At Jingle Ball this December, David Guetta presented himself as a rock star… yet again. But he isn't one and neither is Mark Ronson. From Jack of the Cosmonauts thru Wade of KiLR, all the way to Jagger, Daltry, Bono, the lead singer of a rock band sets the tone and leads the band and it is just about impossible to have a great band without a great lead singer. Actually, I can't think of any, it is a deal breaker.
Swedish House Mafia don't have one, and despite their ability to sell 14,000 seats instantaneously, they can't survive in the cult of personality. The lowest rock star blows em off stage, any MC with chops makes mincemeat of them. And they are the biggest, the brightest and the best.
The thing is, the bands personality emanates from the lead singer. Look at the Who and Fall Out Boys. It doesn't come from the songwriter at all. That's why Paul Simon went solo -everybody thought Art Garfunkel wrote "Bridge Over Troubled Water". This is why the great producers, from Moroder to dr. Like, use figureheads and that's fine if you want to remain behind the scenes. if you want dance to remain a spice on pop music but not music itself.
But 2011 was about how dance was in the midst of becoming "The thing itself". Ronson attempted to form a band on "Record Collector" but he was too passive, simply not good enough. When he attempted to take credit for Amy's second album, this album and Lioness put the flea in his ear.
Despite hit albums by Guetta, Tiesto, others, they are invisible practioners who lack a unifying concept behind their music because… they don't have a lead singer.