 Today , critics cite Big Star 's first three albums as a profound influence on subsequent musicians . Rolling Stone notes that Big Star " created a seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations of rockers , from the power @-@ pop revivalists of the late 1970s to alternative rockers at the end of the century to the indie rock nation in the new millennium " . Jason Ankeny , music critic for Allmusic , identifies Big Star as " one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll " , whose " impact on subsequent generations of indie bands on both sides of the Atlantic is surpassed only by that of the Velvet Underground " . Ankeny describes Big Star 's second album , Radio City , as " their masterpiece — ragged and raw guitar @-@ pop infused with remarkable intensity and spontaneity " . 
