im sick of the over use of the word genius, non of the beatles were genius's at all. i play in an orchestra, i have studied works of the greatest genius's of all time. the beatles have had about 2 or 3 records that are musically amazing, 90% of all beatles music is the simplest stuff ever, with no real sophistication or skill taken to write them. sure its great and everything. when i say say amazing music, i dont mean fast or loud or whatever, amazing can be simple. but beatles records have the most basic of chord structures in most of them with very simple melodys that a high school kid could write, but if a high school kid sang it, they would be rejected, because the beatles had something no one else at that time did. they had nice records that people could relate to, likeable guys, great distinctive voices, and they were pushed up through a media worship and devted fan base, similar to MJ. but strip it all away and you have a catalogue that isnt really very genius at all, dare i say it. it takes a big man to challenge the beatles legacy, but im hearing more and more people say it, who are actually musicians. they turn round and say, whats so good about the beatles anyway? ive never got it, and people who didnt grow up with them, dont have all the memorys and the iconic stuff, they just have the music. Don't get me wrong its great music, but nearly all beatles records except maybe 2 are far from musical genius. remember a genius isnt just exceptionally talented, they are so talented its in comprehendable to the everyday man in the true definition of the word. off topic its the same with elvis, nearly all his records were twelve bar blues chord progressions exactly the same as the last with a different melody on top, far from genius.
as for michael, he comes very close, he is a pop music genius, his compositions for pop are perfection, absolute perfection, nobody will ever make better pop records. but i believe given training as a musician and playing an insrument properly and really dedicating to it, he could have wrote symphonies ect. which the beatles could never achieve in a million years. when you see these clips of him in the studio, his eyes, they are so alive, so eager, he had something inside him, so enthusiatic, he doesnt understand why people cant get so into music as he does. his enthusiasm shows huge talent in my eyes. the beatles have this whole aura of four mates in the studio who are guaranteed success with there next record. there is no eccentricitys about them. you can't get much more eccentric than michael and eccentric usually equates to genius in cases of people like michael. you could even debate michaels genius, because genius is such a supreme word, and it needs to not be used so lightly.
in terms of influence its much more even. this is where the beatles are huge and people often mistake this for genius. on a worldwide scale michael absolutly destroys the beatles. but in the US and the UK its much closer. but i will say this, everyday of my life, i hear the name michael jackson at least once somewhere in someones conversation. it was longer than i can remember since i heard someone mention the beatles.................. but MJ is still fairly fresh, thats all i can say on the matter
