I agree that John Cale deserves more credit than what he receives now, but to say that Lou Reed is formulaic just doesn't make much sense to me. I don't think you can look at his albums Transformer, Berlin, and Metal Machine Music and say they are formulaic. The same can be said about New York (although, it does share a few similarities with his early work) and Street Hassle. I certainly don't consider VU's music to be boring either (this is more of a matter of opinion), nor do I consider them over-hyped. They created/helped create: alternative rock, art rock, noise rock, ambient music, indie rock, punk rock, dream pop, and help bring elements of the avant-garde into rock music. This was all happening in the mid-sixties when rock music wasn't as evolved artistically as it would be in the near future.
For Led Zeppelin, let me say that one of the first things I say to their sometimes eccentric fans is that they stole a lot of music (dick move, I know). They stole music from Spirit, Bert Jansch, and countless blues musicians, but I won't deny the fact that they were talented and very influential. In my opinion, the vast amount of music they released (their own music -- not their plagiarized) makes up for what they stole.
As for your opinion on Dylan, it's really too subjective to argue about. I'm not an avid fan of his, so I won't go on some long tangent (like I did with VU). If you think he's a boring performer, then that's fine. Personally, I think he was a decent one and that his music was emotional, thoughtful, and intelligent (even during his "crazy Christian" phase).
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