re: Who has the more diverse, detailed music? Steely Dan vs. Led Zepplin, Beatles, etc

quote:

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Essentially all of popular music's advancements and progression in terms of melody, diversity, and lyrical composition is basically attributed to their massive influence on the profession through what they created and elevated

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Solo artists before them were "going big" - bigger bands, horn sections, session musicians - even the Beach Boys and many of the R&B acts of the '60s relied heavily upon session musicians. The Beatles were self-contained, for the most part - they had Billy Preston on a lot over the last couple of years and occasionally had a guest musician or two, but - despite not being much of a touring band after the Beatlemania period, the lads from Liverpool could pretty much show up and play you what you heard on the album.

Every band since either cites the Beatles as an influence or they're lying to be chic, hip or cool.