Originally Posted by Dayvan Cowboy

Why is this a thread
Completely different music scenes/styles, but I say beach boys win.

Originally Posted by Taxman

Sunflower is excellent album. Friends is also nearly as great as Pet Sounds. Actually all of their albums from Today to Surf's Up are great. Before that they were a single band and after that,blaaaahh. Love You is quite good though.

Originally Posted by Janszoon

It's actually one of the few "vs" threads that make sense imo, since the two bands considered themselves in a bit of a friendly competition with each other at one time.

Also, I agree with your vote.

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Love You is one of my favorite albums by them.

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

Yes, Brian Wilson is hardly a happy-go-lucky stage performer; the young Brian Wilson suffered from stage fright and the older Brian Wilson has some facial paralysis, I believe; so despite all the fun, fun, fun songs, it was really stress, stress, stress for BW. The studio was where he prefered to be. Has anyone here read his autobiog, Wouldn´t It Be Nice ? That´ll really give you an insight into Brian Wilson´s troubled life.

BW´s abusive father saw his son as the goose that would lay golden eggs for him and (backed by the other Wilsons) BW was told, threatened and begged not to mess with the formula of those early pop hits. To his credit, BW had the courage to fight against all that inertia and came up with a string of fabulous songs on Pet Sounds, peaking, imo, with Heroes and Villains. That song is such a triumphant slap in the face to all those "don´t mess with the formula" guys!

Like one of the earlier posters here, I once spent a day listening almost exclusively to the BB´s and discovered what I see as the downside of BW´s songwriting. For my liking, he´s a bit too much of a romantic wimp; it´s like he can´t resist slowing down the tempo and laying bare his trembling heart. Is anyone else embarrassed -or impatient- when they listen to some of BW´s more confessional songs? Oddly enough, to bring this little rant back to the opening topic, there is a parallel with the later songs of John Lennon, who I suspect also thought that if a song was down-to-the-knuckle sincere, then that, in itself, was a worthy acheivement. My callous attitude is, "Save that whinging for the bedroom, guys! I wanna hear some rock!"

Quick final question for Taxman; yes, he spent years in a kind of self-imposed house arrest, but are you sure he was watching porn all the while? I thought he was struggling with more debilitating psychopathological demons.

Originally Posted by Forward To Death

Sure you don't prefer P-Funk of the two?

LOL just kidding. I had to do that. Sorry.

No but in all seriousness, I prefer the Beatles if only slightly. Both have some great albums, but when it came to the two groups branching out from their roots, I felt that the Beatles' later albums are much better. The Beach Boys have great vocal harmonies, and I like their style and everything, but I always found Pet Sounds a little overrated, and I felt like the Beatles did some things that were more unique on The White Album or Abbey Road, for example. Love the album, don't get me wrong, but I just don't think it was on the same level as some others seem to I guess.

In a nutshell, the Beatles' catalog when they were both active was much better IMO.