11 bands better than The Beatles?

Foxnews.com ^ | February 07, 2014 | By Mike Mettler

[US Navy Vet]

It was 50 years ago today that The Beatles landed in America for the first time. Could any other group ever hope to top the talents of these beloved moptops? Well ...Yeah, yeah, yeah! Check out 11 bands that I think took the Fab Four’s pop revolution and made it even better, way beyond compare

[Olog-hai]

Howlin’ Wolf never went after them for turning “Killing Floor” into “The Lemon Song” either.

[HMS Surprise]

Everyone will have to defer to me on this... The Beatles will survive beyond all the others because their music has the elements that are timeless: melody, harmony, and elegant prose. Led Zeppelin may have been “better” in a sense, but their music does not translate well to simple note by note comparison. (Ever heard Stairway to Heaven on piano? God-awful, truly.) The Kinks get a nod because they were in many ways the first to band to push rock into the 21st century. The Beatles, Stones, and The Who used early Kink classics as templates. There are greats and there are the Beatles, who are in a class by themselves... Period.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Springsteen’s best work was any cover of his crap by any band.

Manfred Mann comes to mind. Talk about polishing a turd, MannyMan’s IrfBand did it.

[BlueDragon]

The first half-dozen replies this thread -- classic freeper humor.

hilarious

[The Public Eye]

The Who were the best rock band ever. Babba O’rielly baby!

[Albion Wilde]

I agree with the placement of Zeppelin, who went way beyond the confines of the word “band.” But the rest? Forgettable.

[Revolting cat!]

[okkev68]

Umm Elvis?

[Albion Wilde]

Where was Queen in that list? An oversight.

[BenLurkin]

Only eleven?

[KevinB]

I always thought it was funny that Jake Holmes waited almost forty years to sue Jimmy Page for plagiarizing “Dazed and Confused.”

And as far as I know Spirit never sued Led Zep for the outright theft of "Stairway to Heaven."

[upsdriver]

I’m a fan of the many garage bands that sprung up in every community around the country in the 60s. Most of them cite The Beatles music and popularity as their reason for starting a band. I’ll give credit to the Stones, Kinks, Yardbirds, etc for their contributions but The Beatles were the main catalyst for the garage band phenomenon.

[drjimmy]

IMHO you’ve got to get The Kinks in there, they did almost every innovation rock had before 1980 first, laying down the basis for metal, punk, theater rock, art rock, not to mention inventing distortion.

The Kinks rarely get enough credit. That being said, The Who is the missing band that should really be on this list.

[jimmyray]

Such a silly claim, without much more definition. "Better" in what way? More #1's? More documentaries and movies? More albums in the top 10 of all time? Better vocalists? Better Lead Guitarist? Better evolution of sound? More Influential?

What does better even mean, unless it is personal preference? The Beatles are iconic, have a fascinating story, and were excellent song writers. They definitely evolved their sound over their 10 year career, from "Please Please Me" to "Rubber Soul" to the White Album, skiffle to back-masking, 3 guitars and a drum to french horns, harpsichords and sitars.

I'm a big Rush fan, but "Better"? Their sound is quite repetitive. Velvet Underground? Please. Most influential in the NY late 60's music scene maybe, but difficult to get through a whole album and actually listen to it. And NICO can't sing, sorry. The Clash? Cool, but very pigeonholed into Punk, and again repetitive.

The Stones, OK, maybe, if for no other reason than longevity. But not nearly as influential, methinks.

[Revolting cat!]

[Albion Wilde]

The Who were the best rock band ever. Babba O’rielly baby!

And "Teenage Wasteland." Another gross oversight by the listmaker.

[Shethink13]

And let us not forget the oft neglected lap band.

[discostu]

I’d definitely have The Who on there. Really stretched a lot of boundaries and showed a lot of what could be done in rock.

[Revolting cat!]

[CivilWarBrewing]

GENTLE GIANT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM-yGcpaY_4