The Who, England's Most Self-conscious Band, Have

What Makes The Stones' Arrogance So Divine Is That We All Believe That Long Ago And Far Away They Weren't Rich And Famous But Poor And Struggling, Just Like Us.

Bob Dylan May Be The Charlie Chaplin Of Rock N' Roll. Both Men Are Regarded As Geniuses By Their Entire Audience. Both Were Proclaimed Revolutionaries For Their Early Work And Subjected To Exhaustive Attack When Later Works Were Thought To Be Inferior. Both Developed Their Art Without So Much As A Nodding Glance Toward Their Peers.

Elton John Can Be A Master Of The Sleight Of Hand. The Arrangements Make It Seem Like There Are Substantial Melodies Underneath The Tracks - But Almost Nothing Demands Repeated Listenings. Similarly, He Always Sounds Like He's Singing Up A Storm, But His Voice Glosses Over The Material, Reducing Most Things To An Uninteresting Sameness.

On First Listening, Joni Mitchell's 'court And Spark,' The First Truly Great Pop Album Of 1974, Sounds Surprisingly Light; By The Third Or Fourth Listening, It Reveals Its Underlying Tensions.

Everyone Eventually Winds Up Writing About Themselves - The Problem Is Finding The Best Way To Go About It. To Write About Oneself Literally, In The First Person, Presumes A More Interesting Personal Life And Philosophy Than Most Rock Lyricists Possess. John Lennon Was Good For One Great Album Based On Musical Direct Address, 'plastic Ono Band.