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Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
Agreed. I feel the Beatles were the better group musically because their music has more variety both in sound and subject matter. The Beach Boys' songs are often beautiful, just like you describe. Yet the Beatles' songs can also feel sublime and rich but more thought-provoking lyrically and musically.
I grew up in the 70's listening to both The Beatles and The Beach Boys, thanks to my older brother's record collection. I loved the sound of the Beach Boys, but The Beatles...they really made me THINK. I would listen to their songs again and again, wondering about their meaning, singing them to myself afterwards, enjoying all the little weird details.
The Beach Boys produce a wash of feeling that is fun to experience. In contrast, the Beatles' music makes me want to tease the songs apart and wonder about them. This is what I felt when I was 8. I still feel the same way now that I'm...not 8. 
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The brilliance of the Beatles is not only the variety of their sound, but the almost prefect execution of their eclectic tastes.....something the one dimensional Beach Boys were never going to achieve. For the record George Harrison was my favourite Beatle.
In fairness a group like the Byrds would have been a better match-up against the Beatles than the Beach Boys, as they were far more talented than the Beach Boys and had a decent quantum of variety as well, and in Jim McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman they had a trio to match John, Paul and George.