About this user
Greatest Band of all time: The Beatles
Greatest Musician/Songwriter: John Lennon
Greatest Song of all time: Strawberry Fields Forever
Greatest Album of all time: Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
10 Reasons why the Beatles are better than the Stones.
10. More sales. More total album sales, more number one albums, more number one singles.
9. Polls. Look at lists published my well respected magazines such as Rolling Stone and Spin. The Beatles were #1 on their greatest bands list. They had 11 albums in the top 500 list (more than anyone else, 4 in the top 10.) And more songs in the top 500 list than anyone.
8. They knew when to quit. The Beatles last album, Let it Be, was infinitely better than the Stones last album, A Bigger Bang. The Beatles never sold out.
6. John Lennon was so much more rebellious than the Stones. He was always protesting, always in the media. He was anti establishment, and the Beatles were nearly banned from the US. And while we're on the subject of rebellion, lets look at another band around at the same time as the Stones, the Kinks, were banned from performing on stage for 4 years in the US for "rowdy behavior"!
5. Who would you rather take vocal lessons from, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, or Mick Jagger? Paul McCartney easily beat him on quality of vocals. John Lennon easily beat him on raspy, hard rock and roll sound. And the harmonies were unmatched. Have you ever heard harmonies like the ones on Abbey Road?
4. Complication of song. Keith Richards would occasionally write a more complicated riff than George Harrison or John Lennon. Other than that lets look at a few things. Beatles songs are tougher to sing. Almost all of the latter year songs have backing orchestras. Many of the songs have a piano. And the pure magic that George Martin and John Lennon could put into a song was brilliant. Read the Wikipedia page on "Strawberry Fields Forever".
3. Lennon/McCartney was way more sucessful than Jagger/Richards. It was the greatest song writing partnership in history.
2. Originality. Even there early stuff (I want to Hold your Hand, She Loves You), was different from anything that had been done. Not to mention Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper, White Album, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, and Let it be. Many of the Stones songs sound VERY similar to stuff done by Chuck Berry.
1. Innovation and Influence. They released the first fully psychadelic album. Had it not been for Sgt Pepper, There Satanic Majesties Request wouldn't have charted. And influence, David Gilmour and Syd Barrett were inluenced by the Beatles. David Bowie loved the Beatles. Bono was a big Beatles fan. Kurt Cobain was a HUGE Beatles fan. Loved John Lennon in particular. Kurt Cobain hated double tracking. For those who don't know, double tracking is where you basically record someone singing the same song 2 different times. Cobain didn't want to do it. But he was convinced during the Nevermind sessions to do double tracking because he heard that John Lennon did it alot.
Led Zeppelin created "The Rain Song" after speaking with George Harrison who said that Led Zep didn't have enough ballads.
Many anti-Beatles say that the Beatles weren't trying to write good music, but were just trying to stay popular. I refute this claim in its entirety, but read a quote from Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin: "...Mass acceptance, which is what we all work for. I mean, everybody, however much they like to deny the fact, really, in the end wants to be accepted by the majority of the people for being either a talent or a commodity."
