So, I've never listened to The Beatles, at least not really outside of the Beatles movies I watched between High School and college. So I decided I'd rectify that. I'm on Revolver right now going in chronological order.
I really like this band. It's rare that you ever find artistry that is so ingrained in popular culture and has been so celebrated for so many years, and yet, when experienced, reminds you that all of that praise is entirely justified.
The weird thing is, though, I really do feel like I'm 50 years late to this party. I would love to run around talking to people about this awesome band I discovered, but it's hard to do that when everyone's already discussed this topic to the ground long before you.
But I figured maybe there are some people here who haven't heard them, or maybe there are people who haven't given them a listen in a while, or maybe there are some die-hard Beatles fans who can't stop listening to them. To those people, let's do it. Beatles run. Please Please Me to Let it Be. Post thoughts as you go.
I've been a hardcore Beatles fan since I was a wee lad. It's never too late to join the party. Sounds like you're into the meat of the material. I love Revolver, it represents the most significant change in their development/sound. Rubber Soul to a degree as well. A friend of mine periodically performs the White Album in it's entirety with his project band (The NowHere Band), usually in the Portland OR. area. They are far more than any kind of tribute band, closest thing you'll hear to the real thing live. They pretty much play the music verbatim with strings, horns, etc. I keep trying to convince him to take it on the road but he's too busy with his main band and other projects.
I've been listening to them for 40 years and still find something fresh and exciting about their music every time I listen.
I find it pretty tough to talk about The Beatles in a serious way. It's like Shakespeare's great tragedies. Eventually all you can do is paraphrase "They're really good" again and again. I'm glad you mentioned Let It Be, because that's my absolute favorite song. Could listen to it forever. I'm tempted to try and name another favorite or two, but I know I'll just end up going on forever. You're lucky, coming on Sgt Pepper next. I think that was the album that really changed their image among the intelligentsia into first rate, intellectual artists, other than just a very talented, popular group. CNN had a documentary on them recently that said a lot of radio stations just played it 24/7, because it was all anybody requested.
If you're going chronologically, I would advice switching around Abbey Road and Let It Be, so Abbey Road's last. The medley that makes up its last fifteen minutes makes a perfect finish.
I've been a hardcore Beatles fan since I was a wee lad. It's never too late to join the party. Sounds like you're into the meat of the material. I love Revolver, it represents the most significant change in their development/sound.
Oh my goodness, yes. It's actually really amazing to see the growth between each album, but Rubber Soul and Revolver... Revolver sounds more like listening to an iPod Shuffle. They'll play a song that's one genre, and then play a song that's in a totally different genre, and you'll think, "How is this the same band?!" They go from pop rock to rock to folk rock to folk to... World music? Which they may have been the first, or at least were among the first, to ever do. Insane.
I also love listening to their songs and saying, "Oh, this reminds me of Billy Joel," or "Oh, this reminds me of [artist]." I don't know much about the rock scene that came before or was contemporaneous to The Beatles, but I can hear the influence they had on artists who would come afterward.
I cannot freaking believe (A) I'm only a little past halfway through their discography, and (B) their career was only seven years. SEVEN YEARS?! This is a volume of work that'd be amazing if you could do it in 20 years, and they did so while improving, reinventing, and revolutionizing in each subsequent record.
I find it pretty tough to talk about The Beatles in a serious way. It's like Shakespeare's great tragedies.
You know, it's cool you compared them to Shakespeare, because I was talking to a friend and compared this experience to reading Shakespeare's plays. You're told your whole life that Shakespeare's amazing, and he's continuously hyped as being the greatest playwright ever, the pinnacle of literature.
Then you actually read his plays. And you realize that all of that hype doesn't prepare you for it, because now you're actually experiencing it and you realize that all of that praise is completely justified, and as you experience more and understand more about the medium, your appreciation for it only grows.
My wife, until she was nine, wanted to marry Ringo. Then she found out how old he is. Anyway, because of her, I recently concentrated on the Beatles. We've gone to a few "Beatles lectures", which aren't as boring as it sounds. This guy goes over a lot of the history and early takes on tracks that went into individual albums. Beatleslectures.com is his website. Excellent stuff and you might see if he's coming to your area. We've been to 3 lectures (Revolver, White Album, Sgt Pepper's) and I'm excited for him to come back to the area.
I've always been around "oldies". My parents would listen to music from the 50's, 60's, and 70's in the car, so I grew up with it. I never really sat down and listened to the Beatles, though, until after I got married to a real Beatles nut. Recently, we flew across the country to go see Ringo's exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, CA. My wife acted like she was having a religious experience. Then we drove over to Las Vegas to see the "Love" Circque du Soleil show, which is based entirely on Beatles music. Because of these experiences, I'm forming a new appreciation of their music on top of the old, somewhat generic experience of just hearing them on the radio.
I tend to like their songs for different reasons and can't really pick a favorite. I can talk about songs with a lot of different people, though, from many different background and generations. I wasn't born until a decade and half after they broke up, but I don't feel 'late to the party'. It's just nice to find that all the good feels I have are shared with a large and diverse group of people.
I don't know which song will end up being my favorite, but I do know that after I listened to "In My Life" for the first time, I got through one more song before stopping the music and sitting for about twenty minutes just working through all of the emotions I was feeling.
So I'm giving that the position of favorite Beatles song so far.
I grew up on music primarily from the 50s-mid 70s and I never really thought much of The Beatles. There is nothing wrong with them, but at the same time nothing about their sound ever made me all that interested other than a song here and there.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
So, I've never listened to The Beatles, at least not really outside of the Beatles movies I watched between High School and college. So I decided I'd rectify that. I'm on Revolver right now going in chronological order.
I really like this band. It's rare that you ever find artistry that is so ingrained in popular culture and has been so celebrated for so many years, and yet, when experienced, reminds you that all of that praise is entirely justified.
The weird thing is, though, I really do feel like I'm 50 years late to this party. I would love to run around talking to people about this awesome band I discovered, but it's hard to do that when everyone's already discussed this topic to the ground long before you.
But I figured maybe there are some people here who haven't heard them, or maybe there are people who haven't given them a listen in a while, or maybe there are some die-hard Beatles fans who can't stop listening to them. To those people, let's do it. Beatles run. Please Please Me to Let it Be. Post thoughts as you go.
Like you I just got into the Beatles recently myself (well, about a year ago now). I always used to think they were just some overrated boy band that old people liked because of nostalgia but that couldn't have been further from the truth. Once I started listening to them in earnest I quickly realized that all of the praise they receive is well deserved. In fact I would say they're probably my favorite band at this point, and I wouldn't be surprised if they stay my favorite band for the rest of my life, their music just doesn't seem to grow old to me, and despite much of their work nearing, or past the half century mark it just all seems so timeless.
I also admire the progression of their career. They started out as just a boy band capturing the hearts of many with pop songs about girls and love and holding hands but they evolved into so much more than that as singers and songwriters. Starting with Rubber Soul and beyond you can really see the stark improvement of the band's songwriting and instrumentation, not that it was bad to begin with but they showed they had a TON more depth than just the ear-catchy pop songs of their early days, delving more into rock and lots of other musical experimentation. Of course it helped that a) they had tons of money at this point so while changing their sound was "risky" it wasn't like they would be destitute if it failed and b) they stopped touring because the fans at stadiums were so loud they drowned them out. Point b especially meant that with all of their time dedicated just to songwriting they could really start creating the masterpiece albums their later work would become.
Truly an amazing band and I can only shake my head at myself for not giving them a fair chance sooner. Really there hasn't been a band as impactful neither before, or since the Beatles. They were truly a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
Anyways to end my somewhat lengthy musing, my ranking of the Beatles albums (which changes fairly often >_>):
Rubber Soul > Abbey Road > Sgt. Peppers > Revolver > White Album > Magical Mystery Tour > Please Please Me > Beatles For Sale > A Hard Day's Night > Let it Be> With the Beatles > Yellow Submarine
All amazing albums. Hope you continue to enjoy them as much as I am!
Helter Skelter is not metal. It is metallic, yes but nowhere even close to being a metal song. Sabbath invented metal and to say otherwise is to admit to being deaf.
You could make a case for a lot of early 70s proto-metal like Flower Travellin' Band and Lucifer's Friend, and Black Sabbath, but yea helter skelter is quite far.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Virtue, Jacques, is an excellent thing. Both good people and wicked people speak highly of it..."
I'd say you've made a good choice by starting with Revolver and moving forward. Their early-early stuff is, in my opinion, a pretty uninspired, if fun, continuation of early, Elvis Presley style rock and roll, which shows its age. The earliest album which starts to show their own sound and some creative nuance is Help!, which is also my favourite album.
I'm always happy to see youngsters trying out the Beatles (here I am sounding like an old fogey when I'm not even thirty...). They're not a deep band, but they're extremely important, and will provide at least a few memorable tracks for your rotation.
I really like this band. It's rare that you ever find artistry that is so ingrained in popular culture and has been so celebrated for so many years, and yet, when experienced, reminds you that all of that praise is entirely justified.
The weird thing is, though, I really do feel like I'm 50 years late to this party. I would love to run around talking to people about this awesome band I discovered, but it's hard to do that when everyone's already discussed this topic to the ground long before you.
But I figured maybe there are some people here who haven't heard them, or maybe there are people who haven't given them a listen in a while, or maybe there are some die-hard Beatles fans who can't stop listening to them. To those people, let's do it. Beatles run. Please Please Me to Let it Be. Post thoughts as you go.
I've been listening to them for 40 years and still find something fresh and exciting about their music every time I listen.
If you're going chronologically, I would advice switching around Abbey Road and Let It Be, so Abbey Road's last. The medley that makes up its last fifteen minutes makes a perfect finish.
Oh my goodness, yes. It's actually really amazing to see the growth between each album, but Rubber Soul and Revolver... Revolver sounds more like listening to an iPod Shuffle. They'll play a song that's one genre, and then play a song that's in a totally different genre, and you'll think, "How is this the same band?!" They go from pop rock to rock to folk rock to folk to... World music? Which they may have been the first, or at least were among the first, to ever do. Insane.
I also love listening to their songs and saying, "Oh, this reminds me of Billy Joel," or "Oh, this reminds me of [artist]." I don't know much about the rock scene that came before or was contemporaneous to The Beatles, but I can hear the influence they had on artists who would come afterward.
I cannot freaking believe (A) I'm only a little past halfway through their discography, and (B) their career was only seven years. SEVEN YEARS?! This is a volume of work that'd be amazing if you could do it in 20 years, and they did so while improving, reinventing, and revolutionizing in each subsequent record.
You know, it's cool you compared them to Shakespeare, because I was talking to a friend and compared this experience to reading Shakespeare's plays. You're told your whole life that Shakespeare's amazing, and he's continuously hyped as being the greatest playwright ever, the pinnacle of literature.
Then you actually read his plays. And you realize that all of that hype doesn't prepare you for it, because now you're actually experiencing it and you realize that all of that praise is completely justified, and as you experience more and understand more about the medium, your appreciation for it only grows.
It's very rare to find something like that.
I've always been around "oldies". My parents would listen to music from the 50's, 60's, and 70's in the car, so I grew up with it. I never really sat down and listened to the Beatles, though, until after I got married to a real Beatles nut. Recently, we flew across the country to go see Ringo's exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, CA. My wife acted like she was having a religious experience. Then we drove over to Las Vegas to see the "Love" Circque du Soleil show, which is based entirely on Beatles music. Because of these experiences, I'm forming a new appreciation of their music on top of the old, somewhat generic experience of just hearing them on the radio.
I tend to like their songs for different reasons and can't really pick a favorite. I can talk about songs with a lot of different people, though, from many different background and generations. I wasn't born until a decade and half after they broke up, but I don't feel 'late to the party'. It's just nice to find that all the good feels I have are shared with a large and diverse group of people.
So I'm giving that the position of favorite Beatles song so far.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Getting so much better all the time... Sorry, just couldn't help myself
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
Like you I just got into the Beatles recently myself (well, about a year ago now). I always used to think they were just some overrated boy band that old people liked because of nostalgia but that couldn't have been further from the truth. Once I started listening to them in earnest I quickly realized that all of the praise they receive is well deserved. In fact I would say they're probably my favorite band at this point, and I wouldn't be surprised if they stay my favorite band for the rest of my life, their music just doesn't seem to grow old to me, and despite much of their work nearing, or past the half century mark it just all seems so timeless.
I also admire the progression of their career. They started out as just a boy band capturing the hearts of many with pop songs about girls and love and holding hands but they evolved into so much more than that as singers and songwriters. Starting with Rubber Soul and beyond you can really see the stark improvement of the band's songwriting and instrumentation, not that it was bad to begin with but they showed they had a TON more depth than just the ear-catchy pop songs of their early days, delving more into rock and lots of other musical experimentation. Of course it helped that a) they had tons of money at this point so while changing their sound was "risky" it wasn't like they would be destitute if it failed and b) they stopped touring because the fans at stadiums were so loud they drowned them out. Point b especially meant that with all of their time dedicated just to songwriting they could really start creating the masterpiece albums their later work would become.
Truly an amazing band and I can only shake my head at myself for not giving them a fair chance sooner. Really there hasn't been a band as impactful neither before, or since the Beatles. They were truly a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
Anyways to end my somewhat lengthy musing, my ranking of the Beatles albums (which changes fairly often >_>):
Rubber Soul > Abbey Road > Sgt. Peppers > Revolver > White Album > Magical Mystery Tour > Please Please Me > Beatles For Sale > A Hard Day's Night > Let it Be> With the Beatles > Yellow Submarine
All amazing albums. Hope you continue to enjoy them as much as I am!
"Helter Skelter"
Did the Beatles invent metal?
Because I'm pretty sure that the Beatles just invented metal.
If so, holy *****.
Sort of. The song was inspired by The Who's "I Can See For Miles". As a longtime fan of The Who, I am going to claim that they invented metal.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
I've definitely heard people call Helter Skelter a pre-cursor to metal.
I'm always happy to see youngsters trying out the Beatles (here I am sounding like an old fogey when I'm not even thirty...). They're not a deep band, but they're extremely important, and will provide at least a few memorable tracks for your rotation.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty