Each album is reviewed on the basis on whether it advances the flow. Go back and see the difference in music journalism. In the early 70s sound is being directly integrated into the art and we are on the verge of a brave new world of possibilities. And then punk happens, the fight back, the victory of corporate rock institutions, the corporate mentality. Remember always, punk was invented to sell clothes.
Culture is taken away from the poets and handed over to the barbarians.
Plato will tell you that only the ideal is real. I suppose on whether you rate Plato. The answer is no. Outsiders can't understand what is a secret of the craft. Music and art are manipulative processes.