The Beatles
Are shit. And here's why.

1) Lennon. Snide, sneering, hypocritical waste of space. The only good thing he did was realise that he was in love with someone and that he wanted to spend his life with her. Can't write a tune, let alone hold one. Good rhythm guitarist though.

2) McCartney. Paranoid, controlling egomaniac who got found out when he got fleeced by Heather. Writes two-dimensional, moon and June songs. Responsible for The Frog Chorus, lest we forget. Dyes his hair.

3) Harrison. Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, as befits a Hare krishna devotee. A lead guitarist who can't play lead guitar. No-one would have noticed if he wasn't there, except there would have been fewer sitars on the later stuff. Which would have been a good thing.

4) Starr. Seems like a nice bloke, but can't play the drums, which I think is a pretty significant drawback for a drummer. Can't sing either, but we still got one track every bloody album.

5) The songs. I honestly only like one Beatles song that was written by them - She's Leaving Home. You can keep the rest. Having grown up in a Beatles loving household, I've heard every single thing they've done. To my mind, the albums get worse as they get later. Some of the covers they did early on are good. But then so were Freddie & the Dreamers.

6) The 'legacy'. Endless documentaries and biographies by middle-aged rock hacks. George bloody Martin being wheeled out every few years looking more and more decrepit. More box sets of the same stuff...

7) Public perception & actual practice. They were there at the height of the hippy phase. To paraphrase a better writer than me, they were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave and they saw the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back. They hired a bastard of a manager and a shit-load of corporate lawyers and have milked the public like a herd of AOR-obsessed heifers. Peace & love, guys.

No apologies for length. Rant over.
(Merson, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 14:36, 18 replies)

In the words of John 'best man of the woods' Little
You've stirred up a bloody hornets nest now
(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 14:39, closed)

Not sure I have by the look of it!
Wasn't the intention either, as I really don't like them.
(Merson, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 14:59, closed)

In the alphabet of the Beatles
'O' is for Over-rated

couldn't agree more
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 14:45, closed)

To be fair, I also agree
Have never thought much of the Beatles
(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 14:47, closed)

Agreed
Man alive, the beatles make me wanna hurl chunks. I swear to god, I hear the beatles and people go 'Aaaaaah, the Beatles' and I just wanna upchuck in their mouths...
(Barmybarny, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 14:47, closed)

Agreed
Especially with Lennon's hypocrisy. Singing about how easy it is to imagine no possessions whilst playing on his white grand piano in his massive mansion - the guy had some fucking front.

Didn't he have an air-conditioned cabinet for his fur coats?
(d371ght back again since, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 14:59, closed)

Going To Bite
Fucking bollocks. Anyone who listens to and remains unmoved by Hey Jude, Strawberry Fields Forever, I Am The Walrus, Happiness Is A Warm Gun, Don't Let Me Down, and Two Of Us is a know-nothing tin-eared musically-illiterate muppet more concerned with how undeceived they are than listening to and appreciating an intensely creative and imaginative band.
(McChinaman banned, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 15:02, closed)

Glad you like them...
...but I don't. I was careful to avoid criticising those who like their music and I'm fully aware that I may well be missing out on something that others believe to be wonderful. Each to their own, I guess.
(Merson, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 15:14, closed)

Come Together is a great song

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 15:04, closed)

song feeling
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Fri 16 Oct 2009, 15:28, closed)

I have to agree
I may be too young, but the Beatles music never really "did it" for me. If they had a defining effect on British popular music, it was mainly through an accident of timing, in my opinion.
There are a few songs that are worth a karaoke singalong, but nothing that I'd want to listen to in a darkened room, awed at the depth of meaning in the music.
Like you, I don't want to criticise the fans who can find the hidden depths, but for me, I'm glad they stopped when they did.
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Fri 16 Oct 2009, 15:34, closed)

2p thrown in
They were a half decent boy band... thats all not the be all and end all, to my ears a few decent tracks but not everyone. I would rather listen to The Monkeys
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 16:57, closed)

Too young to be an expert but
I think you're overlooking the fact that before them, there was rock n roll and fuck all else. They paved the way for everything you've ever heard of.
( stopmeandslapme Cometh the hour, cometh your mum, Sat 17 Oct 2009, 1:56, closed)

Frog Chorus
If you listen to it, it's actually a decent classical arrangement.

I'm not actually joking either.
(dchurch bah, Sat 17 Oct 2009, 11:32, closed)

I agree
Some of their songs are decent, imo. Some even border "good", but I'm not going to buy an album.

They're just a 1960s McFly.
(MJPerry was crude but clickable at, Sat 17 Oct 2009, 17:31, closed)

That ^
Is the silliest thing i've ever read on b3ta. And that is saying a lot. ''A 1960s McFly''. That sir, shows you up to be a no-nothing clown, undeserved of any sort of music. Unless of course you've only ever heard a few songs which i suspect is the case.
(BarryChuckle, Mon 19 Oct 2009, 12:50, closed)

Just because
teenage girls want to fuck someone who's in a band, doesn't mean that band is McFly
(LickOutTheJamsMotherfuckers!, Mon 19 Oct 2009, 23:36, closed)

My favourite line when the Beatles come up........
"No no no, I won't hear a word said against the Beatles, they were alright. They had 2 or 3 good songs at least"

That winds the purists up more than saying they were shit, and it expresses my feelings. Very ordinary band, but with great management, and Lennon was a fantastic opportunist and publicist. He jumped on several bandwagons so quick that people now think the Beatles started them; the results however were not always so happy. Sgt Pepper's didn't launch psychedelia, though it did bring it to a wider audience, but what a shoddy album! And they weren't much live. Joni Mitchell kicks their arse every day of the week.
(Sammyhaswoefullyneglectedyou, Tue 20 Oct 2009, 13:58, closed)