but they did use a buncha studio cats because Brian was writing stuff they couldn't play. that's a documented fact.

oh - my vote is for Beatles.

The usage of studio cats peaked on the recording of Pet Sounds, where Wilson used an army of string and woodwind players, and immediately curtailed on Smiley Smile which only used one guitarist and an upright bassist. The complexity of Brian Wilson's writing stemmed from the multi-segmented compositions which consisted of different parts recorded separately, then edited together which resulted in suites like "Villains and Thieve" and "Good Vibrations", which would be difficult for the most seasoned professionals to pull off live. This style of song pre-dated the Beatles 16-minute "Medley" that closed out Abbey Road, which similarly blended shorter songs into a longer suite. In this example, it's interesting to note the Beach Boy influence on McCartney and Martin, which I think is the highlight of that album. The complexity of the music did cause acrimony between some Beach Boy members, particularly Mike Love who felt Wilson was turning the group into a studio band, that had no chance of reproducing these songs live on tour.

Beatles all the way!!

how has this thread gone for ten pages?

Because of this.

I'll take The Beatles, but it's really not a fair fight. The Beatles had the creative equivalent of two Brian Wilsons in Paul McCartney and John Lennon plus George Harrison who was a very talented songwriter too plus George Martin to help the realize it all. The Beach Boys, for the most celebrated part of their career, just had Brian Wilson covering virtually all of those bases.

I`ve been listening to a number of Beach Boys albums again recently and my opinion about them hasn`t really changed. The majority of the material sounds like great music to put you into a happy mood, whether it be for summer, easter and especially christmas, with their at times sublime surfy psychedelic harmonious sound. As said above, the Beach Boys only really had one real genius in Brian whereas the Beatles had three. I think the single "Heroes and Villains" their crowning achievement and "Smile" their best album.

As a contest with the Beatles, the Fab Four win hands down. In fact I`d sooner listen to the Byrds, Love, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane etc from the west coast bands of that era.

Agreed. I feel the Beatles were the better group musically because their music has more variety both in sound and subject matter. The Beach Boys' songs are often beautiful, just like you describe. Yet the Beatles' songs can also feel sublime and rich but more thought-provoking lyrically and musically.

I grew up in the 70's listening to both The Beatles and The Beach Boys, thanks to my older brother's record collection. I loved the sound of the Beach Boys, but The Beatles...they really made me THINK. I would listen to their songs again and again, wondering about their meaning, singing them to myself afterwards, enjoying all the little weird details.

The Beach Boys produce a wash of feeling that is fun to experience. In contrast, the Beatles' music makes me want to tease the songs apart and wonder about them. This is what I felt when I was 8. I still feel the same way now that I'm...not 8. ;)

I agree, Burning Down. For instance, I like the musical complexity in "Eleanor Rigby," which offers a great example of counterpoint used in a popular song. The cello/violin at times play a separate melody from the main vocal line, yet both are meshed together to create harmony. I also like the fact that this song, like many by The Beatles, doesn't just deal with romantic love like so many of the Beach Boys songs.

I feel The Beatles' songs as a whole cover more of life's complexity, and so they aren't always pretty, while the Beach Boys' songs seem myopic in a pleasant way.

The brilliance of the Beatles is not only the variety of their sound, but the almost prefect execution of their eclectic tastes.....something the one dimensional Beach Boys were never going to achieve. For the record George Harrison was my favourite Beatle.

In fairness a group like the Byrds would have been a better match-up against the Beatles than the Beach Boys, as they were far more talented than the Beach Boys and had a decent quantum of variety as well, and in Jim McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman they had a trio to match John, Paul and George.