Aerosmith vs. The Eagles

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I think The Eagles cover the spread.

I never ever understood why they just didn't use The Eagles to go directly to Mt. Doom.

[fidel]

But yeah, “The White Album” is my favorite album of all time. It’s very very special to me.

Great post. Quibbles:

- ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ is underrated. It’s a great singalong.

- this album is a collection of individuals. I think the only Back in the USSR has mixed vocals. It is quite a window into each artist.

It’s a favorite album, but it will never be top for me lacking the collaboration that somehow allows them to exceed their individual talents.

[ClemmonsDevil]

I never ever understood why they just didn't use The Eagles to go directly to Mt. Doom.

Solid work.

[bundabergdevil]

I never ever understood why they just didn't use The Eagles to go directly to Mt. Doom.

If they did that, they could never leave.

[ClemmonsDevil]

If they did that, they could never leave.

Ehh.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

If they did that, they could never leave.

"Hotel California" is a thinly veiling reference to My Precious - CONFIRMED

[bundabergdevil]

"Hotel California" is a thinly veiling reference to My Precious - CONFIRMED

Definitely. Colitas is Spanish for gollum.

[HoKogan]

Definitely. Colitas is Spanish for gollum.

That beast they couldn't kill with their steely knives was Shelob

[Steven43]

Great post. Quibbles:

- ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ is underrated. It’s a great singalong.

- this album is a collection of individuals. I think the only Back in the USSR has mixed vocals. It is quite a window into each artist.

It’s a favorite album, but it will never be top for me lacking the collaboration that somehow allows them to exceed their individual talents.

Au contraire, my friend, but John, Paul, George, and Ringo were literally living, eating, and communing together in India in an ashram while writing these songs. They were influencing each other — and consequently each other’s music— in ways subtle and overt all day, every day. They were in as close a proximity to each other as a band could be.

But hey, I understand the point you’re making and I agree that it has some validity. However, I’m not so much interested in the details of how these songs came to exist; I’m just glad they did.

I say we “Let it Be”. The Beatles White Album is miraculous!

[Jeffrey]

I say we “Let it Be”. The Beatles White Album is miraculous!

Seconded; it’s total brilliance!

[House P]

Okay, it’s time for The “White Album” discussion. I guess I should start from the beginning. Obviously, while growing up I had hundreds of times heard on the radio “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”, “Blackbird”, Rocky Raccoon”, “Birthday”, “Back in the USSR”, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, and “Helter Skelter” — all songs from “The White Album”. But I had never heard any of the other songs until I was a freshman attending college in Munich, Germany, and checked out “The White Album” double-CD from the school library.

I listened to that album daily for weeks and weeks. It was the only one I had in Europe since I hadn’t brought any music with me. I probably had heard it 25 times all the way through by the time I finally returned it to the library. And that’s how I came to cherish such songs as “Dear Prudence” (simply gorgeous), “Glass Onion”, “Martha My Dear”, “I’m So Tired”, “I Will” (a really sweet song), “Julia” (one of the most heartbreaking and beautiful songs ever written), “Yer Blues” (John plays an inspired version of this with Eric Clapton and Keith Richards during The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus show), “Mother Nature’s Son” (Jack White does a very cool rendition of this in front of Paul McCartney and President Obama at a White House event), “Sexy Sadie”, “Long, Long, Long” (I’m obsessed with this song), “Cry Baby Cry”, and John Lennon’s beautiful lullaby “Good Night” (which I later would play and sing along with for my kids while I would rock them to sleep).

And honestly, the songs that aren’t as stellar on here such as “Don’t Pass Me By”, “Piggies”, “Wild Honey Pie”, and a few others actually kind of round out the album by adding a layer of depth, creativity, experimentation, charm, and genuineness.

“The White Album” was made up largely of songs written by The Beatles while they were living in India taking part in a Transcendental Meditation training course at the ashram of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. But that whole India experiment is a story unto itself, and I don’t want to get into all of that here because it would take days. There have literally been books written about The Beatles in India.

There’s a podcast called “Screw it, We’re Just Gonna Talk About The Beatles” wherein they discuss The White Album during episodes 10 and 11. It’s interesting and fun stuff for any fan of The Beatles. In fact, I recommend starting with episode 1 and going through episode 14, where they discuss in detail every Beatles studio album. Great stuff.

But yeah, “The White Album” is my favorite album of all time. It’s very very special to me.

Thanks for taking the time to share your perspective.

After reading your response, I went back and re-listened to the "White Album". There are still a few songs that I'd be tempted to skip if they came up in "shuffle", but there are certainly a bunch of gems (why aren't the songs "Julia" and "I Will" better known?). The overall sound is rich and the album is ambitious. I can see why someone would listen to it daily* for weeks and weeks.

I may even give the podcast you mention a try. I suspect that there is a lot that I am still missing after only listening to it start-to-finish twice (2 years apart).



*Well, except for Revolution 9. I appreciate the experimentation and don't hate it, but I would have to be in a completely different state of mind to listen to it daily.

[fidel]

Au contraire, my friend, but John, Paul, George, and Ringo were literally living, eating, and communing together in India in an ashram while writing these songs. They were influencing each other — and consequently each other’s music— in ways subtle and overt all day, every day. They were in as close a proximity to each other as a band could be.

But hey, I understand the point you’re making and I agree that it has some validity. However, I’m not so much interested in the details of how these songs came to exist; I’m just glad they did.

I say we “Let it Be”. The Beatles White Album is miraculous!

Songwriting certainly influenced by their meditation, but it didn't make it to the studio.

Wikipedia, for what its worth:

During the recording sessions for The Beatles, each member of the band began to increasingly assert themselves as individual artists who frequently found themselves at odds. McCartney described the sessions as a turning point for the group because "there was a lot of friction during that album. We were just about to break up, and that was tense in itself";[67] Lennon said, "the break-up of the Beatles can be heard on that album".[68]

[Steven43]

Songwriting certainly influenced by their meditation, but it didn't make it to the studio.

Wikipedia, for what its worth:

During the recording sessions for The Beatles, each member of the band began to increasingly assert themselves as individual artists who frequently found themselves at odds. McCartney described the sessions as a turning point for the group because "there was a lot of friction during that album. We were just about to break up, and that was tense in itself";[67] Lennon said, "the break-up of the Beatles can be heard on that album".[68]

I’ve been reading about the stories of conflict during the making of The White Album for the past three-plus decades. Creative tension and competition can spur artists to great heights. It just depends upon the individuals involved.

Plenty of bands who get along swimmingly at all times produce pure dreck. A band is similar to a marriage in that there are inevitable ups and downs. And things change over time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes both things occur at the same time. That is what I think happened with The White Album.

John and Paul had been in competition from the very beginning, while George always felt like the underappreciated little brother. Ringo was always happy to be there, but was an integral part of the band, particularly chemistry-wise. At the time they went to India, John was married to Cynthia Powell, Paul was with Jane Asher, George was married to Patty Boyd, and Ringo was married to Maureen Cox. Serious romantic relationships generally impede upon band harmony.

From the time The Beatles first started playing together (as The Quarrymen) until many years later they were nearly inseparable 24/7 365. And they were thrust into a vortex of intense fame unlike any other band has ever experienced. They were basically like gods walking the earth. It was actually a miracle that they stayed together long enough to produce 12 studio albums.

I can go on all day talking about this, but I’ll close by saying that even in times of disharmony, The Beatles still found a way to make it work. These guys were like brothers who sometimes quarrel, but who love and respect one another. Just watch the fascinating video documentary “Get Back”, the making of the Let it Be album. It’s shows perfectly how The Beatles could at times be at odds, yet still work together and make brilliant art.

[fidel]

I’ve been reading about the stories of conflict during the making of The White Album for the past three-plus decades. Creative tension and competition can spur artists to great heights. It just depends upon the individuals involved.

Plenty of bands who get along swimmingly at all times produce pure dreck. A band is similar to a marriage in that there are inevitable ups and downs. And things change over time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes both things occur at the same time. That is what I think happened with The White Album.

John and Paul had been in competition from the very beginning, while George always felt like the underappreciated little brother. Ringo was always happy to be there, but was an integral part of the band, particularly chemistry-wise. At the time they went to India, John was married to Cynthia Powell, Paul was with Jane Asher, George was married to Patty Boyd, and Ringo was married to Maureen Cox. Serious romantic relationships generally impede upon band harmony.

From the time The Beatles first started playing together (as The Quarrymen) until many years later they were nearly inseparable 24/7 365. And they were thrust into a vortex of intense fame unlike any other band has ever experienced. They were basically like gods walking the earth. It was actually a miracle that they stayed together long enough to produce 12 studio albums.

I can go on all day talking about this, but I’ll close by saying that even in times of disharmony, The Beatles still found a way to make it work. These guys were like brothers who sometimes quarrel, but who love and respect one another. Just watch the fascinating video documentary “Get Back”, the making of the Let it Be album. It’s shows perfectly how The Beatles could at times be at odds, yet still work together and make brilliant art.

I agree with all of this. The White Album is among my favorites, you don’t need to convince me of it’s greatness or the band’s talents. I am at four-plus decades of enjoyment.

My point was merely that my favorite albums have the band working in greater unison. I am perfectly happy with you feeling otherwise.

[Steven43]

I agree with all of this. The White Album is among my favorites, you don’t need to convince me of it’s greatness or the band’s talents. I am at four-plus decades of enjoyment.

My point was merely that my favorite albums have the band working in greater unison. I am perfectly happy with you feeling otherwise.

I’m really not trying to convince anyone of anything; I just love talking about my favorite band and look for any excuse to do so. And I will go through periods where I’m totally into Revolver or Rubber Soul or Let it Be or Please Please Me, etc. and won’t even listen to The White Album for a year or longer.

Heck, there was a time where I listened to With The Beatles for two weeks straight because it was the only CD I had in my car. Eventually, even my kids were singing along with every song.

That’s a really good memory. 😊

[fidel]

It still cracks me up that the first Stones hit was a Lennon-McCartney song.

[Steven43]

It still cracks me up that the first Stones hit was a Lennon-McCartney song.

Yeah, that is quite the interesting little factoid, isn’t it?

But I love me some Rolling Stones. They’re my 2nd-favorite band. They have soooo many good-to-great albums. Even an album that was as big as “Tattoo You” can get lost in the shuffle. Check this out:

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/roll...oo-you-side-2/

And this:

https://youtu.be/BSVDowtuUsc

I’m bordering on obsessed with side two of Tattoo You. Not quite fully obsessed, but definitely bordering on it!

[Jeffrey]

But I love me some Rolling Stones. They’re my 2nd-favorite band.

My 2nd favorite is a four way tie between The Who, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and The Grateful Dead.

I definitely prefer the best UK bands to the best American bands.

[Jeffrey]

My point was merely that my favorite albums have the band working in greater unison. I am perfectly happy with you feeling otherwise.

Definitely a logical and reasonable point!

I started changing my opinion after hearing Jerry Garcia say he thought one of The Grateful Dead’s concerts was horrible and he became extremely angry and pushed his good friend (Phil Lesh, GD bassist) down a set of stairs. Afterwards, The Grateful Dead released parts of that “horrible” concert on their second album.

I learned there’s little correlation between how a musician feels about their work, their band mates, and the quality of the work.

[Steven43]

My 2nd favorite is a four way tie between The Who, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and The Grateful Dead.

I definitely prefer the best UK bands to the best American bands.

Right there with you. There are tons of American bands that I love, but they don’t make my Top 5.

The Who albums “Tommy”, “Live at Leeds” (40th Anniversary Edition), “Quadrophenia”, and “Who’s Next” are my current faves. An all-time great band for sure.

The Rolling Stones have too many good albums to list, headlined by “Sticky Fingers”, “Exile on Main Street”, “Beggars Banquet” and “Let it Bleed”. Just outstanding.

Led Zeppelin also has too many good albums to list, but my current favorites are “lll”, “IV”, “Physical Graffiti” and “Presence” (There was a period of 2 or 3 consecutive nights where I just had to keep coming back to the song “Tea for One”. Great late night chill song. If I were a chronic smoker of weed this would always be in heavy rotation).

Pink Floyd is right there with these other heavyweights. My current favorites are “The Wall”, “Dark Side of the Moon”, “Wish You Were Here”, and “Animals” (talk about underrated, my gosh). Fabulously unique band.

Grateful Dead do not quite rank alongside these other all-time legends for me, but I still like them a LOT. I really gained a new appreciation for them after listening several times each to the multiple albums they have on Rolling Stones 2012 list. And American Beauty is a stunning work of sheer genius.

I want to also add that somehow I stupidly managed to omit Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, Steely Dan, and REM from my Top 20 list the other day. I should just add them and call it my Top 25.

Rock on, brotha! 🤘