Letters to the Editor
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Beatles were great Rob BUT...
"It was entitled "The Bee-Gees Vs. The Beatles - Who's the Best?!" We elementary school kids who opened the cover of National Scholastic's insipid answer to Rolling Stone found that the answer was, of course, "The Bee-Gees!!"
And we all know how that went, don't we?" Why do so many Beatles articles start with a jab at the brothers Gibb? Why do you make the assumption that everyone must agree with you or they are insipid? I could argue with you that ODESSA is better than any Beatle LP. I could tell you that Brian Wilson rates the Bee Gees as the # 1 group of ALL TIME ahead of the Beatles and yes, the Beach Boys. But this won't matter to kool -aid drinking music critics and Beatles fanatics.The real story is in the 40+ years of Gibb songwriting and can be discovered at:http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/
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Off-the-mark...
While Sgt. Peppers may not be the best Beatles album (I prefer the White Album but take your pick), Arnold's commentary is brutally off-the-mark:
I don't really know about the Stones winning the debate. If I'm not mistaken, the Beatles sold far more albums and released far fewer stinkers. Her Majesty's Satanic Service anyone?
I also don't really know what Dostoevsky has to do with Sgt. Pepper's. Marchese asked Arnold about image and she referenced "Brothers Karamazov"?!? The Beatles' image (album art included) was arguably more integral a part of their pop cultural influence at the time than their music.
Lastly, I don't really know how Arnold can't hear Lennon in Kurt Cobain's music. Cobain's visceral, linear melodies and sardonic lyrics more closely resemble Lennon than most of the Beatle's professed imitators (read: Oasis et al).
In conclusion, Sgt. Pepper's may not be the Beatles' best album. It doesn't have any political overtones. It doen't have the emotion of, say, Plastic Ono Band. But since when are these things neccessary to produce a "gereration-defining" album. "The Chronic" is just as generation-defining to some as "Fear of a Black Planet". Arnold is completely off- reinterpereted or not, the pop culture influence of Sgt. Pepper's is undeniable.