You know what makes the Beatles so great? It's a lot of things. Sure they technically weren't the four most talented musicians, but together, as a cohesive unit, they were one of the best goddamn bands there was/will be. Backed with the songwriting team of Lennon and McCartney, the guitar of George Harrison, and the drumming of Ringo Starr, they grabbed hold of the American fanbase, and didn't let go till 1970, their demise.
See if you look on the surface, or just at the Beatles' number one hits, you're not even getting half the story of why the Beatles were great. Their number ones don't even scrape the surface of their legacy. What makes the Beatles so great was how they worked as a cohesive unit, and how they all completed each other so well to the point where as a cohesive unit, they were unstoppable.
During the beginning, Lennon and McCartney wrote simple rock n roll songs that could be considered pop-ish, and for this they often get the stereotype of being a 'boy band' which isn't true at all. That's what was popular at the time. They took what was popular and added their own sound to it. They created their own feel, which would be continuously improved on throughout the years. Even the jump from their debut Please Please Me to their second album With the Beatles is an amazing breakthrough, in terms of studio innovations, guitar parts, (listen to John's rythym on "All My Loving") Also, by the time their second album was being put together, they were spending more time putting together 14 track lps. (Their debut was put together in a very short amount of time). Studio effects such as double-tracking lead vocals were being used. Not to mention that their songwriting had improved. By the time With the Beatles came out, the Beatles had already achieved success in England, and were on the brink of achieving huge success in America. Their single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is one of the most important songs of 1964, because of the impact it had on the American audiences. It was the song that introduced them to the Beatles. "Meet the Beatles" is one of the most important albums in America, despite whether or not you agree with the idea of Capitol tampering with the Beatles' original albums. To America, in 1964, they saw the Beatles as a young, fresh group with their own sound. And Meet the Beatles not only showcased the advancement of studio techniques seen in With the Beatles, but showcased the songwriting talents of John and Paul early on.
In 1964, the same year that they achieved HUGE success in America, many things started to change. For example, with their third album, A Hard Day's Night they began to write songs quicker, and their lyrics started to change, and in many cases became more introspective, especially with John Lennon, which is a pre-cursor to John's writing on Beatles for Sale, which is very personal to John and would be a recurring theme for John in years to come.
Now that I've gotten past that, I'm going to try and summarise as best I can why I love the Beatles so much. I think what makes the Beatles so great is the songwriting team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney who were experts at writing song lyrics, and wriitng great melodies for their lyrics, along with George Harrison's guitar, and Ringo's creative, and unique drumming style. Not to mention their great ability for track orders, the producer they had (George Martin) is an amazing producer, and always knew what was best. Their music just means a lot to me, they were the first band that I fell in love with. What I love about John's lyrics is that though they were usually used to describe his feelings, they can be applied to other things. Paul was a master at writing feel-good happy songs, but at the time could write beautiful piano ballads. Not to mention John and Paul's songwriting, but George's songwriting definitely became a factor in the latter half of their career. It's fun to see how much George developed as a songwriter over the years, and how much he added to the sound of the Beatles' records.
Really all the Beatles worked together, so that no Beatles' record really belonged to a certain member. Really, it may have been more one Beatle's than another's (Pepper and Abbey Road come to mind) but not to the point to say that it belongs to one Beatle. Each Beatle brought something to each song and each album, whether it be a melody, lyrics, sound effects, an idea, a spoken bit, a little something to each song, to make it something special. So in closing, what i love about the Beatles' is their ability as a cohesive unit. How they compliment each other so well, while not being the technically best musicians. They were just a band..that made it very very big, that's all. : )
Snake, history will never know what she did. No one will ever learn the truth. Her story... her debriefing... will endure only in your heart. Everything she did, she did for her country. She sacrificed her life and her honor for her native land. She was a real hero. She was a true patriot. ~ EVA re: The Boss (MGS3)
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