 Although Big Star 's first era came to an end in 1974 , the band acquired a cult following in the 1980s when new acts began to acknowledge the early material 's significance . R.E.M. ' s Peter Buck admitted , " We 've sort of flirted with greatness , but we 've yet to make a record as good as Revolver or Highway 61 Revisited or Exile on Main Street or Big Star 's Third . I don 't know what it 'll take to push us on to that level , but I think we 've got it in us . " Chilton , however , told an interviewer in 1992 , " I 'm constantly surprised that people fall for Big Star the way they do ... People say Big Star made some of the best rock ' n roll albums ever . And I say they 're wrong . " 
