Good question. I realized I was a bit vague about that, though I suppose both have crossed my mind. The former would seem to beget the latter, though.
In terms of the two major songwriting talents in the same band argument, that's pretty interesting, and, as the thread you inspired amply demonstrates, is a pretty interesting way of looking at a number of bands, and even seems to have examples in non-musical endeavors.
I wonder how much of that's due to just having two people who can generate more good ideas than one, how much is an undefinable chemistry between the two, and how much might actually because there's a good amount of self-regulation that occurs that way: if I were a songwriting genius, I'd possibly (probably?) be pretty unresponsive to taking criticism, but if I respected the crap out of the songwriting talents of the person making the critique, then that'd be a totally different dynamic.
Well great songwriters (especially rock stars) probably have egos that get in the way of collaboration with their equals, i.e. being in a band together. The fluke of the Beatles was that they both started collaborating as school boys, and both turned out to be top tier songwriters. This also let them develop a healthy working relationship (when The Beatles split up I don't think their talent diminished, at least not for another 5 or 6 years, but there was much weaker quality control and not as much variety in there albums). With respect to the other bands mentioned, I don't think they can claim to have multiple top-tier songwriters. Maybe in the 3-5 classic songs range but not in the 10-30+ range.
In terms of the two major songwriting talents in the same band argument, that's pretty interesting, and, as the thread you inspired amply demonstrates, is a pretty interesting way of looking at a number of bands, and even seems to have examples in non-musical endeavors.
I wonder how much of that's due to just having two people who can generate more good ideas than one, how much is an undefinable chemistry between the two, and how much might actually because there's a good amount of self-regulation that occurs that way: if I were a songwriting genius, I'd possibly (probably?) be pretty unresponsive to taking criticism, but if I respected the crap out of the songwriting talents of the person making the critique, then that'd be a totally different dynamic.