In Search of Beatles Rock but not Pop


At least in part inspired by recent posts, I have been listening to more Beatles music and trying to learn more, but so far I seem to respect them more than I have grown to love them.

At the risk of being flamed by our Beatles fans, am I the only one who thinks that some of their music veers disappointingly in the direction of sappy, bubblegummy pop music?

I find when I listen, I want them to play louder, go darker, take more drugs, "shag" more girls, and wear their hair longer. I am the Walrus? I love it!! Blackbird? Superb. Come together? Terrific.

Maxwells Silver Hammer?? Silly. Octopus's Garden? No thank you. I want to hold your hand? Cute, but really just doesn't do it for me and I certainly don't want to listen over and over.

Can any Beatles gurus help me better understand their music and the evolution of their work? Could this be as simple as a Lennon vs McCartney preference? Maybe all of their music is much more complex and multi layered than I realise and I just need to spend more time with it. Or maybe I am trying to take the Beatles too seriously?

Is there something I just don't get here? Do any Beatles songs/albums really rock?

Thank you for your opinions.
cwlondon
Zaikesman: Great story! Reminds me of when I was in grammar school and would curl up and go to sleep with my trusty transistor radio playing top-40. One night (mid-1960's) I woke up in the wee-hours and the strangest sounds were coming from under my blanket -never heard anything like it! Turned out to be Ravi Shankar. And I never heard surf-music again...
Hey, I like Ravi - and Jimi - as much as the next guy, but I loves me some surf music!! (And Dick Dale could be the bastard son of those two anyway...)
You may want to rent 'I am Sam' movie. It has wonderful Beatles sound tracks and the lyrics blend perfectly with the movie. It's hard to believe these songs are almost 30-40 years old. That's what makes the Beatles great.

My first Beatles song was 'Yesterday'. I heard it when I was 10 years old. I didn't understand the lyric yet but the song somehow just got me. Since then, I've been a Beatles fan. Their lyrics got more matured as its members got older and they never stop experimenting new sounds so they were ahead of their time. Now, most of the bands find a formula for top hits and they stick with it. Current bands sound pretty much similar to each other.