>
>there's a few acts that come to mind who this is the case
>for...in other words " X is good, but they're not THAT good to
>be so big "
>
>Bjork
>Radiohead
>Arcade Fire
>
>I get the appeal...I don't get the superstar status

Arcade Fire's darling status has been controversial from the jump. I think at this point most would agree with you.

Radiohead earned their status imo. They have multiple *huge* records that both sold very well and they've proven, time and again, that artistically they're on a whole other level. I think it's easy to forget now how unique their approach to the music business has been over the full arc of their career, too, pioneering ways of thinking about music and the industry that we now take for granted (effectively giving away an album, and dropping an album out of the blue, for starters). I guess you could question how much musical influence they've had - who are their musical children? - although I think that's there, too, even if it's a bit more subtle. Their catalog is pretty rock solid ... hard for me to come up with good reasons why they shouldn't have the status they do.

Bjork is super complicated in this regard. Her early records were groundbreaking, especially at the popular level, and she continued to surprise really through her fourth and fifth albums, minimum. No one sounded like her, no one could imitate her, and for as outlandish/un-pop as she could be she also managed to be surprisingly accessible at times. Her later projects have suffered from their scope and sort of conceptual/extra-musical baggage; the popular caricature of her as some flighty fairy avant garde princess has also done her no favors. But I think you could argue that she helped usher in a more performance-art approach to popular music and even popular culture more generally.

In both cases, you have exceptional musicians making exceptional music and also making a name for themselves through something that is, at least from a certain perspective, extra-musical. (Both have outstanding live shows, too, it should be said.) I'd struggle to make the case that they're overrated in some way but I'd like to hear more.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~