complete" so he wanted to make his own complete album with all top quality songs. While accomplishing that he also pushed the envelope in the way music was recorded and layered.