Why is it so hard to get away with hating the Beatles?

[ReservoirAngel]

It seems that with almost every band in the world, there is a clearly labelled large group of people who like them, and a large group of people who don't. And this has been accepted for ages.

But the Beatles seems to break this. Apparently, from my experience, admitting to disliking the Beatles is like a social death sentence. Why? I get and respect that the Beatles managed to find some kind of 'timeless' quality market in their music.

And yet it seems people who hate the Beatles are treated as outcasts quite badly because of it. I've asked people why it's so hard for Beatles fans to accept people not liking them, and the response I got was "because those people are obviously ignorant to the history of music".

This utterly fucking baffles me. No other band in the world needs fucking CONTEXT to find them appealing, so why is that the Beatles seem to be this isolated, protected entity when if you don't like them you must be an ignorant beast with no knowledge of music?

It seems they are absolutely immune to the whole 'different strokes for different folks' thing, as if you don't like them, your opinion must mean nothing due to your apparently ignorance.

Personal story time: My dad recently got himself that new-fangled re-release of all the Beatles' stuff in the big box set. My mum went out and he was sat downstairs blasting that shit so loud that I could hear it over my own music upstairs (oddly I was listening to the Rolling Stones at the time, which is another band that seems to sometimes have this 'immune to critique' thing going on) so I went and told him to turn it down...at which point he refuses, because "it's the Beatles. it's better than any shit you listen to, so i aint turning it down".

My dad's normally a nice guy, so him turning into a dick when asked to turn down the Beatles was shocking. I'm not using this to say all Beatles fans are cunts, cause I know they aren't. But it was weird to think people hold that high a view of the band.

Erm...I don't really have any discussion-type questions here...this was mostly just a rant, so I dunno how exactly to round this off...

...erm...I like bacon? I dunno...

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

I thin it's mainly cause some of the members are dead and dead people always become more famous and more untouchable, in a sense.
Also it's because they were kind of the precurser to all modern rock and pop.

 

[Chased]

I'm not sure why people are hatin' on those that hate. I think the Beatles contributed a lot to music but they're not my favorite thing to listen to either.

EDIT: It's weird how people cite them as being pioneers of rock while most of them don't know who Chuck Berry and Fats Domino are (aka the original pioneers of the genre).

 

[Lukeje]

Mainly because they did such a diverse range of music that everyone likes at least one song.

 

[Magic Cheese]

Honestly, I think it comes from them [The Beatles] being that good. Also, a lot of people grew up riding around with their parents listening to the oldies station and hearing bands like the Beatles, the Stones, Zepplin and such. And also, there are quite a few people who realize it's kind of a social death sentence and as such just go with the flow.

I, personally, love the Beatles, but I can't fault someone for having different tastes, possibly because I live in the American south, so few people I know listen to anything other than country and rap. I know how it feels to drive someone to work and have them openly mock you for choosing the Beatles over Lil' Wayne. :S

 

[Matt_LRR]

considering the extent to which the beatles changed and affected the landscape of music, you probably owe the existence of much, if not all, of the music you listen to what they did.

To not, at least, understand and appreciate this puts you in a position of being largely oblivious to how the music you listen to came to exist.

No one would argue you have to listen to the beatles, or obsess over them, but they are most definitely a band that shouldn't be written off with a "the beatles sucked".

They had an industry shaking influence that is still felt today.

-m

 

[shreedder]

I think they are o.k but not a huge fan of them, but I respect them as musicians.

The problem is when you say you hate them people jump to the conclusion that you think they are untalented.
I have the same problem with metalica. I don't like them at all, but I understand how vital they were in the metal scene.

 

[Osaka117]

Whether you like them or not is an opinion, but what the fact is that they changed the music industry big time, and have amassed fans for around 50 years now, so that shit adds up. I personally love The Beatles, but I'm not gonna assault you over the internet if you don't, because that's just your opinion.

 

[Dark Knifer]

I know people who hate the beatles for stupid reasons. Like "Oh, they are old so they are crap" (I wish I was kidding). Society probably thinks you're doing the same so they strongly disagree with you (even though I can tell you're not).

 

[ReservoirAngel]

they influenced zounds of artists since so theirs that.

Surely though, if you're only talking about the music the Beatles produced, the fact that they influenced other people is irrelevant. Yet people trot that out as a blanket excuse for the band, despite the majority of "haters" being able to perfectly accept the band's influence.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Though I'm a big Beatles fan (in peace), I do see your point the problem is a mixture of the media hype and nostalgia that given them this untouchable status. Also seems that most people just say they like The Beatles and that Sgt Pepper is best album of all time because everyone always says Beatles are the best band of all time and that Sgt Pepper is the best album all time, and try to pass off as music experts by claiming you know nothing of music cause you don't like The Beatles to hide their lack of knowledge on music history.

 

[CODE-D]

Im made fun of by my friend for disliking the beatles and liking the beach boys instead. None of their songs i really like and bands of today easily outdo them by a long shot.

 

[Nova Helix]

Because the Beatles are more popular than Jesus.

 

[Bassman_2]

Hate is such a strong word. Nobody likes it when someone hates what they like or love.

 

[ThatDaveDude1]

If you don't like The Beatles, then you clearly worship Satan.

Are you suggesting that we tolerate Satan Worshipers?

 

[Dogstile]

I have this problem with Nirvana.

"I don't like the way they sound"
"you have to, they changed music for the better, without them you wouldn't have bands like..."

No, shut the fuck up mr Nirvana fan. I do not care, they sound like ass. Seriously, just ignore those people, they're just dicks.

 

[MorganL4]

Well, I personally am a Beatles fan ( have a picture of me with the penny lane street sign in Liverpool and everything)

but if someone tells me they don't like the Beatles I don't judge them ( okay, I do, I think they are crazy) but I don't call them on it because I understand that others have different musical tastes to me ( on a very basic level I actually understand the science behind one person liking a sound and another finding it intolerable)

But as to why they are revered, that's because 1 they were a world sensation comparable only to Elvis ( and even then I believe they beat him out in record sales) and because we live in a world ruled by baby boomers and the Beatles "defined a generation".

Now whats funny is a friend of mine was at target with his dad and these two girls were in the music department ( 15-16) and one shouted out in astonishment PAUL McCARTNEY WAS IN A BAND BEFORE WINGS????!!!

that is funny in my book I couldn't stop laughing when I first heard that.

 

[Valagetti]

I love The Beatles, they are by far my favourite band of all time! And its funny that your avatar is Yahtzee, because, he too loves The Beatles. I don't really like McCarthy that much, hes talented as hell, but the rest I love, especially Lennon. Theres many reasons why people love n' hate The Beatles.