Why not ask George?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mIZzSPrMX8

Hey, did she just call us musical nerds?

It's strange, none of that old stuff does diddly for me even though I'm a bit of an 'oldie' myself. I've never owned any Beatles, Stones, Who, Beach Boys, Seger et al. Never really liked any of them.

Thats exactly why I love it so much (well, the Beatles anyway). I'm a white 25 year old male who happens to appreciate quality; I've got nothing to do with most anything on radio or MTV, etc. Thankfully I've got an enormous pool of music from past years to draw from. And it all is new to me, and far better than anything American Idol is likely to bless us with. Now I'm a freaking 50s/60s jazz nut. After hearing Time Out, I've never been the same. That album changed my fucking life.

I imagine if I was older, I would view the Beatles as played out, but I doubt I'd view the jazz the same way, as its not 2 minutes long per song, typically.

Thats exactly why I love it so much (well, the Beatles anyway). I'm a white 25 year old male who happens to appreciate quality; I've got nothing to do with most anything on radio or MTV, etc. Thankfully I've got an enormous pool of music from past years to draw from. And it all is new to me, and far better than anything American Idol is likely to bless us with. Now I'm a freaking 50s/60s jazz nut. After hearing Time Out, I've never been the same. That album changed my fucking life.

I imagine if I was older, I would view the Beatles as played out, but I doubt I'd view the jazz the same way, as its not 2 minutes long per song, typically.

I'm 47 and I don't view the Beatles as played out. I, like you, put talent above genre or popularity.

I try not to live in the past as far as music is concerned, but I don't mind visiting it.

I'm not completely past-only, but the allure of so much music already available far outweighs the excitement from one or two new albums from current artists every few months. I guess I do both, but past music to a much, much larger degree.

Have to go with Stones. More songs that I genuinely like.

stone man, THE STONES!!!!

What he said; I'm not a huge Stones fan by any means, but the Beatles just don't really do it for me.

Beatles when I was younger. But Stones for a long time now.

Stoned Beatles

One (The Eagles) I still love hearing to this day. The other (The Beatles) still leaves me cold.

I am so sorry, isn't there a surgery for that by now?

Anyway the correct answer is The Who.

Interesting poster on HF on a band he claims the Beatles ripped off:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f9/most-overrated-bands-332349/index5.html

Andrea perhaps?

You guys are comparing apple to oranges to cucumbers to pears to grapes. All the bands mentioned here in this thread thus far kick ass. Beatles, Stones, Zombies, Beach Boys, Eagles, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, etc - I know all these bands and have custom audiophile cuts of their stuff. IMHO, there is no "best of" here, just favorites. They are all GREAT bands with GREAT music.

This is the same as looking at the Mona Lisa and comparing it to The Scream and then comparing it with The Son of Man. No doubt they are all works of art but people will prefer one over the other due to personal choice rather than which artist had "greater" talent.

Music is a universal language and we must all appreciate each band for what they were. Mostly, we need to be open minded regarding all types of music. As Beethoven once said, music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.

However, keep in mind that Beethoven also said the following:

"Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend."

Just my 2 cents.

BTW - I picked The Beatles.

You guys are comparing apple to oranges to cucumbers to pears to grapes. All the bands mentioned here in this thread thus far kick ass. Beatles, Stones, Zombies, Beach Boys, Eagles, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, etc - I know all these bands and have custom audiophile cuts of their stuff. IMHO, there is no "best of" here, just favorites. They are all GREAT bands with GREAT music.

Well, except the Stones spent much of the part of their career which overlapped with the Beatles aping what they had done with their previous album.

I can only think of one Beatles song off the top of my head that I enjoy, whereas I can think of several Stones tunes. Decision made.

When I'm 64, Your Mother Should Know, I Saw Here Standing There and Maxwell's Silver Hammer are all exceptionally great pop songs imho.

I know people who hate Maxwell's Silver Hammer (not me, however).

I like maxwells silver hammer as well as any song the beatles ever did. It's not genius, however.

I like em both,