The Beatles vs. Pink Floyd - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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Slaughternalia View Drop Down

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Posted: May 03 2012 at 22:21

The Beatles, perhaps my favourite band of all time

I'm so mad that you enjoy a certain combination of noises that I don't

Progosopher View Drop Down

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Posted: May 03 2012 at 21:14

The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"

Alitare

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Posted: May 03 2012 at 14:11

Floyd, but only barely.

Really, if the White Album had been stripped down to a single album, I might choose otherwise.

The-Winkler View Drop Down

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Posted: May 03 2012 at 14:05

Floyd

The Bearded Bard View Drop Down

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Posted: May 03 2012 at 13:35

I prefer The Beatles.

giselle

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Posted: August 14 2011 at 08:53

Not really a fair comparison; The Beatles are the basis for all groups; Floyd was a great and original band who adapted and became mainstream.

TheLionOfPrague View Drop Down

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Posted: August 06 2011 at 17:33

Floyd is my fav band, so easy choice for me, but I love The Beatles too.

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silverpot

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Posted: August 06 2011 at 15:41

It's hard to beat The Beatles when it comes to innovation and, IMPACT. Lennon/McCartney were also way better song writers. The amount of great melodies they came up with is hard to surpass.
Still, they never did anything like Shine On, Echoes and Dogs. Probably because they didn't stay together and evolved further into the seventies, they left the scene, for others to carry the torch.
It's impossible to vote, both bands mean a lot to me.

Formentera Lady View Drop Down

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Posted: August 06 2011 at 15:40

Maybe the Beatles is my favourite band Tongue

, although I don't consider them prog.
So I'll give them my vote. The Beatles are probably the only band I would put above my beloved King Crimson...

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EchidnasArf View Drop Down

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Posted: August 06 2011 at 00:53

rogerthat wrote:

EchidnasArf wrote:

Studio productions: flat out tie. We're talking two bands with arguably the best produced studio albums ever! Pink Floyd's Gilmour era gave us albums with extreme depth, clarity, and separation. The Beatles' studio work was extremely innovative, imaginative, and influential on the likes of.... everybody.

Yeah, Beatles with a little bit of help from George Martin showed what could be done in the studio while Floyd pushed the limits of the very quality of production. The opening bars of Breathe are still unsurpassed for sheer sound quality. You might have better separated or clearer mix on modern albums but the sheer mesmeric sonic effect of that moment is elusive. I'd actually give it to Floyd for production. For production and feel, Floyd have never been beaten. They came up with so very many great ideas too, especially up to around DSOTM but Beatles can't be beat in the ideas dept and their outlook of music was more global and all embracing than just about any other rock band.

Well put.

Did You See Those Bats? (a few songs from my band's live radio show)

rogerthat

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Posted: August 05 2011 at 22:52

Fox On The Rocks View Drop Down

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Posted: August 05 2011 at 22:45

Those 4 lads from Liverpool, England. To be quite honest I'm not a super big Floyd fan although I still really like them.

jav1919

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Posted: August 05 2011 at 19:25

The Beatles are great, but I like Pink Floyd the best.

Alitare

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Posted: August 05 2011 at 18:38

Jeepers Kreepers! Used to hate the Beatles. Then for a while I just 'liked' them. Now they're one of my all-time favorite bands. Still, Pink Floyd took me many places. When ya git raht down to it - I love both, but to me, Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here seemed like much more 'completely together' albums than either Abbey Road or White Album.

EchidnasArf View Drop Down

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Posted: August 05 2011 at 16:51

I love both for completely different reasons. But just for fun...

Vocals: Lennon>McCartney>Waters>Harrison>Barrett>Gilmour>Starr
Guitar: Gilmour>Harrison>McCartney>Lennon>Barrett
Bass: McCartney>Waters
Keyboards/Piano: Wright>McCartney>Lennon
Drums: Mason>Starr

Studio productions: flat out tie. We're talking two bands with arguably the best produced studio albums ever! Pink Floyd's Gilmour era gave us albums with extreme depth, clarity, and separation. The Beatles' studio work was extremely innovative, imaginative, and influential on the likes of.... everybody.

Did You See Those Bats? (a few songs from my band's live radio show)

rogerthat

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Posted: August 05 2011 at 02:09

Phideaux wrote:

I can think of very little Beatles that is unnecessary. For me, each song is an evolution which results in Abbey Road, the ultimate and perfect album. The concise, psychedelia, the beautiful vocals, the experimentation with styles.

Sure, they played it mostly safe. Yes, they had Paul pushing vaudeville moments and despite the excellent drugs, they never exploded music on its side. But, they made more daring moves within those little 4 minute extravaganzas than most of their peers.

Floyd? They are great experimenters. Syd was ace at writing some ear catching and crazy songs (but when added up all his songs, it was a small percentage IMO). The instrumentalists are good in both bands and this is not a contest of players, but of ideas and catalogue.

Aside from the latter day hit albums of Floyd (Moon, Wish, Animals, Wall) I struggle to find other perfect albums along the way. The soundtracks are ditties and have some good stuff and a lot of filler. The experimental album would have been better condensed into a track the length of Revolution #9. The bombastic albums about breakfast and with dogs vocoding had some stand out bits, but were not fully packed. It's not really until Moon that we get an album as consistently good as Piper.

For me, the Floyd ultimately became very conservative in their output and point of view. The Beatles were a wider screen, I believe and they said so much more than the rants of Mr. Waters ultimately did.

But, of course, that's my opinion, not objective fact...

Wow, missed this. Well said, sir! Beatles may not have appeared sonically daring most times but as composers, they were miles ahead of Floyd. I would only like to add here that George's solo on Something beats every single Gilmour solo. Not because it is so well played but because it is so well written. Unlike so many other rock groups, Beatles' work emphasizes again and again that it's all about how well you write the music, not just how well you play it.

kevin4peace View Drop Down

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Posted: August 05 2011 at 02:01

The Beatles, but only because they are the best band of all time. The Floyders aren't too far behind.

Nothing to say here. Nothing at all. Nothing is easy.

Keki

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Posted: March 18 2011 at 13:52

Despite The Beatles being fundamental to the development of Rock Music, I'll say Pink Floyd. Their albums are much more complex and meaningful than The Beatles' albums

sallan75

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Posted: March 18 2011 at 12:06

The other thing is the Beatles albums come on, 70% are forgettable. They were a single releasing pop band. I am listening to the White album now and have skipped 2/3 of it. Up to Waters departure Floyd albums stood tall, all song as important as the last. More people I know now love the Floyd, as I said Beatles sound old, haven't stood the test of time and some of their songs sound childish. As to whether Pink Floyd would exist without the Beatles, how do you know they wouldn't?

sallan75

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Posted: March 18 2011 at 11:44

maani wrote:

Actually, you have it exactly backward. It is almost a certainty that 100 years from now, 200 years from now, 300 years from now, The Beatles' music will still be played - like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart - while Pink Floyd (as amazing as they are) will be a distant memory (like....Frescobaldi...LOL)

Peace.

Umm yeah, when I was growing up in the 80's and 90's the teens loved Floyd and they still love them today. Ask some teen guy who doesn't look like a teeny bopper or hipster doofus and he will probably say metal and floyd. Beatles is old people music and it sounds old. I can listen to Meddle and it sounds like it was recorded two weeks ago, Beatles sound like old man music. Dethklok would say it was recorded using grandpa guitars.

Anyone who thinks the Beatles are better obviously likes pop and for the retards saying Harrison is better than Gilmour, come on, that is one battle how blind you are The Beatles couldn't win.

Poll Question: Discuss
Poll Choice	Votes	Poll Statistics
The Beatles	65	[33.16%]
Pink Floyd	106	[54.08%]
I like them equally.	25	[12.76%]
This topic is closed, no new votes accepted