I think they ticked all the boxes when Rock'n'Roll was brand spankin new there was Elvis who is The King and he went through the ups and downs of his career (which kind of mirrored Frank Sinatra's to be honest: the teeny bopper heart throb, to the Army [Frankie didn't do that part], to the wild guy unable to be shown from the chest down on Edd Sullivan, to the movie star, to Vegas, and fade out) ....likewise The Beatles went from teen heart throbs to wild rockers, to movie stars, to pushing the envelope, to drugged out loons, to guys who ended up in their own different little worlds.

Lennon and McCartney are probably the best songwriting duo in the history of Rock'n'Roll, George Harrison's guitar playing is MASSIVELY underrated (he was going to be replaced by Eric Clapton for fucks sake! Yes, in The Beatles) Harrison was always overshadowed by the others but God damn he was talented, Ringo is a hell of a drummer, he didn't do crazy solos or draw all the attention to himself, he was just a very solid role player for The Beatles.


Also, like Elvis, like Sinatra, The Beatles did ballads, they did R&B songs, they did pure rock, they pushed the envelope with proto-progressive rock, shit early on they covered folksy kind of music and standards. They covered all the bases, they had gobs of talent, and they were the first ever to do it that big and that wild.



Like Rocky Marciano or a PRIME Mike Tyson The Beatles can't help but be both, they're overrated but they're underrated at the very same time. Their best is amazing, their average is amazing, it's so difficult to compare and contrast to anyone else even The Rolling Stones who have been around for ages.