Quote:
Originally posted by Superpower
Well he wasn't doing the popular stuff like his peers. He always went against the grain, that's why he has so much influence.
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Exactly. Bowie's aim never was to be a Justin Bieber (not putting Bieber down, but that's a great way to contrast the two). He considered keeping to his musical convictions more important, and refused to let his labels lead him in a particular direction. I'd like to see more of Bowie's stances out there today.
Real Rock artists put out lyrically superior and far more complex songs than what you hear at Top 40. I'm actually surprised Adele has actually done as well at Pop radio as she has, given her own tendency to not cater to the 12-24 year old crowd.
The Sound Of Silence is lyrically superior to anything in the Top Ten (yes, even Hello), largely because Paul Simon refused to cater to the trends in the mid 1960s. He and Garfunkel didn't set out to be the next Beach Boys, Herman's Hermits, or Monkeys. And Simon & Garfunkel weren't the Beatles or Rolling Stones either, though the latter two bands (especially the Stones) went against the grain more than with it.
EDIT: Led Zeppelin strayed even further from the mainstream, and in doing so are among the most respected, if not the most respected band, in music history. They have several albums exceeding 10 million copies, and influenced hundreds if not thousands of musicians along the way.
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