The Beatles, as popular as they were (and, unfortunately, are) are one of the most sorely underrated bands in the prog rock community, if not the most underrated.
Maybe observing the snobs' reactions to the Fab Four on ProgArchives isn't thorough investigation.
Who are you kidding? There are almost 20 regular visitors there! I mean, it has to epitomize the rapidly descending number of prog freaks in the world. Damn MS, killing all of our...prog...people.
Anyway, back on topic. It seems that the general consensus is that the Beatles are the most overrated band on the face of the planet.
I don't particularly like that word 'overrated', myself. In fact, I think the word 'overrated' is quite 'overrated'. It's an effortless way of making yourself sound more knowledgeable and sophisticated than you really are (I'm talking to YOU, Robert Christgau, you self-absorbed bastard).
Either way, it seems that the masses hate the Beatles more than the critics, but that goes without saying. What critics DON'T love the Beatles? See, it answers itself.
I can see where some of those inflated proggers are coming from, though. I mean, what with the thousands of posers that claim to love the Beatles that go home and listen to the current top 40.
Now, what really burns me up about the prog snobs is that they dismiss anything even remotely commercial or structured, but that's beside the point. This isn't a rant about why I hate the ProgArchives community as much as I do. This is a rant about the Beatles, and how...underrated...they are.
Hm. This topic seems pretty pointless.
Well, I might as well divulge my Beatalical experiences over the past few months.
When I discovered art rock, jazz-fusion, and electronic music way, way back in October, my interest in the Beatles was waning. However, it's rebuilt itself. This is actually because I listened to all the prog and art rock that I did.
See, I myself am not a fan of a lot of the Beatles' earlier material (although I do like John's introspective lyrics on Beatles for Sale...classic), so I started off with Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. I prefer the latter (boy, I hate saying that). It seemed much more...baroque. Artsier.
Oh, God...I'm turning into a ProgArchives moderator.
Please, stop me. Stop me NOW.
Boy...that whole progression made no logical sense whatsoever.
I agree about the Beatles... they influenced prog perhaps even more than The Moody Blues did. I catch myself thinking of the Beatles as an art rock band sometimes, but nah. They are just the best pop band ever, is all.
ReplyDeleteWell put, my friend. Well put.
ReplyDelete