Much of what the reviewer/list maker says is pretty insightful, though I don’t always agree with it. I think his take on Queen, particularly the way in which the surviving members allowed MTV to celebrate/commemorate Mercury without ever mentioning his sexual orientation and what ultimately killed him, is spot on. Do I think they deserve the RRHOF? Yes, but their inclusion is not without its difficulties. He completely nailed the Eagles and Chicago to the proverbial wall. Totally agreed on the absurdity of Rundgren not being inducted yet. Disagreed about Laura Nyro being a second-tier talent. Wonder why Rush is so downgraded. Completely agree about his critical readings of Van Halen, Journey, Def Leopard, and Bon Jovi. Think he’s way off-base about Bonnie Raitt as inconsequential. I find he’s quite shrewd about Jefferson Airplane, John Melloncamp, Billy Joel, Janet Jackson, and Bill Withers. And yes: why, oh why, has X not yet been inducted?
Anyway, his take on Stevie is not altogether fair. He’s right that on the basis of her solo work alone she would not likely have been inducted. However, he’s wrong in saying she’s only had 1.5 decent hits—or that most of her music is marred by 80s production. Some of it is, but a good deal of it transcends that. I’d have ranked her about 20-25 places higher than she was.
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