Early era of modern arena rock, they were one of the first in the door with a few huge hits ("Rock and Roll All Night" being the big one), absolutely lit the touring scene on fire with big, highly produced live shows, had a striking look (for the time) that made them very, very marketable on top of their music being easy-to-digest and very popular. As far as musicality or innovation on the genre they performed within, there's not much to speak of, they just managed to land some huge radio hits, lean in on the moral panic stuff just enough to make them "marketable" taboo for younger kids and adults, went full-press on the merch and branding, and there you have it.