@deanBailey
I'm a huge fan of BTBAM, and whilst I agree that their stuff is very... alternatively composed, I find that the weirder it gets, the better. Let them break the mold, its "their thing" ? As for Ants of the Sky, the ... umm.. chorus single note work part thing (as I said, weird structure.. no idea what to call it..the anthem-like parts) is the first part I ever learned that put to use arpeggios. They're listed as one of my highest influences. I say if they're happy, and their fans are happy, it doesn't really matter how alternative their style is (if they even have a style at all)
The problem with music knowledge is that it's hard to get it to all sink in, and can take many years to gather and put to practical use. For people drawn strongly to using music to express themselves, they often can't wait that long, so they play interesting riffs based on basic knowledge because they get to express themselves with minimal time lost in front of a book. It's not all laziness, really! Some bands/artists just need to get out there and play, and do it
NOW.
Besides, the clone band of today could have the heroic solo-artist of tomorrow. Look at Trivium. They might be really, really close to Metallica, but you can't deny they're awesomely talented guitarists. Give them a few years, who knows?
If you have a strong drive to express yourself through music, don't wait. Write and record stuff now, and learn along the way. If you or your band come up with an amazing, but "similar" song/album, and end up on the radio, so be it, just never stop learning.
On a side note, I'd really like to see that "lesson" section grow ? I'm one of those people guilty of struggling to put music knowledge to practical use. Also, I love Jonathan Coulton
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/
