Lisnaholic

I feel pretty sorry for the Beatles and the Beach Boys, both condemned to endlessly slog it out in one vs thread after another.

In this one, Frownland gives the impression that Within You Without You was on Revolver, which is not the case. Anyway, if anyone needs their memory jogged about these albums, here are their tracklists:-

1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To / Here, There And Everywhere
5. Yellow Submarine
6. She Said She Said
7. Good Day Sunshine
8. And Your Bird Can Sing
9. For No One
10. Doctor Robert
11. I Want To Tell You
12. Got To Get You Into My Life
13. Tomorrow Never Knows

1. Wouldn't It Be Nice
2. You Still Believe in Me
3. That's Not Me
4. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
5. I'm Waiting for the Day
6. Let's Go Away for Awhile
7. Sloop John B
8. God Only Knows
9. I Know There's an Answer
10. Here Today
11. I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
12. Pet Sounds
13. Caroline, No

Coincidentally, both albums have 13 tracks, so that makes it an easy fight to adjudicate:-
Round 1: Taxman vs Wouldn`t It Be Nice: Beach Boys win
2: Beatles
3: Beatles
4: Beatles
5: Beatles
6: Beatles
7: Beach Boys
8: Beach Boys
9: Beatles
10:Beach Boys
11:Beach Boys
12:Beatles
13:Beatles

So I make it an 8 to 5 win for the Beatles; tbh a bigger win than I expected before I was lured in to this little exercise. Of course, in some ways the fight is completely unequal; poor old Brian Wilson was a lone songwriter up against some very conventionally-minded colleagues, while the Beatles were a threesome, all trying to outdo each other in pushing the envelope. So all these vs threads are
hopelessly unfair from the start. We should be putting just one Beatle into the ring with Brian Wilson so that he at least has a chance.

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

Frownland

Huh, my version has it on there as the second to last track. Damned mislabeled torrents!

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Pet_Sounds

Interesting comparison method. Mine:
1. Beach Boys
2. Close, but I absolutely adore You Still Believe In Me.
3. Beach Boys
4. Beatles
5. Beach Boys
6. Beatles
7. Close, but a slight edge to The Beatles
8. Beach Boys
9. Beatles
10. Beach Boys
11. Beach Boys
12. Beatles
13. Beach Boys
8-5 Beach Boys

A valid point. It would be interesting to compare a BW solo album with a solo Beatle's album.

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

Screen13

In The BBs, Brian had some support from Dennis, but when you have a lead singer complaining that they should only sing about cars and girls (not messing around with the "Formula" that was already out of date by then) and even a father (Murray Wilson) who really poisoned their history, you can tell that there was a lot of pressure going on their main songwriter in comparison what was happening in The Beatles' world at that time.

DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

At last Pet_Sounds has a friend!

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Stop and find a pretty shell for her
Beach Boys vs Beatles comparisons begin here

DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

BTW, I pointed this out in the BB vs Beatles thread a few months ago, but Here, There and Everywhere seems to be copying You Still Believe In Me. It's well known McCartney got the idea for the beginning of Here, There and Everywhere from Pet Sounds (and the BB in general, he's admitted it), but I wondered if he copied them more than he realized.

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Stop and find a pretty shell for her
Beach Boys vs Beatles comparisons begin here

Pet_Sounds

Another song which seems to garner inspiration from YSBIM is, oddly enough, I'm Only Sleeping. Just how it seems to disappear and comes back.
Speaking of which, I just now happened to listen to Strawberry Fields Forever, a it struck me that the backwards bit at the end sounds awfully like the train at the end of Pet Sounds.
Most Beatles songs have bits when I think "that sounds like Brian Wilson" (e.g. the key change in the fade-out of Good Day Sunshine), but I'm not sure if I'm picking all those up because I was raised (since before I could walk!) on a steady diet of his music and notice these things, or if I'm just grasping at straws.

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

Lisnaholic

Yes, now that it`s pointed out to me, I can see the broad similarity between YSBIM, I`m Only Sleeping and Here There and Everywhere. Thanks for pointing that out. Finer musical points, like key changes, are beyond me, I`m afraid!

^ Or how about best song-writer, Brian Wilson vs Ringo Starr?

__________________
"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

Pet_Sounds

Well... they have both worked with Van **** Parks.
I also think that bits of Here, There and Everywhere's melody sound like God Only Knows.

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

neardeathexperience

There is a over all diversity on the Beatles Revolver album that spans so many influences one can not seriously take them all in with a single listen. The Beatles recorded Revolver from April 6th to June 21 1966 so they could not have been influenced by Pet Sounds because it was not released until May 16 1966.By then The Beatles basically had written all the songs and were finishing up recording them......
In my opinion there are some stunning songs on both albums, but if you look at the depth of work Revolver has many more songs that are more memorable.