CW-I think you need to put what The Beatles did in context.
However the big problem listening back to any music is that this can be difficult,consider that the music we are discussing is 30-40 years old!
But I do agree with your points,The Beatles at their worst were pretty ropey.
The big thing about The Beatles is actually their impact in a cultural sense,what happened tied in perfectly with the dawning of a so-called new era,it is an era and effect that popular music will be unlikely to see repeated.
Their standing as the most important popular music group is unchallenged because of the many levels they achieved success on,as a Dylan fan I could argue he was in fact a greater talent but I couldn't argue his impact in a popular sense was anywhere near as great.
Their genius to me is the progression that they made in a short period of time,the journey from Please Please Me to Strawberry Fields is quite a long one,they absorbed quite avant garde idea's and presented them in (mostly)a very palatable way without diluting the power of the message and well they just wrote outstanding melodic songs.
Also I guess they disbanded before they managed to decline artistically as inevitably happens to all groups.
As for the rock aspect,I remember being amazed seeing them perform Revolution live on TV(part of some TV special at the time) and how hard and how great a band they sounded since I'd missed them due to being too young I had thought of them as a pop band,they rocked believe me.
It's easy to forget they cut their teeth as a live act and that they were fantastic musicians,we tend to think of them as songwriters and of course they had retired from live work before the true rock era began.
I'm sure others have their own idea's to add but I would suggest you read Ian MacDonald's book A Revolution In The Head,it's a pretty serious work but puts their achievements in context,in terms of social and historical events as well as musical.
However the big problem listening back to any music is that this can be difficult,consider that the music we are discussing is 30-40 years old!
But I do agree with your points,The Beatles at their worst were pretty ropey.
The big thing about The Beatles is actually their impact in a cultural sense,what happened tied in perfectly with the dawning of a so-called new era,it is an era and effect that popular music will be unlikely to see repeated.
Their standing as the most important popular music group is unchallenged because of the many levels they achieved success on,as a Dylan fan I could argue he was in fact a greater talent but I couldn't argue his impact in a popular sense was anywhere near as great.
Their genius to me is the progression that they made in a short period of time,the journey from Please Please Me to Strawberry Fields is quite a long one,they absorbed quite avant garde idea's and presented them in (mostly)a very palatable way without diluting the power of the message and well they just wrote outstanding melodic songs.
Also I guess they disbanded before they managed to decline artistically as inevitably happens to all groups.
As for the rock aspect,I remember being amazed seeing them perform Revolution live on TV(part of some TV special at the time) and how hard and how great a band they sounded since I'd missed them due to being too young I had thought of them as a pop band,they rocked believe me.
It's easy to forget they cut their teeth as a live act and that they were fantastic musicians,we tend to think of them as songwriters and of course they had retired from live work before the true rock era began.
I'm sure others have their own idea's to add but I would suggest you read Ian MacDonald's book A Revolution In The Head,it's a pretty serious work but puts their achievements in context,in terms of social and historical events as well as musical.