Who's better

Stones is my favorite band of all time.
[Edited 10/12/09 12:14pm]

better how..?

BlackAdder7 said:

Who do you like better. Just give me your opinion.

You just can't beat the Stones for some authentic, nasty, snarly, mean-spirited, sexually aggressive and abrasive, even mysoginistic rock & roll.

But for me, it's easily the Beatles. During the time when they were both groups were going concerns, going head-to-head, 90% of the Beatles output was stellar from a songwriting, performing and production standpoint.

Every era of the Stones catalog is littered with a lot of ill-conceived shit that they were either trying to ape from the Beatles or other contemporaries or more authentic blues and rock predecessors. And don't get me started on their infatuation with country parodies. They do a country vibe very well, but more often than not, they seem to want to lampoon it. Which is fine, I guess, but their albums are littered with that stuff.

They have a lot of excellent key tracks, but only a few albums that are noteworthy top to bottom.

I suppose the Beatles have the benefit of having had a relatively brief, white-hot run in which they could do almost no wrong. But even comparing the Beatles material to what the Stones were doing at the time, the killer-to-filler ratio is definitely in the Beatles favor. Easily.

errant said:

I have to roll with the Stones. I often wonder if Beatles' popularity was a matter of timing and sex appeal. Kind of like they were the NSync of their day and we all know NSync beats Backstreet Boys every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Beatles

I like the Rolling Stones but more in a "greatest hits" kind of way. I could never listen to one of their albums all the way through like I can the Beatles. So...Beatles.

dannyd5050 said:

I'm the other way round, can only take so much of the Beatles whereas I like all the Stones' albums up till the mid-70s. Beggars Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers and to a lesser extent Exile On Main St are classics, the first 3 imo are flawless.

The Beatles just seem boring to me nowadays, maybe cos I grew up hearing so much of their music. Feel the same about Marley too.

errant said:

the only thing I might add is that what the Beatles lack in terms of pure rock they make up for in variety & creativity, and the ease with which they went from style to style.

The Stones may be the greatest rock & roll band, but the Beatles are the greatest band period.

The Beatles

I like the Stones quite a bit, but the Beatles win this hands down.