Hawkwind vs Pink Floyd

I love chocolate and would eat it daily if it was more obscure. 

But they are not mutually exclusive. However, liking the something for the wrong reason is perfectly acceptable whereas disliking something for the same reason is not. It's okay to like artisan craft chocolate because it's hip and trendy despite its bitter, grainy taste not quite living up to the hyped-up price ticket and hand-made packaging. All that distinguishes the artisan from the mass produced is marketing. Our local deli sells grissini bread sticks dipped in dark Belgian chocolate compared to the more popular Cadbury's Chocolate Fingers that are essentially the same thing in a different guise. I know which I'd prefer to have or give as a present but when it comes to having a chocolate coated biscuit to have with my afternoon tea I know I'll not be buying the product that is 850% more expensive. Rejecting the mass marketing of a popular product while espousing a similar but less popular product is still succumbing to the persuasive power of marketing. More people liking Cadbury's chocolate does not affect the quality of their product (selling the company to an American corporation who changed the recipe did that). Anyway, metaphors and analogies are great and all, (for entertainment purposes only), but music is not like chocolate and sometimes you just have to assess music as music and not as some neatly marketed package. 

Pink Floyd (or Yes, Genesis, Kansas, Tull, Marillion, Oldfield, Moodies or even Zappa) releasing music that has popular appeal does not (or at least should not) distract from everything else they did, nor should it be rejected outright simply because more people liked it than the smaller percentage of music lovers who once did. Frankly, anyone who argues against the quality of music is on a hiding to nothing.

Nobody even really knew what Pink Floyd  looked like back in the seventies! Amon Duul and the more musical splinter were darker than Pink Floyd back in the late 60s. Then Amon Duul II got happier and Pink Floyd got darker. Hawkwind always remained "out there" , cynical and foreboding. On the other hand heir lyrics can even get playful and are fun to listen to. Calvert and Moorcock's oratories were always neat   When The Wall came out I remember a lot of real Pink Floyd fans disliking it. I don't even think I ever bought it because everyone had it even though they disliked it. I remember borrowing a copy from a friend who hated it then it got passed on to another friend who couldn't wait to get his paws on it. It had a transparent sticker on the plastic wrap that everyone saved.