10 Reasons Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Soundtrack Was More Influential Than The Beatles
Fit that yellow submarine with a half-pipe if you want to stay relevant, boomer.
The Beatles - bowl cuts, LSD, Yellow Submarine, matching outfits, they had it all. Known for experimenting with music that ranged from pop to psychedelic, to ballads, to rock ‘n’ roll, they were the voices of a generation; far ahead of their time and paving the way for new artists. Truly an inspiration, The Beatles may have been the most influential musical output of all time.
However, after thorough research, we’ve uncovered some rather shocking information. Did you know that there is NO documentation of ANY member of The Beatles having landed a kickflip? Not even one of the lesser known ones like Stuart Sutcliffe or Pete Best.
Fear not; there are plenty bands with fewer embarrassing secrets and frankly, far better music too. These bands all feature on the soundtracks of the various Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (THPS) games and their spin-offs. Turn-tables, power-chords, instrumentals, trumpets, trombones and rapped vocals were what the kids really needed. Why do think the 90s were so much cooler than the 60s?
This article will make ten arguments that supply definitive proof that the THPS soundtrack was far more influential than anything The Beatles did. You may disagree with some of these points. That’s OK, you can’t be right all the time.
10. The Sheer Diversity Of It
To concede a small point to the can’t-do-a-kickflip band known as The Beatles, they did do their upmost to diversify their music. As previously mentioned, they regularly changed their style between releases.
This could have been done because, rather than staying authentic and real, they were desperate to stick to whatever was popular. Alternatively, it may have been because, with each new release, they realised all of the music they’d previously written was awful. There’s no way to know for sure.
Where The Beatles fell, however, was that they were one band, as opposed to a collective of talented groups. Sure, they may have changed tempos and vocal styles occasionally, but you can scour their entire discography and not hear one breakdown, or even the slightest hint at a bit of rap.
With any given THPS soundtrack, you hear a plethora of different sounds. One minute you could be skanking to Less Than Jake, the next you’re bopping to Sinatra, then head-banging to Suicidal Tendencies, raising your fist to Rage Against The Machine, nodding along to some of Atmosphere’s bars, and so on.
Tony Hawk and co dared to be different and clearly reaped the rewards of doing so. They were the true musical geniuses.