That's a matter of taste. Any trick or technique is only as good as the artist wielding it. Some do it well, some don't. You can't automatically discount someone who uses a technique that someone else also used. If you did, then pretty much ALL music is guilty of stealing from someone that came before them. Only 1 person did each thing the first time. You mentioned Tom, Steve and John.. that means that even if one of them invented what you're describing, the other 2 are guilty of stealing it. So why say it's okay for them, but not for someone else? That's an unfair double standard. All music technique and style is stolen/borrowed/copied from someone else. You have to judge each piece on it's own merit to be fair.

Brian

Brian Austin Whitney
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