The Beatles vs. Pink Floyd

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...

OT Räihälä wrote: I can't believe this poll, someone must have spammed the voting heavily. How can you even compare the two? The Beatles are so much above Floyd that it's like putting a heavy-weighter in the same ring with a flyweighter.

Well, tell us why you think that. But please, refer to Beatles' music, and don't come with the whole influential thing. The Beatles are the most influential rock band ever, this is common sense. We are talking about music here.

Wow, that one made my day. Comparing George Harrison to Dave Gilmour... Next time people will be comparing Paul McCartney to God Lee.

I'm just not gonna read this thread, because I know that both sides will be defending their opinion to the death.

I'll agree that Ringo is superior to Nick.

I dunno about Floyd being better musicians. Ringo is a better drummer than Nick, Paul is definitely a better bassist than Roger. Between George and David it's close, both were about as equally skilled as guitarists, neither were virtuosos but they're two of the most tasteful players of all time.

What I can guarantee you is that 100 years from now Kanye West, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry won't be remembered, but that one is easy to foresee...

Kanye and Katy? No. Gaga, possibly. We still remember Micheal Jackson and Elvis don't we. They were the pop monarchs of their day. And Elvis was over fifty years ago, who's to say he won't last another fifty?

maani wrote: ten years after:   "However, the Beatles represent so much more than just music. They are nostalgia, history, politics, fashion, comedy, movies, growing up, drugs, front page news, biography, religion and love. They are larger than life. They are John, Paul, George and Ringo. They are the single iconic representation of an entire decade.  Pink Floyd can't compete with all that."   Superbly put!   Overmatik:   "You know what, the thing with judging the Beatles is the fact that the Beatlemania still lives in the hearts of millions of people, so they judgment of Beatles's music is distorted. Let us see some 50 years from now when all the people who were alive in the 60s are dead, and let's see how the new generation will rate the Beatles and the Floyd."   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.

Wow, I didn't know you had the ability to preview the future?  Just because you think that way doesn't mean it will happen, you know that, right?

What I can guarantee you is that 100 years from now Kanye West, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry won't be remembered, but that one is easy to foresee...

There isn't a Beatles song that was ever recorded that can make put me into another world like old Floyd can and does.

You know what, the thing with judging the Beatles is the fact that the Beatlemania still lives in the hearts of millions of people, so they judgment of Beatles's music is distorted. Let us see some 50 years from now when all the people who were alive in the 60s are dead, and let's see how the new generation will rate the Beatles and the Floyd.

But then again, to some people on this forum Radiohead is better than the Floyd, so you never know...