Elf Sternberg

That last paragraph may well be true... but do we use Einstein's math, or quantum physics, when studying subatomic particles? Do we fly unstable open-air biplanes with wooden propellers, or sleek, inherently stable composite monoplanes with enclosed cockpits and high-tech constant speed props?

The Beatles pioneered a lot of stuff, sure. Orchestral moves, the precursors to the rock opera, heck, just the idea of British rockers on American soil. Stuff that outfits like Queen and the Who took and ran with, which eventually led to The Wall and the Symbols album (does Led Zep IV have an official name?) But when a station in Atlanta ups and changes format to All Beatles, All The Time, you know damn well it's gone way over the top and a long way down the other side. (That tidbit off Wikipedia within the last week.) It hasn't gotten that bad here yet, but I seriously think it was in danger of doing so.

As for quality. De gustibus non est disputandum, but I'll put Night at the Opera or Days of Future Passed up against anything out of Liverpool, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" in particular. And there's staying power; Brian May and Justin Heyward are still poking about, and Sir Michael and Sir Elton are still bringing down houses from here to Hong Kong. Admittedly classical isn't a field where one exactly makes a splash, Sir Paul, but.... and then there's Fleetwood Mac, who even managed to hang on to all their members. Admittedly two-fifth Yank, but...

Yes. The Fab Four irrevocably changed the landscape of rock and roll as we know it. But there were so many bands piled up there that one of them would have been the breakout act: Rolling Stones, The Who, The Animals, The Kinks, Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, etc.... and my money is on Sir Michael, the man with the bloody MBA from Oxford... (This is why the Stones are, ahh, rolling in it after forty-one years of rocking it night after night... Jagger's got the noodle for numbers and the sheepskin to prove it. But I digress.) That and the Yardbirds... no way the Brits could keep a monopoly on God, it's just Not Done.

But if you look at that list and consider their various specialities (straight-ahead rock, rock opera, edgy bubblegum, psychadelic, pop, and blues)... I'm not saying the Beatles were irrelevant; you simply can't sell that many albums and not be... but I think the honor of being first is, at least in this case, more than just a little overrated.

(Oh, and let's not forget that "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" needed Clapton on the Les Paul to make it complete.)

But that's just me. If you want to throw the entire discography on shuffle, be my guest; just don't tie me up and make me listen.