At the time, they were amazing because a lot of what they did had never been done before (although everything is derivative, there is nothing new in the world blah! blah! blah! etc).
As a result they influenced a huge number of musicians (as did Brian Wilson for the same reasons).
In retrospect it all looks different. Now there is a surprise!
I should of used 'Old Fart' instead of 'Rolling Ronnie' shouldn't I ?