I think there was a line in Spinal Tap where Michael McKean's character (was he Derek?) said something close to "There's such a fine line between creative and stupid."

This is such a subjective field.... a lot of it depends on the age of the listener too. I will be 60 very soon and my tastes are different from people not yet 20.

When the movie about Buddy Holly's life came out in the late 70s, a young kid that I worked with commented that "He did a lot of Linda Ronstadt songs!!"

For my money, the best guitar player ever was Chet Atkins. Now that doesn't mean that everybody else sucks, just that I think he was the best. Les Paul, Steve Vai, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, Randy Rhodes, Alex Lifeson, Joe Bonnamassa,...the list goes on. All great players, not interchangeable parts. Brent Mason, Brad Paisley in the country arena.... And I haven't mentioned Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian.... It's all subjective.

When you add in the hype machine... Someone mentioned Bob Dylan in an earlier reply. I don't own a Bob Dylan recording, I will never own one. I had one girl go on and on about "people steal his garbage to get discarded lyrics...." My reply? "Sure. Because nuts like you would pay money for Bob Dylan's garbage...."

As long as it will be subjective, we will see atrocities like Daughtry not winning American I'm-Dull when he was FAR AND AWAY the best talent that year. And Carrie Underwear winning over Bo Bice on the babe vote.... Now what they have accomplished SINCE is what matters, as Bice has vanished and Underwear has flourished, but to address the days they were on the show, she won on looks because at that point she was just "very good". (Disclaimer: I will never be a fan of hers because she sang that song promoting domestic violence about smashing the guy's car with a baseball bat. Even in lyrics, that is a serious subject and not to be trifled with.)