They were, but using all fake drums on Eliminator took away some of their "rock cred" for a while.
Springsteen had one of the 3-4 most popular albums of the 80's, so he definitely has a strong argument.
I am a big Billy Joel fan, but it feels like he was more of a pop star than a rock one, although he, like Elton John, often blurred the line between the two.