I'm too young to remember The Beatles, but I adored them. I've always felt that I've understood (even secondhand) the numbing stasis of the late '50s/early '60s enough to understand the scope of their achievement. I've watched the first Ed Sullivan clip a thousand times, and you can almost hear the gears of history turning. Why is everyone screaming? You had to be there, I suppose.
When I listen to the Beatles I hear: the aftermath of JFK, a man walking on the moon, the Vietnam war, the popularization of Eastern mysticism in the Western mind, mens' hair getting longer, womens' skirts getting shorter, The Pill, LSD, and the (temporary) cultural triumph of the multi-hued Appolonian/Dionysian ideal over the Brooks Brothers grey, dead hand of Wall Street.
Revolver isn't just an album, it's a turning point.
The Smiths really shine most brightly in the context of the '80s. Morrissey was a bolt from the blue. Sure, you can be born in the '80s/'90s and "get" The Smiths, just like I "got" the Beatles years after they broke up. It is difficult to dismiss any work of art, however, if you did not experience it's moment first hand. Knowing the historical context of a great work always makes it all the more powerful, and makes the artist seem that much more uncanny.
