Everyone knows how important The Beatles are in the history of music. The Beatles wrote and recorded tons of great songs, but at certain key moments in their career, they took their artistry a step further and created material that truly changed the face of music. That’s what this list is all about.
—
April 19, 2017
Everyone knows how important the Beatles are in the history of music. Some Stones fans might disagree, but the Fab Four are where the idea of mega-star rock bands began. They were the first group to gain enormous fame on both sides of the Atlantic, and their charisma and amazing songs inspired thousands of bands to follow in their footsteps. Speaking of songs, the Beatles wrote and recorded tons of great ones, but at certain key moments in their career, they took their artistry a step further and created material that truly changed the face of music. That’s what this list is all about. Now turn off your mind, relax and float downstream.
‘Tomorrow Never Knows’
It could be argued ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ is the seed from which EDM — or any type of beat-driven dance music played in clubs — grew. The song features a proto-hip-hop beat and sicker-than-sick backwards tape-loop effect. This is the spacey Beatles at their best.
‘Strawberry Fields Forever’
‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ pretty much launched the psychedelic rock movement. It also introduced listeners to the Mellotron, a primitive synthesizer whose hollow sound falls somewhere between an electric organ and a stringed instrument. The Beatles didn’t invent the thing, but by using one here, they paved the way for numerous ’70s prog rockers, German electronic experimentalists, ’80s New Wavers and more.
‘Michelle’
‘Michelle’ may mark the first time a rock band decided to honor the greatness that is noiry French pop — and the Beatles completely nailed it. From its phrasing to its chord changes, this ‘Rubber Soul’ cut is the perfect French kiss. And with its French lyrics, it’s long made for great baby-making music on both sides of the Atlantic.
‘Helter Skelter’
‘Helter Skelter’ made our ‘Heaviest Beatles Songs’ list — and for a good reason. There’s something so sinister about that machine-gun electric guitar riff in the beginning and the way the song proceeds to take off like a jumbo jet. And of course, there’s that great walk-down riff after McCartney sings the titular words in the chorus. This is the sound of molten metal, and while bands like Black Sabbath would take it to new levels of darkness, ‘Helter Skelter’ is a sonic beheading compared to every other Beatles track.
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’
‘Eleanor Rigby’
The amazing, groundbreaking thing about the Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ is that it’s not a “live band” song. It’s very much a studio creation, and it’s so traditional and orchestral that it’s hard to fit into a single genre. Is it rock? Is it classical? Plus, its eerie lyrics tell such a stark story of aging, emptiness, loneliness and death that it’s almost as if it were written by Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft.
‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’
The lead track on the Beatles’ head-turning 1967 opus of the same name, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ was undoubtedly the first song Brian Wilson heard when he put his vinyl copy down on his turntable. The album would cause him to suffer a nervous breakdown, and while this song is amazing, the profound effect it — and the other tunes that follow — had on the Beach Boys mastermind makes you think hard about its place in rock history. (Side note: The Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’ is one of Paul McCartney’s favorite albums of all time, though he’s seemingly managed to play it without losing his grip on sanity.)
‘Yesterday’
‘A Hard Day’s Night’
‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’
This article is a re-post, with small modifications, of “10 Beatles Songs That Changed Music” an article published on diffuser.fm by Will Levith.
Click here to visit the original content.
