I Just Wasn't Made for These Times

Last night I was going through my music library and got onto a short conversation with my fiancee regarding the greatness of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, especially when they were at the top of their game.  I heralded songs such as "Dawn" and "Walk Like a Man" as some of the best songs ever performed and Frankie Valli as one of the most unique voices in popular music.

This prompted further discussion as to who the best pop/rock band of all time is... and I once again got into a major discussion about the merits of the Beach Boys vs. The Beatles. 

In all honesty, no one can really objectively state that one was better than the other.  However, I've been listening to a lot of Beatles music lately (refamiliarizing myself with their music as we add heaps of new digital sheet music from them to the site), and I've come to a personal conclusion.

It's very likely that The Beatles were the best band of all time.  However, there was a small period of time where The Beach Boys surpassed them - and very likely would have stayed ahead of them. This was during the Pet Sounds era.  There are hundreds of discourses regarding this time period for both bands (this was also right around the Sgt. Pepper's era for The Beatles) - but in my opinion Pet Sounds is absolutely the greatest album of all time.

The Beatles, on the other hand, had several great albums.  Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, Revolver, The White Album, etc. - but in my opinion none of them solely outdoes Pet Sounds as far as a single unique work.

All rambling aside, here's my final verdict (for now):

Best Album of All Time: Pet Sounds (Beach Boys)
Best Band of All Time: The Beatles

I will say, however, that Radiohead does give them all a run for their money - but don't even get me started on that.