Beatles update

aderack · Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY

Also note the tip of his nose now, compared to his younger photo.

Mr. Mechanical · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:58 am

All the good Beatles are dead. :(

re: noses - Maybe it's just changed as he's aged? Or he's had some work done.
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Zebadayus · pelvis othello Joined: 05 Dec 2006

Released by Starbucks?

What?

George never would've done that.

108 · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:28 am

meanwhile, john would've found some perfect counter-counterculture words to justify having a CD released by starbucks.
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Ebrey · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles

Mr. Mechanical · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:31 am

Ebrey · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles

John Lennon isn't cool and interesting, he was your typical asshole artist. Paul was (by rockstar standards) a pretty normal, nice guy. I find Paul far more inspiring because it's so rare for a relatively normal person to produce great art.

And yeah, George got shafted the most by John & Paul. But how can you really blame them? The formula of 45% Paul songs, 45% John songs, and 10% George was so popular, I can see why they wouldn't want to mix it up. They were all way more talented than most band's sole songwriters, so of course they wanted to write more songs. And yet their solo stuff sucks. Go figure.

Mr. Mechanical · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:45 am

John Lennon was cool and interesting because he was an asshole artist. He was also capable of making some really good music, his stuff was at least more interesting to listen to than Paul's. Not that the songs Paul wrote were bad, they were still good, I just find most of them a bit boring.

I reason that their solo stuff all mostly sucks because they had nothing to reign their talents in at the time. They were cut loose, when before they had the structure of the Beatles to keep them all in check.
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Martial Loh · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Location: London, UK

Poor Ringo.

aderack · Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY

John is iconoclastic; Paul is maudlin. For better or for worse, one of them questioned and rewrote conventions; the other is an expert at working within them. Generally they were strongest when together, as John's progressive instincts were reined in and humanized by Paul's classical sensibility, and Paul was prevented from devolving too much into sentimental pap by John's weirdness.

George sat outside this dynamic, so never really got the attention he needed.

And Ringo, well, he played the drums.

...

I'm recalling a story from a few years ago of a guy who showed up to demonstrate a sampler for Paul, and Paul eventually started to bark at him, because what was the point of having all these recordings of instruments when you could just play the real things? To contrast, I get the feeling John would have been all over sequencing tools the moment they arrived on the market -- and then done something with them that no one was supposed to.

Ebrey · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles

haze · la belle poney sans merci Joined: 04 Dec 2006

they all had some pretty great solo albums

even the "ringo" album which is tolerable

CubaLibre · the road lawyer Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Location: Balmer

the Ringo album IS INTOLERABLE

the other three were all great in their own ways and were perfect together.

Why does this have to be a contest guys
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haze · la belle poney sans merci Joined: 04 Dec 2006

no you're wrong.

my interpretation of the Beatles is more correcter.

Mr. Apol · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:07 pm

CubaLibre · the road lawyer Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Location: Balmer

God dammit, no more of this tripe. Everyone listen to Abbey Road and taste greatness.
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Martial Loh · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Location: London, UK

Ringo's work was the first of any of the Beatles' stuff I was ever exposed to.

Of course Im talking about Thomas the Tank Engine.

I kinda liked the White Album.

L · ⌐ Joined: 05 Dec 2006

SplashBeats · Guest

plastic ono band was a really good record though

mad wailing from the soul of a scorned man right there

winkerwatson · badmin Joined: 04 Dec 2006

All Things Must Pass guys

alsoMcCartney is a great wee experimental (for it's time) album
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Tokyo Rude · Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Location: I'm on the phone Derrick!

Revolver feels pretty disconnected.

Mr Mustache · Mean Mr. Mustache Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Location: Bushwick

I actually just bought the All Things Must Pass vinyls for $10...even came with the poster. Fucking great.

The more I listen to it, the more I prefer the Plastic Ono Band album to anything the Beatles put together. A lot of it has to do with how it's recorded; everything sounds very close, intimate. It helps that the songs seem unabashedly honest, to the point of being pompous.
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rye · Joined: 06 Dec 2006

aderack · Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY

Oh, I deleted what I said about Plastic Ono Band, upthread.

Yeah, it's probably my favorite "Beatles" album altogether. Though I haven't listened to post-Beatle George, much. I keep intending to!

Ebrey · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles

The only problem with All Things Must Pass is the Phil Spector overproduction. The best part is the jam at the end with Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Billy Preston.

elvis.shrugged · Joined: 17 Apr 2007

Zebadayus · pelvis othello Joined: 05 Dec 2006

George albums...

All Things Must Pass is great, as is Cloud Nine, but both are trumped by Brainwashed (his last album).

I swear, Brainwashed is so under appreciated. I never hear anybody talk about it. :(

Hot Stott Bot · banned Joined: 05 Dec 2006

I really like Help!.

:-(

GcDiaz · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Location: Clinton, MA

Guys, I've never listened to the Beatles. Oh I'm sure I've HEARD their work, in jingles, commercials, movie soundtracks or whatever, but I've never listened to an album, or any song deliberately. If I wanted to "get" the jist of why they are considered such music gods, where do I start?
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haze · la belle poney sans merci Joined: 04 Dec 2006

Sgt. Pepper -> White Album -> Abbey Road maybe ? (the obvious famous ones)

I dunno it's not entirely impressive on its own, just very nice pop melodies (unless you REALLY like them on first listen). without seeing the full context of culture and music at the time, it's hard to understand what was so innovative and amazing about them... hrm, tricky...

zak · Joined: 07 Dec 2006

Zebadayus · pelvis othello Joined: 05 Dec 2006

And you gotta love how Brainwashed (the song) just calls out everyone and everything.

You know his son actually added that prayer chant at the end.

zak · Joined: 07 Dec 2006

Well, I know George died before finishing the album, so Dhani and Jeff Lynne completed it according to his final instructions. But I guess most of the guitar playing was George's, and it's damn great, a real culmination to his career.

And yeah, the last song, Brainwashed, has some great lyrics (and that entire How to know God in the middle). It's my favorite song on the entire album. Rocking chair is Hawaii is great too. It's a shame George had to go so soon.

Zebadayus · pelvis othello Joined: 05 Dec 2006

Dude.

Rocking Chair in Hawaii.

Freakin' great song. One of my favorite songs to chill too.

I love how right after that song ends, the guitars from Brainwashed come blasting.

Vikram Ray · Joined: 06 Dec 2006

Hot Stott Bot · banned Joined: 05 Dec 2006

klj5j6li · Guest

Diaz watch one of the movies because i mean those will really help you love the dudes more than just the music

aderack · Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY

Seriously, watch A Hard Day's Night and Yellow Submarine. Help! is fun, though less consequential than the other two.

Their "serious", shut-in music development period started with Rubber Soul. It and Revolver are kind of considered sister albums, and show some really interesting growth. They're the first albums they put together that were really deliberately composed as such, rather than as a random collection of songs.

Then came Sgt. Pepper, which isn't really as great as you'd expect. If Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane were on it, as they were meant to be, it would be a hell of a lot stronger. Magical Mystery Tour and the Yellow Submarine album are like the extended fallout of Sgt. Pepper. Some good songs, though they're just kind of there.

Their "late period" -- White Album and Abbey Road -- is what's usually considered their artistic peak. Also, Let It Be... Naked fits in here pretty well. Speaking of Phil Spector barf, you might want to avoid the original Let It Be except for scientific curiosity.

So I'd say go with Rubber Soul, Revolver, the White Album, and Abbey Road. Plus their late singles, which you can find compiled on Past Masters Volume 2.

If you want a taste of the early stuff, from before they really hunkered down and figured out what they were doing, the movie albums are your best shot: A Hard Day's Night and Help!. The former is actually pretty darned solid, for what it is.

Ebrey · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles

aderack · Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY

Note that I didn't say "best"; I said their artistic peak. I think it's pretty clear that's as far as their songwriting really evolved.

I think I probably like Revolver best. Sometimes.

CubaLibre · the road lawyer Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Location: Balmer

Personally I'd say they're important enough to begin with the beginning and end with the end. If you don't have the time for that, e-j's plan is good enough.

I don't understand all the hate on their early stuff and their intense (ly awesome) pop sensibility, though. If they didn't develop that sensibility first, their later stuff wouldn't be worth shit.
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