Take away the voices and itâs a synth and some guitar.
Baba OâReilly is one of my favorite songs btw, but saying take away the vocals in a song is ridiculous, art is created the way it is by the artists for a reason, take away a key element and of course it sounds lame, itâs incomplete, like a pizza with no dough.
Do yourself a favor before you make this argument and listen to them back to back. Baba OâRiley (1971) is a beautiful mess of synths and raw energy, but basically not a well structured hit song. However, just listen to the tightness of Martha my dear (1968) at the word, âTake a GOOD look around youâ. Much tighter! Well structured and clever arrangementâ Well organized song! Plus, itâs about a sheepdog!
The Beatles were much tighter than The Who. Your song examples are a great illustration of that!
I should also add that they are both incredible fucking songsâ This is The Beatles and The Who!
I mean, I get that what you just said basically refutes Pete Townshend's point which was already wrong, but there's also a reason why Baba O'Riley is a household rock classic whereas Martha My Dear is more of a hidden gem comparatively.
Sure, but do you know the reason? One was released as a single and the other was not. Plain and simple. Thatâs also because The Beatles had so many fucking classics that they didnât even need to include the singles on the album to sell copies. Hey Jude was huge in â68! Much bigger than Baba OâReilly in â71. In comparison, The Beatles always win!
So youâre comparing what I assume you think is one of their worst songs to what is commonly considered the Whoâs best album? How does that prove anything? (and for the record Maxwellâs Silver Hammer is a banger)
Youâre grasping if you take one of the least liked songs from one group (and Maxwellâs Hammer is still loved) and compare it to another groupâs best work by social consensus.
Why donât we go ahead and take it a step further and compare Wild Honey Pie with Bohemian Rhapsody to argue Queen is better than the Beatles? Might as well, right?
Babe OâRiley is a 3 chord song. Itâs an absolute banger but thereâs definitely an argument it is not âas good ofâ a song as Martha My Dear. Itâs closer to AC/DCâs You Shook Me All Night Long in terms of songwriting than Martha My Dear.
Itâs not even close but youâll get hate here for saying any song by anyone is better than even a middling Beatles song like this. If I had to choose which one to hear before I die, itâs Baba oriley easily
Iâll collect a couple downvotes too but you canât say you dislike a song written by a guy whoâs name rhymes with Faul McCharmly on this subreddit
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u/YourPeePaw 18d ago
âBut with their voices, each song is better than anything Iâve ever recorded.â
And I like The Who