The Beach Boys or The Beatles? - Which was the better band?

[Honk Hill]

The Kinks were the best of that era.

The Beach Boys is milquetoast Yacht Rock, although pet sounds is fucking excellent.

Beatles were a bunch of bums, George Harrison did ok.

 

[Leapin_Lizards_98]

The Beach Boys harmony is unmatched by anyone, especially The Beatles. Pretty telling when McCartney considered Wilson his musical rival over anyone else.

 

[StevieLasVegas]

I'm gonna go with The Beatles. They made more songs I enjoy compared to the Beach Boys.

 

[Jason Wynn]

I enjoy The Beatles music more, but I’m more interested in reading about The Beach Boys and their history. Some crazy shit like Dennis Wilson being buddies with Charlie Manson

 

[drtoboggan]

The Beatles. I don’t care what the prevailing biases of this forum are. The Beatles outstrip The Beach Boys on every level.

 

[Poppavalyim Andropoff]

doesnt count even though pauls botique is one of my all time favorite albums

changed the game when it came out even though it was slept on for years. no one was doing sample heavy stuff like that at the time maybe the Bomb Squad with PE but not that layered.

 

[Far Queue]

Pet Sounds was what inspired the Beatles and made them release Sgt. Pepper's. Sgt. Pepper's made Brian Wilson go fucking insane trying to compete.

Even putting aside the contributions of Harrison and Star to the band, the dynamic between McCartney and Lennon having such different styles and ideas that clashed led to a lot of great music. George Martin, sometimes called the fifth Beatle, who produced their albums also contributed a lot. I think that Brian Wilson was individually better than anyone involved with the Beatles, but the Beatles were the better band.

Frankly, both are great and people can easily find arguments to support a case for one being better than the other. I can't recall a top album of all time list that hasn't had Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's at the first and second positions on the list.

 

[AnOminous]

They're both so great that they're equally great. They're not in some battle, at least not today.

Both Pepper's and Pet Sounds are on my list of albums I'd take into exile.

 

[Hüftpriester]

For me it's the Beach Boys. Brian Wilson is a modern day Bach.

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

The Beatles were my childhood.
The Beach Boys were my adulthood.
The Rolling Stones are my afterlife.

 

[pururun]

I think Beatles hate has become overplayed, but I'd still choose The Beach Boys over them. There's just something magic about them, where they can take subjects that to most would be tacky or mundane and get beauty out of it.

 

[AnOminous]

I think Beatles hate has become overplayed, but I'd still choose The Beach Boys over them. There's just something magic about them, where they can take subjects that to most would be tacky or mundane and get beauty out of it.

I wish that shithead Murry Wilson hadn't fucked up Brian's head so much.

 

[Phillip Green]

I think that Brian Wilson was individually better than anyone involved with the Beatles, but the Beatles were the better band.

This is correct. Wilson was a genius but the interplay of the Beatles' component parts produced music much more than the sum of its parts.

Unfortunately his brain issues ended Wilson's creative period long before Lennon's yellow fever, McCartney's THC psychosis, and Harrison's Krishna retardation killed the Beatles. Would have been nice to get one or two more actually good Beach Boys albums.

 

[AnOminous]

This is correct. Wilson was a genius but the interplay of the Beatles' component parts produced music much more than the sum of its parts.

Unfortunately his brain issues ended Wilson's creative period long before Lennon's yellow fever, McCartney's THC psychosis, and Harrison's Krishna retardation killed the Beatles. Would have been nice to get one or two more actually good Beach Boys albums.

I wish we'd gotten the Smile that we deserved. That may be one of the biggest tragedies in music.

 

[Pee Cola]

It's complicated.

On one hand, The Beatles worked really well as a team right up until the wheels started falling off. Even then they were able to squeeze out a couple more decent albums, and the fact they were able to smash out so many great albums and tour like they did is almost superhuman.

On the other hand, on his best days Brian Wilson could musically kick The Beatles' asses singlehandedly, and even on a bad day he'd be able to at least keep up with the four of them. If anything, the rest of The Beach Boys held him back (especially that fucker Mike Love).

It's not either or as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Brahma]

The Kinks were the best of that era.

The Beach Boys is milquetoast Yacht Rock, although pet sounds is fucking excellent.

Beatles were a bunch of bums, George Harrison did ok.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mmb7TU0OrOI
https://youtube.com/watch?v=TYIl6n_SRCI

I blame the Kinks for normalizing troonery.


Anyway, on topic I'd say I'm not very familiar with the beach boys. I know a couple of their songs but did they do anything other than the samey California shit that I know? Do they have the depth of musical styles the Beatles played with over their career?

 

[Hazel Motes]

I blame the Kinks for normalizing troonery.


Anyway, on topic I'd say I'm not very familiar with the beach boys. I know a couple of their songs but did they do anything other than the samey California shit that I know? Do they have the depth of musical styles the Beatles played with over their career?

Pet Sounds

 

[Calandrino]

Although I'm not very familiar with either of these bands I have enjoyed reading your thoughts.

 

[Seventh Star]

The Residents obviously.