How Important Is Originality In Music?

[Oceansoul]

I try not to be too harsh on bands who express their musical influences unless it is so close to them that they fail to have an identity of their own. For instance, some Prog Metal bands are influenced by Dream Theater which is fine until you have bands who are not distinguishable from each other.

If I'm listening to bands who are too much alike, every time I listen to them I will keep comparing them and that can mess up my listening experience so yeah very little innovation can show.