Originality - An observation by King By-Tor

King By-Tor wrote: Good addition to the discussion! . I feared for a moment there that it was slowing down. I agree, though I did comment on page 2 and no one responded to my post. I am very much in the same corner as you, so lets have a beer in that corner and discuss matters as they occur. First, I'm very much in the same boat of liking things that appeal to a familiar taste. my liking for Coheed and Cambria comes through probably because a lot of people call them a modern Rush (which I don't totally agree with all the time), and no doubt I've said that OSI was like a modern Pink Floyd. Do they have to be original to be good? of course not! Does everyone have to like them for being what they are? Of course not! Should they be immediately dismissed for sounding familiar? No!! Not at all! I've been interested in Coheed for a while since I see their name often. Rush is my favorite band... maybe this is a sign I should start listening to their stuff! Then there's the "lack of structure" on which I was more referring more to the lack of conventional structure in verse-chorus ect. A lot of people have a draw to this maybe because it is just different from everything else, and I've got no problems with that, the problem is when some people start calling down other bands that act more conventionally. Formulas work for a reason. Still searching for more comments!

rushfan4 wrote: I'm only mildly familiar with Coheed and Cambria.  I did buy one of their albums on an impulse buy, but for some reason I haven't listened to it yet.  In reference to modern Rush, I have heard the same tag placed on The Mars Volta, which is one of the bands that is mentioned earlier as being original and one of a kind.  Being a Rush fan boy, I should really like TMV, but only bits and pieces appeal to me.  Ironically, one reason I don't seem to like them is that I don't like the singer's voice, which seems to be the number 1 reason people give for not liking Rush.  Therefore, 1 day in the future his voice will click with me and I will also become a TMV fan boy, but until that day comes .

That's odd, I can't say I've ever heard "In reference to modern Rush, I have heard the same tag placed on The Mars Volta, which is one of the bands that is mentioned earlier as being original and one of a kind" or something along those lines said before.
Two members of TMV were previously in the Post Hardcore outfit, At The Drive In, and of course that style of music is not for everyone (although that said I think it's one of the better punk genres out there) and the energetic aspect of TMV's music is partly because of the hardcore groundings (and Hardcore is not punk rock per se, don't get them confused, many people don't bother to study and/or listen to the difference).
Yes, like many of today's prog bands, they take influences from older music, but their style is so out there and original IMO.
As the old play on the well known lyrics from Goliath "Never heard a band sound like this band before".