Okay, this could be a fun thread. Here we go. Currently I’m doing a deep dive into The Smiths and reading about Morrissey. This leads me to the following question: Who was more influential to indie rock? Morrissey/The Smiths or Stipe/R.E.M.
Being a diehard R.E.M. fan, you know where my allegiance lies, but what I found discouraging is that Morrissey’s Wikipedia page just goes ON and ON and ON with accolades, while Stipe’s page is rather short and more itemized based on his projects. I found it discouraging! Am I to believe that Morrissey is more important as a singer/lyricist, but R.E.M. were the more important band?
In my mind Stipe is the bigger icon, but CLEARLY my bias has blinded me….? Maybe it’s a classic case of R.E.M. were more important than The Smiths, but Morrissey was more ‘important’ than Stipe? But how the hell does that make any sense? Thoughts? [And, yeah, yeah, yeah–I know “important” is a relative term, but who cares?]