the more I write the more I value originality. I've thrown out perfectly good riffs before if I find they sound too similar to another band. When I'm in writing mode now, I try to listen to as little metal as possible, or none at all. I mean, really, when was the last time a clone band did anything artistically significant?
I mean yeah, everyone has their influences but the idea is to make it sound like you. Theres only 12 notes to use and only so many ways to arrange guitar/bass/drums/vocals in a metal context, so yeah at this point you're not going to reinvent the wheel the way Iron Maiden and Metallica did for so many metal fans, but I certainly think its possible to put your stamp on it. Look at bands like Nevermore and Opeth. You hear two seconds of music by those bands and you know its them, regardless of if you like them or not. That says something.
Originality has it's place, but i find it incredibly aggrivating that originality is equated with "good" and something that is in another style or sounds like another band could have written it is automatically "bad" because it's not a new idea. I mean, how many great bands have taken their influences and just made badass stuff out of them? The one that immediately comes to mind is Slough Feg, one of the best bands out there right now. A lot of their guitar stuff sounds like Thin Lizzy could have (and should have) written it, and it's amazing. It's just fucking awesome.
Again, I'll restate the fact that if something inspires you to write music that happens to be very similar to that thing, fuckin' go for it. I love that. Some of the best stuff i've heard is directly influenced by another band (Swallow the sun = early My Dying Bride for another example). So as long as the person is truly inspired when they write a riff or just let it flow instead of overanalyzing something and making it mechanical, i could give a shit what it sounds like. I like Maiden, so I'm going to like bands that sound like Maiden. I like Helloween, so I'm going to enjoy bands that have the Helloween sound. Priest is amazing, so a band that has a heavy Priest influence is going to rock.
Shit, Dio's solo work is nothing even remotely original but it's amazing. The end.
The only time i ever throw anything out is when it is straight up another riff. One time i was working on a song and started to play Maiden's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It took a second of me going "this riff rocks way too much for me to have come up with it............ oh. Damn. That was a sweet riff. People would probably notice..."
Family Guy is the case where something "new" doesn't mean something is good. I know most will disagree, but damn I despise that show...uke: