I have always found this a strange phenomenon, a group of obviously
talented performers, let's say gifted performers, who can find nothing better to
do with their talents than to reproduce the music, note for note, guitar and keyboard solos
included (typically, rock and jazz and blues solos are improvised), of an established artist.
I recall a few years ago a co-worker was playing something on his computer and I walked
up beside him and said, "Oh, listening to some Pink Floyd, huh?"
"No," he said. "It's the Australian Pink Floyd cover band."
I continued to listen from my station nearby as I worked. Oh yes, it sounded like Pink Floyd all right, note for note, even the vocals, spot on. And when I had heard the whole thing, I turned to myself and said, "What's the point? If I want to hear Pink Floyd, I have all their classic albums at home. This band is obviously talented. Where is their creativity? Why don't they write and produce their own stuff?
I am not trashing the practice of a group of guys going out with their own style and playing a few covers. I have done that myself. But the purpose of making music, it would seem to me, would still be to write and create your own, to express what is inside you.
Don't we reward creativity and improvisation anymore?