Before the Beatles, nobody really tried to experiment with sound or challenge the conventions and norms of music at the time. In the beginning, they became a phenomenon in America because when they first landed in New York, President Kennedy had been assassinated just a few months earlier and America was still grieving, so they sort of filled that void. You have these 4 charming, charismatic, good-looking young guys from England with the accents, during the time where the swinging 60s was kicking into high gear, they were every teenage girl's wet dream. They rode that wave all the way to Help! Then, starting with Rubber Soul in 1965 is when they really got experimental and sought to break most, if not all of the unwritten rules in music back then. Songs barely broke the 2 minute mark back then and they were the usual, skippy-doo-bop rock 'n' roll 50s sound. Then, here they come with Ticket to Ride, You Won't See Me, I'm Only Sleeping, Love You To, Tomorrow Never Knows, A Day In The Life, and all of these weird, unorthodox sounds and different themes like using a sitar on a track record like Norwegian Wood, playing the guitar track backwards in songs like Rain, that had never been done on a mainstream pop record before, let alone by the biggest music stars on the planet at the time. And because they were the biggest stars in the world at the time, people often looked to them to see what was the next big thing. They were deep and explored the feelings of the inner self and self-discovery during the time when the Psychedelic Era of the '60s was kicking into full force and thus, they became the poster boys of that era. The became the voices of that generation. The leaders of that generation. If you were a teenager/young adult growing up in the mid to late 60s trying to discover yourself during that time, in that era, it was as if the Beatles spoke for you. If you were against the Vietnam War like so many people were at the time, Revolution and Give Peace a Chance were your anthems. If you were depressed or sad about the situations or circumstances in your life and thought it was all over, Hey Jude was Paul letting you know everything will be ok. And we could dedicate an entire thread to all the spiritual stuff that George did.
They were so much more than just a music band, they were pop culture icons. And John became a martyr.

??? I already know they were innovative im just saying I dont like shills that just spit out an automatic response. Of course them being innovative is a big bonus but i just dont persionally like it when people who dont actually like the beatles just boast with comments they stole from internet headlines. I never denied their innovation. A lot of this I already knew. 

They are probably the most important band in the history of music.

I'm not a huge fan of their songs, but you cannot deny their importance.

Like most old school rock I think it's painfully boring. But for their time it probably was considered something like thrash metal.

I don't have an opinion on them one way or another.

Extremely boring band with usually shallow lyrics. .-.

I liked a few of their songs that were really popular or were in movies but I never really understood their extreme popularity.

That band shaped my teen years. I know their catalogue inside and out, and I basically can't listen to Abbey Road at all unless I have the time to get through the entire album end-to-end. It was hands down my favourite band ever.

But, having said that, my opinion of them decreased as soon as I studied (and listened to) the masterpieces that were Pet Sounds and Smile.

If Brian Wilson didn't have his breakdown, and was able to stick to his release schedule for Smile, I'm very confident Sgt. Pepper would have had less of an impact than it did (though there's no telling by how much). At the very least, it would be sharing the limelight today with Smile.

But yeah, the Beatles are still great.

Not that big of a fan, to be honest.

Their pop band phase does nothing for me though Paul was great at churning out catchy tunes. Meanwhile, rock was progressing very well in England by bands that basically ignored the Beatles.

Let's be honest. Most English rock bands were on a separate evolutionary track than the Beatles and were inspired by American Blues. That was the basis of rock for a very long time. The Beatles didn't flow into that until it was WELL established.

Then Bob Dylan gave the Beatles some weed and the Beatles machine switched gears. After that, they did produce some good music but they also produced some self-indulgent fluff. John just was not that good. Most of his solo albums are terrible. Ringo shouldn't really even be famous. Paul is a fantastic writer but it's mostly souless stuff. George Harrison is by far my favorite and I think he was better without the others.

As for the Beatles being most influential, maybe, if you include pop. Rock? No. They were only rock, themselves, for a small period of time. There aren't all that many bands that tried to replicate the music the Beatles were making, other than their pop stuff, which died out rather quickly. Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, or the Rolling Stones, among others, had more impact on actual music over the next few decades.

The reality of the Beatles is that they hit HUGE as a pop band, which made everyone interested in their other phases. They'd done an incredible job of marketing "The Beatles" and they were world-famous as an entertainment act. Much of their second phase stuff would not have received nearly as much attention had they not already been "the Fab Four."

A few quotes:

Jimmy Page, lead guitarist for Led Zeppelin - "If it hadn't been for the Beatles, there wouldn't be anyone like us around."

Bob Dylan - "They were doing things no one else was doing. Their chords were outrageous. Everyone else thought they were for teenyboppers, that they were gonna pass right away. But it was obvious to me they had staying power."

Sting - "I think the Beates are the reason I'm a musician."

Brian Wilson - "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is probably the greatest album I've evere heard."

Brain May from Queen - "I don't think anybody comes close to the Beatles, including Oasis."

Lemmy Klimister from Motorhead  - "The greatest rock band of all-time. Nobody even comes into the same planetary system in terms of songwriting and presentation. They never repeated themselves, they kept going from strength to strength."

Ozzy Osbourne - "The greatest band to ever walk the earth!"