Pink Floyd VS the Beatles VS The Stones

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Which is the best of the three?
I chose those three because they're all great bands from late 60s and early 70s.
Anyway, which is the best?
I say...
FLOYD!
Why?
Shine on You Crazy Diamonds
Great Gig in the Sky
Another Brick in the Wall Part II
See Emily Play
and Wish you were here.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

They're all fantastic bands, but for me, it has to be the Floyd. They were the first band I ever really got into, and my love for them borders on the obsessional. I've probably spent hundreds of hours listening to their music, and it marked my musical ephiphany-I had no interest in rock music before I heard them, whereas it's now my all consuming passion. That's why I say that Pink Floyd are the best of all of the bands named.

I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.

[Beirut]

Gee, me and BKS responding in a Floyd thread. Whoduthunkit?

I think the Beatles broke more ground than any other group and are the originators of so very many musical styles today. They are the classic rock and roll band and in hundred years people will still be humming their tunes while putzing around the house. Love them.

But for my part, like BKS, I am a Pink Floydian. They are what I feel, and what I want to feel. They have the music and the lyrics that define life for me. I can find in their music every feeling and sentiment, every vice and virtue, all my pasts and futures. And unlike so many bands, cough-cough-rolling stones-cough, they are fantastic live. Proud to say I've seen them three times live (and Roger Waters once solo) and one of the concerts will forever be one of the greatest moments of my existence.

Floyd. Because.

[JAG]

Iron Maiden... Ah I see they are not on the list.

Out of the three listed for my personal preference it would have to be Pink Floyd, I do love wish you were here.

As for groundbreaking in terms of music, it would be the Beatles.

[PanzerJaeger]

The only thing i can say for certain is that i would not pick the stones..

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Well I have to go with the Beatles. They are in a league of their own in my opinion and opened up the world of rock to make groups such as Floyd possibe. Dont get me wrong I love Pin Floyd but have you listened to the early Sid Barrett stuff. Man you had to do a hit of acid to liten to stuff like careful with that axe Eugene or a small collection of furry animals all gathered together in a wood.

[Big_John]

the beatles didn't open roads for floyd, they opened roads for n-sync and britney spears (ok, that was kind of a cheap shot ). what i mean is that the lasting influence of the beatles was mostly on "pop" rock. floyd, on the other hand is more influential in the realms of indie, experimental, etc. the beatles influenced everyone in music, to some degree, but floyd certainly wasn't a follower of the beatles. 'piper at the gates of dawn' was released the same year as the beatle's foray into psychedelia, 'sgt. pepper's lonley heart's club band'. the former is probably more innovative than the latter, though, it's probably less accessible to most. and yes, hallucinogens certainly help

it really comes down to what you like most about the music you listen to. the beatles came out of early pop and pop-rock (like elvis, chuck berry, buddy holly, fats domino). pink floyd was there too, actually, early-on. before barrett really began pushing the evelope, floyd was just another 60's brit band re-working american r&b. the beatles took this and built upon it, elevated it; where-as floyd eventually ditched it for experimentation, and a quasi-classical formality. floyd is a good way to enter rock for people who are into classical or jazz.

after barrett spiraled down his own personal rabbit hole, the reformed floyd essentially defined "prog rock" or "art rock" (certainly nothing you'd accuse the beatles of), the forefathers of "experimental"/"indie" rock like radiohead, flaming lips, mercury rev, etc. the beatles tunesmith-oriented pop led to things like top-40s radio pop, mtv-pop (e.g. michael jackson), punk (and consequently 80's new-wave), etc.. the list is quite long i'm sure.

personally, as you can tell, i'm a floydian. but i think the beatles had a greater impact overall. when i was a kid, i never cared for the beatles or led zeppelin songs my brother listened to. now that i'm older i listen to a wide range of music and love some beatles and zeppelin, but like sanctaphrax, i was brought into rock by pink floyd (dark side and final cut, specifically).

i will agree that the stones don't really belong on the list.

my 2 centieme anyway

[Gawain of Orkeny]

he beatles didn't open roads for floyd, they opened roads for n-sync and britney spears (ok, that was kind of a cheap shot ). what i mean is that the lasting influence of the beatles was mostly on "pop" rock

You clearly underestimate them. They pushed the envelope long before Floyd even got together. Dont tell me stuff like Helter Skelter and Revolution number 9 are pop rock. Untill the Bealtes came along rock was looked upon as lower class music. They brought about all kinds of inovations in rock including songs that were more then 2 minutes long and didnt just have two verus and a refrain. Their musical genius has been compared to Beethoven.

floyd is a good way to enter rock for people who are into classical or jazz.

Or blues. The guitar solo from comfortably numb is my favorite of all time.

after barrett spiraled down his own personal rabbit hole, the reformed floyd essentially defined "prog rock" or "art rock" (certainly nothing you'd accuse the beatles of)

Again you are wrong. The Beatles were a very progressive band once they formed apple records and this was still before Floyd bccame "progressive" Have you llistene to all of the Beatles work and taken into consideration when it was made? Their was no sound like theirs once they hit their stride. The Beatles are by far the most influential musicians of all time. Not only for their effect on music but on society as well.

the beatles tunesmith-oriented pop led to things like top-40s radio pop, mtv-pop (e.g. michael jackson), punk (and consequently 80's new-wave), etc.. the list is quite long i'm sure.

The Beatles did indeed start out as a pop band but how you can cubby hole them there is beyond me. They did every kind of music there is.

personally, as you can tell, i'm a floydian. but i think the beatles had a greater impact overall. when i was a kid, i never cared for the beatles or led zeppelin songs my brother listened to. now that i'm older i listen to a wide range of music and love some beatles and zeppelin, but like sanctaphrax, i was brought into rock by pink floyd (dark side and final cut, specifically).

Its pretty obvious Seems the Beatles are too old for you to really appreciate what they accomlished. Bye the way I think the greatest musical genius of our times was Frank Zappa. He might be called progressive

[Beirut]

Or blues. The guitar solo from comfortably numb is my favorite of all time.

Ahhh my friend, until you have seen that solo live in a huge stadium, louder than a pair of drunk 747s, with the lasers and effects and that huge "disco ball" coming down from the skies and throwing out billions of rays of light all spinning around...



And I hope you have seen it. T'was glorious. It was one of the great moments of my life.

[Rosacrux redux]

Was a huge Floydian in my teens, still like them. They were ahead of their times, and did in fact lay the grounds of modern "alternative" and "experimental" movements all over the board.

The Beatles... well, let's just say that I dislike them so much anything I'd write here would be extremely biased and probably profound as well. Let's just say that they were 2 mediocre musicians, one dumbass and one semi-genious, and they all got rich&famous because they exploited the star system to its outer limits. Oh, well, I said I was going to be ultra-biased, didn't I?

The only thing the Stones could be credited - in the broader scope of music - is that they brought so many raw R&B and plain Blues elements in the mainstream. Other than that, the fact that they still make hits even as zombies, is hardly comforting me about the current state of popular rock.

I miss the Zeppelins from that list. Same era, highly influental (hard rock exists mostly thank to them, for instance) and so much better than the Stones and the Beatles...

[English assassin]

Pink Floyd does my head. Sorry, but it does. I was quite into them when I was a student but I guess I haven't listened to any for ten years or more. Its all a sort of ambient noodling in my memory...

(runs for cover...)

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Man you had to do a hit of acid to liten to stuff like careful with that axe Eugene

I really like Careful with that Axe Eugene...*tests own blood for acid*

[Big_John]

gawain, sorry but the beatles where predominantly tunesmiths and pop artists. sure they did some experimenting here and there, but their music that i've heard (a lot, but not all of it admittedly) is usually firmly grounded in radio-friendlyness. the same is not true of floyd. "prog" rock isn't just "progressive" it's a sub-genre that tends to replace normal song structures with multi-sectioned compositions, and it's more oriented toward classically trained instrumental technique (well, with the exception of floyd anyway). "art" rockis similar,but is more about experimentation and the avant-garde, emphasizing new sonic textures.

floyd, along with king crimson and zappa, defined this type of music, imo. i give the nod to the beatles in terms of overall influence, but the beatles defined their time, floyd was ahead of it.

[Spino]

Where is the Who in this contest? For shame!

The Beatles had the greatest impact on the music of their era than any other band of that generation. Their influence can still be felt today. But as Big_John already stated, the Beatles were for the most part, a pop music band.

Rolling Stones - Greatest rock & roll band ever. You really have to listen to the stuff they did in the 70s to appreciate their talent. Most critics of the Stones fail to realize there's more to their music than the greatest hits compilations of their 60s songs. However truth be told, most of their stuff after Tatoo You (80/81) is pretty worthless. And last but not least, the Stones tried alot of different things but never really excelled beyond basic rock & roll, blues rock and to some extent, country (which they were shockingly good at).

Pink Floyd - Most innovative and original band ever. By today's standards it's a bit hard to label them as a rock & roll band. I have no problem doing so but I firmly believe if Pink Floyd got its start sometime in the late 80s/early 90s instead of the mid-late 60s they would have labeled THE 'alternative' band of their time and all time. There's simply something to their music that transcends the usual teenage churn and burn out angst that typifies most rock music. Pink Floyd is more than just rock, it's part classical, part operatic, part experimental, part... whatever. Pink Floyd demonstrated just how much potential there was in synthesized sounds and that there is much more to electronic music than the typical psychedelic fare of the 60s & 70s (not that they didn't do their fair share of that stuff, especially during the Syd Barrett years), the cheesy synthesized keyboards crap of the 80s and the neo-primitive techno dance crap or re-mixes of old hits that are deemed as being high art by plebs for the last few decades.

I really don't have a favorite band but if forced to make a qualitative judgment about the three provided I'd have to go with Pink Floyd. Album for album I honestly believe the average Gilmore/Waters offering is better than the average Lennon/McCartney or Richards/Jagger offering. Furthermore I think the Gilmore/Waters era of Pink Floyd will hold up better over time than the Beatles or the Stones. The phenomenal sales of Dark Side of the Moon over the last few decades should tell you something about the staying power of their music.

If and when the time comes when youngsters are once again properly schooled in musical theory and writing and more importantly, become obsessed with playing (and I mean PLAYING) instruments instead of just getting by with basics or worse, re-mixing other people's music and passing it off as creative works of genius then Pink Floyd will become one of those groups that many people will simply label as being 'great', regardless of genre or era.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Ahhh my friend, until you have seen that solo live in a huge stadium, louder than a pair of drunk 747s, with the lasers and effects and that huge "disco ball" coming down from the skies and throwing out billions of rays of light all spinning around...



And I hope you have seen it. T'was glorious. It was one of the great moments of my life.

Once more I worked as a roadie on the Wall tour. So Of course I saw it many times and from many vantage points including backstage.

Pink Floyd - Most innovative and original band ever.

Nah Zappa was.

The Beatles... well, let's just say that I dislike them so much anything I'd write here would be extremely biased and probably profound as well. Let's just say that they were 2 mediocre musicians, one dumbass and one semi-genious, and they all got rich&famous because they exploited the star system to its outer limits. Oh, well, I said I was going to be ultra-biased, didn't I?

And you were right . Mc Cartney is regognized as one of the grestest bass players ever. And Lennon Mc Cartney s the greatest song writting duo in history. All the Beatles were more than adequate musicians with incredible harmonies.

Album for album I honestly believe the average Gilmore/Waters offering is better than the average Lennon/McCartney or Richards/Jagger offering.

No way. Until Darkside came alng there was nothing special about floyd other than they were weird. Every Beatle album was better than the one before it ,

The phenomenal sales of Dark Side of the Moon over the last few decades should tell you something about the staying power of their music.

Top Artists

Totals are derived from cumulative album sales totals (U.S. only)

Artist


Certified Units (in Millions)

BEATLES, THE


166.5

PRESLEY, ELVIS


117.5

LED ZEPPELIN


106.0

BROOKS, GARTH


105.0

EAGLES


88.0

JOEL, BILLY


78.5

PINK FLOYD


73.5

orry but the beatles where predominantly tunesmiths and pop artists. sure they did some experimenting here and there, but their music that i've heard (a lot, but not all of it admittedly) is usually firmly grounded in radio-friendlyness. the same is not true of floyd.

No the Beatles broke the mold on the two minute song as I mentioned earlier. You really ought to listen to them more. Alot of what they did was subte like playing things backwards and using instruments that peple never though of using in a rock song incuding synthizers.

floyd, along with king crimson and zappa, defined this type of music, imo.

Ill go along with that but lets not leave out ELP, Yes and the Strawbs and of course the Moody Blues.

but the beatles defined their time, floyd was ahead of it.

No the Beatles created their times. I doubt that you would ever have heard of Floyd if not for the Beatles.

I miss the Zeppelins from that list. Same era, highly influental (hard rock exists mostly thank to them, for instance) and so much better than the Stones and the Beatles...

No the Who invented hard rock and I would rate them number two behind the Beatles

[Devastatin Dave]

Iron Maiden... Ah I see they are not on the list.

Out of the three listed for my personal preference it would have to be Pink Floyd, I do love wish you were here.

As for groundbreaking in terms of music, it would be the Beatles.

Scary, i completely agree. Maiden is the greatest of all time!!! Steve Harris rules!!! But back to the topic...
Floyd's my favorite. I hate the Stone's but they are incredible, especially Kieth who will survive a nuclear war and be king of the cockroaches!!!

[Beirut]

Once more I worked as a roadie on the Wall tour. So Of course I saw it many times and from many vantage points including backstage.

Ahhhh, this is true, I forgot. Excellent!

Well, then I'm glad we both got to see it!

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Well, then I'm glad we both got to see it!

Yeah and Gilmore standing atop the wall wailing out the lead to comfortably numb is the greates thing Ive seen at any concert. It wil live in my memory forever even more than seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium. You couldnt hear a dam thing over all the girls screaming.

[ah_dut]

Pink Floyd....end of story IMHO

[Quietus]

Out of those three limited choices: The Beatles, easily. Nowhere Man, Norwegian Wood and In My Life are examples of simple, yet great rock songs.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Personally I think the Eagles are better than those 3 but oh well.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Personally I think the Eagles are better than those 3 but oh well.

You started the bloody thread!

[Gawain of Orkeny]

I dont care that much for the eagles but they do have the number one selling album of alltime. The Beatles though have sold the most records and Have the most succesful album ever released . That is during its original release. Thats quite a feat considering the population disparity from the 60s till now.

Top 20 albums of all time

The top 20 albums
1. Revolver -- The Beatles
2. The Bends -- Radiohead
3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band -- The Beatles
4. OK Computer -- Radiohead
5. The White Album -- The Beatles
6. Automatic For The People -- REM
7. Blood On The Tracks -- Bob Dylan
8. Abbey Road -- The Beatles
9. Dark Side Of The Moon
-- Pink Floyd
10. The Queen Is Dead -- The Smiths
11. The Stone Roses
-- The Stone Roses
12. Forever Changes -- Love
13. Velvet Underground And Nico
-- Velvet Underground
14. Kind Of Blue -- Miles Davis
15. The Unforgettable Fire -- U2
16. Astral Weeks -- Van Morrison
17. Nevermind -- Nirvana
18. Pet Sounds -- Beach Boys
19. Sign O'The Times -- Prince
20. Born To Run -- Bruce Springsteen
Source: Virgin poll

Review of Revolver


LINK

The black and white cover designed by Klaus Voormann, should give you a large clue as to the psychodelic slant the music on this album has. More cohesive than should be expected considering the drug intake, this album is Beatles to the core. Skilled musicianship. Magnificent melodies. Intriguing lyrically and with the new sound that sixties was evolving, this was a fantastic flagship for those times. And controversially for some people, I rate this higher than Sgt. Pepper's.

Taxman - Chords that The Jam hadn't even dreamed of run through this track. Raw and heavy sounding, surprisingly this was penned by the quiet bloke, George Harrison.

Eleanor Rigby - Such a timeless classic that it's really somewhat redundant to sit here and give my op on it. However. Atmospheric in the extreme, sad, lonely, somewhat sinister, this is a wonderful tapestry of a song. I was 6 when this came out and it spun Auburey Beardsley like drawings in my head when I heard this. No wonder I'm a bit odd these days.

I'm Only Sleeping - I love this. Terrific karaoke material, there is something deeply satisfying in singing about telling someone to bugger off and leave you to sleep. Good job that Lennon had McCartney to write his lyrics for him, I don't think my touch would have had the same fabulous result.

Love You To - Subliminally, I always fancy a curry when I hear this track. Reflecting the influence of the Maharishi Yogi, this is Harrison at his sitar-inspired best. A totally authentic feel to this track, which is hardly surprising considering the deep impact that this had on George's life, and he's taken it very seriously here. Full committment to the Indian style of music.

Here, There and Everywhere. - A beautiful love song. McCartney has that magic touch of creating classics from very simple melodies. This has a slow and childlike approach, keeping the charm going through it from start to finish. The production is cleverly low key and is just a joy to listen to.

Yellow Submarine. - Mental. Completely mental. Did you know that the late Brian Jones, ex-Rolling Stone is one of the chaps clinking the glasses and calling out in the background of the track. No? Well you do now. I think Eric Clapton was the other bloke. Wonder what ever happened to him??

She Said She Said. - The conversation between a drug addled Peter Fonda and John Lennon must have been something to behold. This is a remnant of it, being made out of some of the conversation they'd dribbled to each other during the evening. Fantastically psychodelic in lyric and tone, very sixties.

Good Day Sunshine. - This erupts from the speakers like a kick in the head after the meandering journey of the previous track. Love that little bar room piano sound that boogies about in the middle of the track. Very toe tappy and jolly. Although you know it's stuff that your nan would be happy to sing along to, it still sounds pretty decent.

And Your Bird Can Sing. - Reverting somewhat to the more mersey beat sound of the sixties, this happy little track is in a bit of a contrast to the rest of the album. Although they hadn't left the sixties by any means, this was already sounding a bit retro, even for them.

For on one. - Be prepared for your heart to break a little when you listen to this sad little song. Classy orchestration keeps this in the other sixties vibe that was going on, the kitchen-sink dramas that became the vogue on the cinema circuits. This is a little kitchen-sink drama in the musical sense and with a haunting quality.

Doctor Robert. - Bop along sort of song, where the guitar line reminds me of a few Monkee's tracks, but seeing as this is the Beatles it's infinitely better. A nice litte choral side step adds interest to the overall song.

I want to tell you. - Slightly off-key piano playing works charmingly in yet another song by George . Probably the most bland song on the album, but I still bet that Oasis would do a more than passable job if they covered it now.

Got To Get You Into My Life. - Another classic and excellently boppy song. Some big horns this time round, and just the kind of sound that was being produced by Burt Bacarach at the time. Contemporary, infectious, this was an instant hit that was covered by loads of people, few as successfully as the Beatles or Cliff Bennett.

Tomorrow Never Knows. - An absolute corker to end on, this track is a fitting climax to an album that was experiementing in ways that people didn't generally understand at the time. I can remember feeling scared by the "rushing" that I could sense when the music was playing, I was left speechless by the sheer assault it made on my young ears at the time, an incredible sensation when the house used to groove along to Glenn Miller or Deanna Durbin at that time.

All in all this has to be the ultimately most satisfying album. It represents so much more than just the Beatles. This was the culture, the way of life, the direction that the Beatles took the rest of the world in. It's almost the secret to life itself...

Dont give me this crap they werent progressive or ground breaking. Ill remind you lived through these times and have seen music develope.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

The Bends at number two?! It's a good album, but it's not that good...

[Big_John]

Ill remind you lived through these times and have seen music develope.

that is apparent

that top 20 list is borked! who the hell was virgin polling? "virgin polling" is a funny phrase, btw. anyway, i like this guys compilation (second post) it's all about the benjamin's!!
http://top40-charts.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14815

[Gawain of Orkeny]

that top 20 list is borked! who the hell was virgin polling? "virgin polling" is a funny phrase, btw. anyway, i like this guys compilation (second post) it's all

Ahhh theres a link there.

The Top 1000 in this book is based on over 100.000 votes from the fans, the experts and the critics

Most of the participants are from the UK and US. Published by London Bridge Mass Market, April 2000

I think its Virgin Records you may have hear of them. Im amazed that with younger voters included the Beatles still mange to top and dominate these kind of things 35 years after they broke up.

[Redleg]

I enjoy Pink Floyd more then any of the rest - but the Beatles did a lot for the bringing of rock and roll.

However one must remember Elvis did a lot to bring rock into the mainstream of music.

However as for bringing inovation into the industry - Zappa, Hendrix, and Jim Morrison all have my vote. I also think Ray Charles brought inovation into the music business also.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Speaking of Ray Charles have any of you seen this movie? Id say it was the best movie I saw this yeas. Great acting. an incredible soundtract and a truly gripping story. Its no wonder that Jamie Foxx is up for best actor. He is Ray.

Also while were giving credit for inovation lets not leave out Buddy Holly.

[Big_John]

he won the screen actors's guild award. i haven't seen it.

but, on an unrelated note, i saw "unforgivable blackness" on pbs the other night.. jack johnson was such a badass.

[Beirut]

Just finished watching it about twenty minutes ago with my sweetie. Great movie. Foxx was so damn good that through most of the movie you really thought you were watching Ray Charles.

Had no idea Ray Charles was a hardcore junkie like that. Nasty.