Greatest band of the 20th century

[Lincoln Republican]

Please vote and discuss.

[brucejoel99]

Write-in: The E Street Band.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Write-in: The original Carter Family.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Either Sunny Day Real Estate, Cap'n Jazz, Lifetime or Jimmy Eat World.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Of these two options: The Beatles, no question!

[Meclazine for Israel]

Of these two options: The Beatles, no question!

The Beatles were popular everywhere as opposed to ABBA who were not a smash hit in every country.

Fortunately, my older sisters in the 1970's were big fans of ABBA in Australia, so they are part of my music DNA.

Despite it being mostly subjective, The Beatles were much greater in nearly all aspects.

I would have picked "The Rolling Stones" for longevity.

And "AC-DC" for rock n roll, especially as they came from my home town in Australia.

Elton John, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Madonna are honourable mentions.

[dead0man]

I don't understand the hate or the love for Abba.  Aren't they just a foreign version of the Bee Gees with girls?  Disco lite?  Some of the sh**t is catchy, but so are some commercial jingles.  Being "catchy" isn't a sign of quality (unless that's the quality you're looking for).

I prefer The Who (and the Stones, Yardbirds and the Animals for that matter) to the Beatles, but acknowledge that the Beatles are the most important rock band in history.

[Del Tachi]

The Rolling Stones?

[Lincoln Republican]

I love ABBA's music.

I have never been a Beatle's fan.

[brucejoel99]

I don't understand the hate or the love for Abba.  Aren't they just a foreign version of the Bee Gees with girls?  Disco lite?  Some of the sh**t is catchy, but so are some commercial jingles.  Being "catchy" isn't a sign of quality (unless that's the quality you're looking for).

No, but the music being well-written, well-played, & well-recorded is, as well as the musicality & artistry in their work (Dancing Queen's orchestral parts & the gliss that starts it as well as the piano that cuts through; Take a Chance on Me's "take a chance take a chance take a take a chance chance" counter melody/ostinato; Fernando's wonderfully-undertaken use of the acoustic guitar, the marching snare, & the dual vocals after the first verse before it explodes into this pop song, & the backing instruments & arrangement are super well done as well; SOS's synth work, which really blends with the orchestral instrument (& the synth line that leads to the chorus is great as well), plus the really nice set of keyboard work in the intro; Waterloo's groove & use of horns, as well as the use of interesting chords throughout the verse; & Does Your Mother Know's voice work during the chrous, & the opening synth bass line).

[Beet]

Finally, an easy one.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Guys, Sunny Day Real Estate destroys The Beatles. Hell even Fall Out Boy (based only on their early work) is better than The Beatles.

[brucejoel99]

Guys, Sunny Day Real destroys The Beatles. Hell even Fall Out Boy (based only on their early work) is better than The Beatles.

It should be first stated that you are wrong. So entirely wrong. So wrong it's a joke. So f**king wrong.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Guys, Sunny Day Real destroys The Beatles. Hell even Fall Out Boy (based only on their early work) is better than The Beatles.

It should be first stated that you are wrong. So entirely wrong. So wrong it's a joke. So f**king wrong.

Take This To Your Grave is a f[inks]ing CLASSIC. I'm not disputing their music now sucks.

But this....holy sh!t.

[brucejoel99]

Guys, Sunny Day Real destroys The Beatles. Hell even Fall Out Boy (based only on their early work) is better than The Beatles.

It should be first stated that you are wrong. So entirely wrong. So wrong it's a joke. So f**king wrong.

Take This To Your Grave is a f[inks]ing CLASSIC. I'm not disputing their music now sucks.

But this....holy sh!t.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O2fnK6T6J0

EVEN 👏 IF 👏 SOLELY 👏 TAKING 👏 THEIR 👏 EARLY 👏 WORK 👏 INTO 👏 CONSIDERATION, 👏 FALL 👏 OUT 👏 BOY 👏 (LET 👏 ALONE 👏 SUNNY 👏 DAY 👏 REAL) 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 AND 👏 WILL 👏 NEVER 👏 BE 👏 ON 👏 THE 👏 SAME 👏 PLANE 👏 OF 👏 EXISTENCE 👏 AS 👏 THE 👏 F**KING 👏 BEATLES!

Or did you forget that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Guys, Sunny Day Real destroys The Beatles. Hell even Fall Out Boy (based only on their early work) is better than The Beatles.

It should be first stated that you are wrong. So entirely wrong. So wrong it's a joke. So f**king wrong.

Take This To Your Grave is a f[inks]ing CLASSIC. I'm not disputing their music now sucks.

But this....holy sh!t.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O2fnK6T6J0

EVEN 👏 IF 👏 SOLELY 👏 TAKING 👏 THEIR 👏 EARLY 👏 WORK 👏 INTO 👏 CONSIDERATION, 👏 FALL 👏 OUT 👏 BOY 👏 (LET 👏 ALONE 👏 SUNNY 👏 DAY 👏 REAL) 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 AND 👏 WILL 👏 NEVER 👏 BE 👏 ON 👏 THE 👏 SAME 👏 PLANE 👏 OF 👏 EXISTENCE 👏 AS 👏 THE 👏 F**KING 👏 BEATLES!

Or did you forget that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus?

They're not. And so what? Justin Bieber was insanely popular for awhile, as was Limp Bizkit. Hell Fall Out Boy is popular now.

I don't think you understand the sheer influence and importance of Sunny Day Real Estate or Cap'n Jazz. Like read this. And SDRE was even more important: https://dieangryblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/the-emo-velvet-underground-the-legacy-of-capn

[Meclazine for Israel]

I don't understand the hate or the love for Abba.  Aren't they just a foreign version of the Bee Gees with girls?  Disco lite?  Some of the sh**t is catchy, but so are some commercial jingles.  Being "catchy" isn't a sign of quality (unless that's the quality you're looking for).

No, but the music being well-written, well-played, & well-recorded is, as well as the musicality & artistry in their work (Dancing Queen's orchestral parts & the gliss that starts it as well as the piano that cuts through; Take a Chance on Me's "take a chance take a chance take a take a chance chance" counter melody/ostinato; Fernando's wonderfully-undertaken use of the acoustic guitar, the marching snare, & the dual vocals after the first verse before it explodes into this pop song, & the backing instruments & arrangement are super well done as well; SOS's synth work, which really blends with the orchestral instrument (& the synth line that leads to the chorus is great as well), plus the really nice set of keyboard work in the intro; Waterloo's groove & use of horns, as well as the use of interesting chords throughout the verse; & Does Your Mother Know's voice work during the chrous, & the opening synth bass line).

ABBA's music was well written, phrased and structured. Songwriting is not easy, and these guys were up there with 380 Million album sales.

Agnetha was a supermodel. Benny's keyboard playing was magical. The music, the hot Swedish girls, the constant flow of hits. Mesmerized by that harmony every time I listen to them. They overdubbed guitars and keyboards on each other and slightly changed the speed, so the end result was an amazing "wall of sound" effect.

John Lennon said "SOS" was the best pop song ever written:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvChjHcABPA

It's a musical summary of the magic of ABBA.

"Arrival" was my favourite album from 1976.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqfI3PtF5ao

I would take that as a song intro to any album recording regardless. Simply timeless.

And my favourite song was

"I Have a Dream" from 1979.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP4N0irJ-gM

and for our Spanish cousins, they got the better film clip:

"Estoy Soñando"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlC3otqX8bc

They were the biggest thing from Sweden to step onto the world stage since the Vikings.

[brucejoel99]

Guys, Sunny Day Real destroys The Beatles. Hell even Fall Out Boy (based only on their early work) is better than The Beatles.

It should be first stated that you are wrong. So entirely wrong. So wrong it's a joke. So f**king wrong.

Take This To Your Grave is a f[inks]ing CLASSIC. I'm not disputing their music now sucks.

But this....holy sh!t.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O2fnK6T6J0

EVEN 👏 IF 👏 SOLELY 👏 TAKING 👏 THEIR 👏 EARLY 👏 WORK 👏 INTO 👏 CONSIDERATION, 👏 FALL 👏 OUT 👏 BOY 👏 (LET 👏 ALONE 👏 SUNNY 👏 DAY 👏 REAL) 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 AND 👏 WILL 👏 NEVER 👏 BE 👏 ON 👏 THE 👏 SAME 👏 PLANE 👏 OF 👏 EXISTENCE 👏 AS 👏 THE 👏 F**KING 👏 BEATLES!

Or did you forget that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus?

They're not. And so what? Justin Bieber was insanely popular for awhile, as was Limp Bizkit. Hell Fall Out Boy is popular now.

I don't think you understand the sheer influence and importance of Sunny Day Real Estate or Cap'n Jazz. Like read this. And SDRE was even more important: https://dieangryblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/the-emo-velvet-underground-the-legacy-of-capn

I think Badger put it best when he said:

"Forum institution" my ass. You're just a basket case.

[Leinad]

Justin Bieber was insanely popular for awhile

Bieber was mostly hated at his peak, really. Some people disliked The Beatles but it's not like they were a punchline of a joke like Bieber was, and I doubt Bieber will be as ubiquitous an influence on the music after him.


Anyway, I think overall The Beatles take the cake for 1) popularity, 2) lasting appeal, and 3) influence (in addition to quality which is category 0 but also subjective af ).

Adding a few more honorable mentions: R.E.M., Beach Boys, Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac, the Wu-Tang Clan, I could probably add some more but I'll limit it to 5 that meet those 4 criteria.

[DINGO Joe]

Of these two, the Beatles

In the "Disco lite" category I'd go with ELO.

The Stones and the Who are acceptable answers

Others would include:

Parliament Funkadelic
REM
U2
Husker Du
Nirvana
The Band (duh)

Not acceptable:
Eagles

Elton John and Madonna aren't really a "band"

[HisGrace]

Radiohead are my favorite band of all time and released their first three albums in the 90's. But based on just what was accomplished in the 20th century it is The Beatles.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Benny Goodman during the period when Gene Krupa was on drums.

[TDAS04]

Love both.  Voted Beatles.

[T'Chenka]

Guys, Sunny Day Real Estate destroys The Beatles. Hell even Fall Out Boy (based only on their early work) is better than The Beatles.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Spike Jones and the City Slickers.