If the Beach Boys aren't a top 5, then they're darn close. It may not be a lot of people's cup of tea, but there is serious genius within their music. More so than many bands people might consider top 5.
Queen = Crap? As for Stomps list, I like most all of those bands as well. As for you list of final 5 to bump. For me it's the Wailers, and probably the Police, However, that doesn't mean one of those others shouldn't be in the conversation as well For me, but it's not like there are 5 and then the rest. Who, Beatles, Stones, Floyd, Beach Boys However, the Beach Boys could easily be replaced by several like Zep, Queen, Van Halen, Jimi Experience, Doors and maybe even the Eagles. No right or wrong answers here. Just fodder in place of the NBA
That's totally fair. I didn't mean that the Beach Boys were/are not a great band and worthy of all-time consideration. I actually thought about it a bit more in bed last night, and I think I undervalued the Beach Boys as I went through their collection in my head. Pet Sounds may be a Top 5 album of all-time, though, in my book.
I meant as a top-rated show on network teevee, but whatever. The Honeymooners are probably still on somewhere as well for the oldtimers to remember the old days. Homina homina homina!! Don't forget the Geritol and the Ovaltine tonight.
They have Dark Side of the Moon as #43, when it should be #1 or #2. It is the 3rd most sold album in history, and was on the Billboard charts for 741 weeks. If Dark Side is not #1, then The Wall is (IMO).
I disagree with the reasoning that popular = good, but your post did make me wonder what the 1st and 2nd most sold albums are (Thriller and, surprisingly to me, Back in Black). barfo
Dark Side was critically acclaimed since its release, every track is awesome, it was produced at Abby Roads Studio by Alan Parsons, and it sold on the charts for 15 years (speaks to its appeal to generations of fans). The Wall is 4 sides of great tracks, and there are several "cover" versions made by all star talent. Roger Waters put together an all star band and performed it at the Berlin Wall just after it fell. It may have been the largest audience to see a concert (in the hundreds of thousands). Michael Jackson's album was phenomenal, and boosted by the emergence of MTV. No doubt the guy was elite. AC/DC? I like the music, but I don't know why the album sold so many.
I was curious, so I looked. Bat out of Hell, by Meatloaf, is apparently the 5th most selling album of all time. If I needed any proof that sales #'s are not a valid criteria for "best", that's it. Kind of like how Titanic was touted as a great movie because of it's box office receipts. I wonder if you had taken ticket sales of GWTW or Casablanca, what they would've been. Of course, different times calls for different measures, as there wasn't a whole lot else to watch back when GWTW came out. Just like there are far more people in the US now then there were in 1965-68, and access to records is significantly different now (in the last 10 years lets say) then it was back when Pet Sounds, Sgt Peppers, White Album, etc, came out. Which is why record sales to me aren't a vital cog in the decision. My criteria? Do I recognize the song? Then it's good.
Here's how thousands of people vote the top albums: http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/all-time Three pink floyd albums in the top 52, and #s 4 and 6. I'm not at all making the point that the album was good because it sold a lot of records. I'm making the point that the record sold a lot because it was great. The longevity of the record being on the charts says more than the overall sales number. I'm fine with people saying the Beatles are the top band ever. They absolutely changed the industry, invented whole new ways of recording and engineering the music, and they created a huge diversity of music in a very short time. I would also say that McCartney's bass playing then would stand up against the top bassists today. Though there are a couple of brothers who wrote a phenomenal amount of music, hit tunes, that rarely get recognized. They wrote the music for many of the Disney films. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Brothers
