SamDBL wrote:I have become so much further into the Stones camp, it's not even funny. The Beatles were always thought of as the 'smart band'. But I think the songwriting team of Jagger/Richards is just as clever, in every sense of the word, as the McCartney/Lennon partnership. On top of that, I think it's way harder to pull off that blues-y, loose approach convincingly than the more straight forward pop centric way bands like the Beatles sing and present their songs. The same reason I flipped to favoring the Replacements over Husker Du years ago. I used to think that slovenly sound was inferior. But I'm totally the opposite, now.
I hate the Beatles. I generally believe, if a group is impactful and culturally relevant as most any of the "big ones" are, there's got to be SOME redeeming aspect in/of their catalog. I don't LOVE Zeppelin, but I can acknowledge their talent, production, craft, etc. Same with the Stones. I don't like all their stuff, but undeniable gems, undeniable talent, and raw honesty.
The Beatles? Perhaps their shiny choirboy fake-ness turned me off, perhaps I can't stand their smarmyness hiding whatever they were preaching, but I SHOULD be able to appreciate something about the songs.
Can't.
I recognize that I like honest music, and the Beatles aren't honest. They think they're sly, subversive, and congratulated themselves constantly for wrapping their preach in sugary pop, but there's a fake elitism there, from the good little boy suits to the oh-so-secret-messages in their self-absorbed cover art and lyrics.
Give me the raw emotion and clear message of a nasal, off-key Bob Mould vs. an autotuned pitch-perfect pablum-pushing popstar any day.
(Which leads into the Husker v. Replacement note: I love Bob, but Warehouse was HD's high water mark to me, the early stuff needed to take a sec and let the art shine through. Replacements, I liked when a lot of the 80's 'punk' bands started to take a sec and not try to three-chord-race to the end, but rather explored the space (Walken!) and let some talent show through. Replacements pop craft and poetry was actually pretty amazing for a bunch of drunk kids.)
Also don't like the Doors, but whatever. I haven't explored their catalog, it's just taste, which there is no accounting for.
Also edgy: Eric Clapton wasn't the guitar god as purported. Been listening to Hendrix more lately, honest work there.