If they were a formulaic band then all their albums would of sounded like the first one. Theres no way they were that. Sure they were inspired by Buddy Holly, but, those first albums set off a mass of bands that were imitating their sound. They were setting the trend, not going with it. They were one of the most innovative bands of their time.
The song "Norwegian Wood" is now acknowledged as one of the cornerstones of what is now usually called "world music" and it was a major landmark in the trend towards incorporating non-Western musical influences into Western popular music. Other production innovations included the use of electronic sound processing on many instruments, notably the heavily compressed and equalised piano sound on "The Word"; this distinctive effect soon became extremely popular in the genre of psychedelic music.
The list of innovations is pretty long. They were far from a band who found a sucessful formula and stuck to it. They were always changing and experimenting. Certainly not a characteristic of a formulaic pop band.
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