Band Face Off - Round 7 - Page 2

GypsySorcerer · #16 09-27-2005, 07:34 PM

The Beach Boys - harmonious ear candy.

WildInTheWind · #17 09-27-2005, 08:04 PM

I went with the Byrds. I don't know much of the Kinks, and I've always found the Beach Boys to be a bit cheesy.

markolas · #18 09-27-2005, 08:11 PM

I went with the Byrds. It was between them and the Beach Boys...I don't care for the Kinks. I love David Crosby and I love Gram Parsons.

Miss Vicky · #19 09-27-2005, 10:40 PM

This was a tough one... probably the first one that I've had to really think about.

I'm indifferent to The Kinks, but The Byrds and The Beach Boys... both HIGHLY influential on several of my absolute favorite artists - including Tom Petty, Lindsey Buckingham, and Walter Egan.

I chose The Beach Boys, but it was a close one. They only won out because they have more songs that I really love than The Byrds do, but just barely.

Miss Vicky · #20 09-27-2005, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WildInTheWind

I went with the Byrds. I don't know much of the Kinks, and I've always found the Beach Boys to be a bit cheesy.

Umm... it's surf music. What do you expect? It's just meant to be fun and catchy.

Dreammms · #21 09-27-2005, 11:29 PM

Beach Boys!!! Love the harmonies. Love Pet Sounds!!

bretonbanquet · #22 09-28-2005, 05:54 AM

Very tough one for me - love them all, but I went with the Kinks. Class.

danax6 · #23 09-28-2005, 06:30 AM

Oh, this one is easy. The Kinks.

face of glass · #24 09-28-2005, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shackin'up

Tune in Gaius! I'm so friggin' curious!

Ok.

Well, it isn't an easy choice for me either. All of these bands have made albums that should be included amongst the greatest '60s classics. And of course they were tremendous singles bands too.
The Byrds' peak was Younger Than Yesterday, an absolutely fascinating work where all the songwriters were contributing equally to the whole. I don't think any of their other albums come close to that, 5th Dimension is the closest but it's patchier. And unlike the other two, they actually knew when to stop at the right time and have far less filler cluttering up their back catalogue. Plus, they were the most obviously dark band of the three, there's nothing like "Eight Miles High" or "Everybody's Been Burned" in the catalogue of the Kinks or the Boys.

The Kinks turned out great albums during their classic era on a constant basis, The Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur and Muswell Hillbillies are all powerful observations of the English life, married to classic songwriting and a general good-time atmosphere. Ray Davies' satire and sense of black humour is today needed more than ever. And his brother wasn't all that bad in songwriting either.

I had to pick the Beach Boys though. Their voices can actually move grown-up men to the verge of tears. Everything's already been said about Brian Wilson's genius but I think the other Boys grew up to be good songwriters at some point too, for that you need to check out their early '70s albums. I think they did put out more quality albums than the Byrds and the Kinks; albums like Today!, Pet Sounds (of course), Smile (not Smiley Smile though, although it is interesting to listen to), 20/20, Sunflower, Surf's Up and Love You have gotten lots of plays on my stereo system. And solo albums like Brian Wilson's debut and Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue beat any solo products by the members of the Kinks and the Byrds. Yet they also made the biggest artistic missteps of the three, everything released by the Beach Boys after the '70s bounces between decent filler and downright banal pap. But the earlier works more than make up for that in my mind. And in spite of their happy Californian image there's a lot of darkness in their music, even behind some of their happiest moments. It is ironic that they tried to give the impression of being always on Prozac (before Prozac was actually invented), and yet their personal lives were often a huge mess.

So there. Two typically American bands (although not in the patriotic sense, praise the Lard) versus a typically British band. Hopefully this was as interesting a face-off as the others have been.