Music "experts" really can't tell what's going to sell and what's not - they can only make conjectures. A noted "expert" told the Beatles that guitar bands were on the way out in 1962. 41 years later, they haven't even peeked out the window! And as much as I don't like her, Christina Aguilera's insistence on "Dirrty" being the lead single off her current album over the record company's suggestion of "Beautiful" paid off in a major way. She was totally changing her sound and image, and she wanted to make a statement with it at the very front. Back to the Beatles, who are an excellent example of what it means to be revolutionary in music, when they started producing more sophisticated and classically-influenced material in 1966, some people thought it was a little weird to say the least, but '66-'69 proved to be their greatest period, and the beginning of an era in music that is still powerful today. I really do want people to be able to see Vanessa Carlton for what I know she is and not as just another Top 40 popstar. That might require breaking some molds and upsetting the status quo.
