Does the Beatles’ music sound ‘dated?’

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by bherbert, Mar 24, 2019.

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  1. bherbert

    bherbert Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    South Africa
    This thread is an update on the original excellent thread by @Oatsdad which was posted in 2009. It has since been closed. What is your opinion? Do you think most of the music sounds dated?

    Do Most Beatles Songs Sound "Dated"?
     
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  2. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    Some of it does; some of it sounds fresh and new.
     
  3. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Cue very long-winded discussion and arguing on the semantics of the word "dated".
     
  4. Lemon Curry

    Lemon Curry (A) Face In The Crowd

    Location:
    Mahwah, NJ
    The early stuff, yeh.

    By the time of Rubber Soul, they were making timeless music. If you didn't know it was the Beatles, many of their later songs would be at home on college radio these days.
     
  5. AirJordanFan93

    AirJordanFan93 Forum Resident

    Maybe some of the earlier stuff but honestly it all still sounds better than the majority of the contemporary music that is released today.
     
  6. mmars982

    mmars982 Forum Resident

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    Pittsburgh, PA
    Some of it does, especially some songs on Please Please Me.
     
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  7. Thomas D

    Thomas D Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bradenton, FL
    None of it sounds dated at all. Will still be solid in 100 years. It's from back when music tried to be music, and so music was made ... not just stuff that sells only because it is the cool" thing to listen to. That's why adults, composers, classical music lovers, etc all like Beatles music - it's real music, but the stuff that's hot now is rather niche, and no one wll have heard of it in 20 years. Would Leonard Bernstein like today's hits? LOL!! Doubtful. Would that London Times guy talk about the aeolian cadences in any of today's songs? No - today's music is basically mood background noise that you listen to if you want to appear cool - not because you like music.
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2019
  8. mercuryvenus

    mercuryvenus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    Pre-Rubber Soul, yes in some cases. I still think their best early work (She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, etc.) sounds fresh, but others sound a bit dated — ironically many of the covers, which says something about them as artists.

    After that, I don’t think it does. I agree with Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips) who said songs like Tomorrow Never Knows could be released today and people would think they were creative.
     
  9. DJ LX

    DJ LX Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison WI
    For me, "Savoy Truffle" and "Blue Jay Way" sound very much of their time, and hence dated.
     
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  10. bherbert

    bherbert Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    South Africa
    To me the first 5 albums sound a bit dated as well as Revolver, Pepper and MMT due to the production and the psychedelic styles. The White Album, Let It Be and Abbey Road sound like they could have been recorded in 2019. They still sound fresh.
     
  11. RudolphS

    RudolphS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rio de Janeiro
    Wait, wait, do people say the early stuff sounds dated? A Hard Day's Night, Please Please Me, Help!, It Won't Be Long and many others from the period? Frankly, to my ears those songs sound much fresher than, say, Within You, Without You or When I'm Sixty Four.
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2019
  12. fdsfd

    fdsfd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Istanbul
    I don't know whether it's because that they were taken better care of by EMI/Parlophone, but the early albums (PPM, WTB) sound much "modern" to my ears than the contemporary albums of that era.

    Even the singles, take for example "Love Me Do", sounds way closer to modern pop music of today than Stones' Decca-pressed "Come on".

    I can say the same thing for Kinks. Every record they made up until "Something Else" sound like they were locked in a bathroom with a dodgy tape recorder. I'm not putting them down and calling them "unlistenable" by no means, I L-U-V them, and that's the appeal.

    But I always thought that it had more to do with EMI's recording capabilities.

    PPM, WTB, and the early singles sure sound "dated" as they were written in a style that had been there before their time. Imagine the most popular hip-hop beats from 2008. It's only been a decade & no emerging hip-hop artist use that kind of style. Back to the Beatles; music started changing globally around mid-60s and the boys were in the front line, changing with it. So, after Rubber Soul, only a handful of songs scream "loooooooooookkkk I'm from the hippie times whoooeee" or "I'm a wannabe Dylanesque protest folk soooong".
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2019
  13. All music that was popular during a certain era and which had a major influence on the music of that era is dated to that era.
     
  14. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    I'd date it!:p
     
  15. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    NYC
    nostalgic
     
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  16. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    Take a poll of people under 20, and I'm sure you'll have your answer.
     
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  17. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    I think of everything prior to Rubber Soul as 'black and white' and everything after in high definition colour.
     
  18. vinylontubes

    vinylontubes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Katy, TX
    Sure "I Wanna Be Your Man" sounds like a typical '50s or early '60s song of yearning. Nothing special about it. I prefer the Rolling Stones version of the song.

    Cut to 1968, "Rocky Racoon" off the White Album at it's heart is a ballad. But it includes ragtime elements, odd harmonica fills, and rock beat structures. This is the kind of stuff The Band took to an art form. Just as the you wouldn't place The Band's music in the late to late '60s and early '70s, "Rocky Racoon" isn't a 1968 song.
     
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  19. Emil Zatopek

    Emil Zatopek Forum Resident

    Location:
    Almost there
    It sure sounds like it was written and recorded in the 60s.
     
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  20. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    Seriously?
     
  21. Pastafarian

    Pastafarian Forum Resident

    Well it's of it's time and we've dated.
     
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  22. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I forgot I ever started that thread!

    Did we ever answer the question of whether or not I'm delusional? :D
     
  23. Hot Ptah

    Hot Ptah Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Kansas City, MO
    The question is really, dated to which group of people. To music lovers ages 60-85 years old in 2019, their music sounds as fresh as if it was recorded today. To many of those whose ears are attuned to Drake and the other contemporary pop and rap being initially released today, their music sounds very dated. I hear this opinion often.
     
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  24. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    All the music was performed by human beings so, yes, it sounds dated.
     
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  25. owlshead

    owlshead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philly burbs
    exactly! that is how i think about it anyway... still love it though
     
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