Greta Van Fleet was the big “love them or hate them” band of 2018. I am in the first camp.
I’m not alone. This was the year when they would go out on stage with festival headliner status, playing to audiences as big as 100,000 people. The amazing thing about that? Their first album was not even released yet at that point.
Many bands have been heralded as the next big thing in rock music, but few look as likely to actually being just that as Greta Van Fleet from Michigan, IL. They are barely out of their teens, and consists of the three Kiszka brothers Josh (vocals), Jake (guitar), and Sam (bass), and their friend Danny Wagner on drums. They have likely made the most exhilarating debut album of the year by channelling the greats of the past like Rush and Led Zeppelin. The album debuted at #3 on the US Billboard 200 chart in July.
Word of mouth has been massive for Greta Van Fleet since their beginning. They first started dropping some songs in early 2017, getting a lot of buzz with Highway Tune, and eventually released two EPs (now collected on CD).
The buzz would spread with every live appearance and with every piece of released music. It’s genuinely been both uplifting and exciting to follow these youngsters and their incredible rise towards the top, because this is the kind of thing that isn’t supposed to happen any longer.
Parallels can be drawn to bands like Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana: they experienced the same buzz and went from nothing to something over a very short span of time, garnering large audience sizes seemingly overnight that other bands spend years achieving – if ever.
To top it all off, a few months ago we learned that they received four Grammy Award nominations, pretty much in each of the major rock categories – Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance – as well as a Best New Artist nod. An incredible achievement for such a young band, even if they should win nothing. (Edit: they won Best Rock Album.)
Then there was the backlash. What goes up must come down, and if it doesn’t come down on its own, it must be torn down. In this case, it was all about the Led Zeppelin comparisons, to the point where GvF have been dismissed as Zep clones, or ridiculously, even thieves.
Of course there is a similarity between GVF and Zeppelin. GVF lead singer Josh Kiszka is aware of it, too. “Obviously we hear the similarity,” he said. “That’s one of our influences. But at this point it’s like, ‘Okay, we’ve acknowledged that. Let’s move on.’ Ultimately, I’d like to think that there’s [a unique] substance to what we’re doing.”
The whole GVF vs LZ debate reminded me of this review, featured on the Progarchives website: “I heard so much about this album being a Led Zeppelin clone, and I have to mostly agree. But hey, you have to take your roots somewhere. Human beings need to look up to something and let’s not blame them for being young and looking for a sound. Because for a first album, this one rocks and rolls from A to Z. Just good headbanging songs just waiting to be popped in a car stereo.”
The album being reviewed in the previous quote is not the new Greta Van Fleet one, but the debut album of Canada’s legendary trio Rush.
The list of bands being likened to the classic Led Zep is very long. Usually, bands start out wearing their influences on their sleeve, but get their own identity. No sane person will think of Rush as a Zep clone today. Imagine where GvF could go if they were allowed a career of similar longevity.
Also imagined if Rush had been crucified for their early LZ-influences to the extent that they had stopped after that first album. There’s acknowledging something, then there’s taking it too far.
When it comes to GvF, I definitely think it’s enough at this point. I am backlashing against the backlash.
Interestingly, Rush’s Alex Lifeson also weighed in on this subject: “What really struck me about [Greta Van Fleet] is their musicianship, their desire to become better players, their arrangements,” he said. “All of those things. As young players – I think they’re all in their early 20s—there’s a real great future for them as they develop their own style. At first, I thought – obviously, the influence of Led Zeppelin. But it’s a new time for them, so many decades later, so they’re developing their own audience. Much like we did. […] Certainly Zeppelin was a big influence for us. But once we got out and we got a chance to play and develop our own stuff and start writing our own material…well, you know, that’s history. And I see that with them too. They’re young enough that they can carry that banner for a rock band into the future.”
Even Queen did not escape the Led Zeppelin tag at first. “Back in the old days,” Freddie Mercury once said, “we were often compared to Led Zeppelin. But if we did something with harmony, it was the Beach Boys.”
If nothing else, this puts GVF in very good company. Personally, I feel what Lifeson is saying about finding their own style is already happening. GVF’s biggest Led Zeppelin-inspired moments can be found on the two EPs they released in 2017. Highway Tune especially is a pure LZ pastiche, plain and simple. Safari Song and Black Smoke Rising are also very clear inspirations. But every song was never just that. The fact that they covered the Fairport Convention classic Meet On the Ledge (and what a fantastic version that is!) also speaks volumes, and songs like Edge of Darkness with its southern rock flair also point to wider 1970s classic rock influences.
This is taken even further on the long-awaited first album. Anthem of the Peaceful Army is a mouthful, and I’m still not sure how crazy I am about that title, but the album is utterly amazing. The Led Zeppelin influences are now mostly smatterings found here and there rather than full-blown affairs. If anything, I hear more Rush on this album, but primarily this is where their own sound is starting to emerge. Perhaps they have seen some of the comments and are taking it on board. Perhaps it is a natural development. At the same time, the band sound the way they sound.
Personally, at this point I think the biggest Led Zeppelin similarity is Josh Kiszka’s voice, which really does sound like Robert Plant in his prime. Even Plant himself has commented on it: “There’s a band in Detroit called Greta Van Fleet. They are ‘Led Zeppelin I.’ Beautiful little singer. I hate him!” he said last year with a wink in the eye.
The album opens with Age of Man. Despite my expectations, I was not prepared for a song of this style and quality. This sounds like it was made in the early 1970s, starting with a lovely mellotron sound and soothing folk-inspired rock sounds with acoustic guitars and intriguing vintage background instrumentation. At this point it was already a winner for me. But it has more to offer.
The song slowly builds. After a short while, drums and electric guitars come in, and after a more ‘rock’ verse, the song explodes into a true sunburst chorus. The band is confident, their playing tight, their performances sparkling, and the arrangements sublime. Special kudos to Josh Kiszka who sings his heart out on this song, but they are all great The song develops into several other passages, and along the way it becomes quite the epic.
Age of Man is simply one of the most incredible songs I have heard all year. It is a gigantic track and my favourite song on the album, right out the gate. This is the sound of a band trying to stretch much further than they did on last year’s EPs, and they are wildly succeeding in every sense. This song speaks to every musical side of me that I like – this is a perfect blend of classic 1970s sounds, folk-rock, mellow hard rock, with a touch of progressive instrumentation. The song comes across as utterly sensitive and incredibly powerful at the same time.
The song’s glorious closing progression is especially anthemic, drenched in keyboards and vocal cries. The song itself is a celebration of reaching your destination, whether physically or spirituality, and to take that analogy further – allowing myself one cliché expression – with this song, we can definitely say that GVF have arrived.
As we get into the album, we will see several examples of the band trying to expand in several different directions, and starting with a song like Age of Man is a strong statement of intent in itself. None of the following songs are quite like this one. That’s both a shame and okay – it does makes this one stand out, and gives it a unique flair.
The second song Cold Wind is definitely the LZ song on this album if I had to pick one, but not in a straightforward sense. It kicks off with a lovely guitar riff which is retained for the verses, but the band go into yet another folk-rock section when they enter the chorus.
Thinking back to how they covered Fairport Convention on one of the first EPs, I’m starting to see those influences shining through quite a bit as well. These leanings will get stronger later on the album.
When the Curtain Falls was picked as the single from the album. Singles are sometimes the strongest track on the album, other times the lowest common denominator. This one is neither, really, but if anything the latter. This is a very straightforward rock song – solid, nothing wrong with it – enjoyable, even – just without the ‘something extra’ that made the other songs so far stand out.
Watching Over offers something different again. The song starts quietly, with guitar finger picking and a moody blues-rock arrangement. This befits a song about climate change just fine. The song gets a nice lift as the chorus introduce some mighty riffing to the proceedings. This is used for emphasis rather than changing the nature of the song, and other sections slow down again. It is an effective push/pull, which helps make this the moodiest song of the bunch.
Lover, Leaver has turned into quite the showcase for the band live, often stretching towards the 30-minute mark with jam sections, improvisations and solos. The album version settles for the core of the song at three and a half minutes. Some versions of the album adds the longer version Lover, Leaver (Taker, Believer) as a bonus track, which clocks in at six minutes.
This is a groovy and straightforward 1970s-inspired bluesy hard rock song, plain and simple, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. “Oh my holy Lord; She sets my soul on fire” coos Josh Kiszka. Highlighting those lyrics may let the overall depth of the song down, but they somehow describe the feel and groove of it best. And what a groove this song has!
The acoustic guitar is never far away on this album, and in You’re the One the band enters full-on acoustic folk-rock mode. This is a nice folk ballad with interesting flourishes and a good melody. The New Day taps into the same thing, also opening with an acoustic guitar which it retains throughout as the main backing. The song is a lot more percussive and bouncier, with solid drumming and overall higher intensity. It is a lovely track and becomes a bit of a mid-album secret weapon. The chorus is filled with a choir of harmony vocals, and the electric solo over the acoustic backing is also quite tasteful.
We switch back to electric on Mountain of the Sun, which contains a beefy riff with touches of slide guitar. The song is a happy, melodic tune (like so many on the album) about fighting through adversity with the girl of your dreams by your side: “The sun shines brighter from above; And you’re the woman that I love; We climb the mountain even higher; Kiss the sun, fight the fire.”
The lyrics on the album may have a touch of naivety about them for sure, but endearingly so. Sometimes it is all about catching a specific vibe, celebrating love and life, and just having fun while embracing the power of positivity. A lot of the album is upbeat in nature, which I am happy about personally.
Just to counter some of what I just said, Brave New World has a more dramatic flair and serious overtones. This is the second song on the album to touch on environmental issues, this time told in story form about a planet where the destruction is total: “As to the drifters of the high rift plains; They can see the ashes, and the acid rain; It turns to dust before their very eyes; And it chokes to death within the smog it lies.” Some hope is presented later in the song: “A silent child climbs a mound of char; Where he plants a seed that grows beyond the stars.”
The sci-fi flair is strong in this song, which almost becomes a mythology of death and rebirth for that planet. The story is presented well both lyrically and musically, making this a song with a higher level of substance than most on the album.
I would call this the second song on the album with an epic feel (Age of Man being the first), with several interesting sections and a lot of progressive musical developments as it moves from passage to passage. In the first break where there would have been a guitar solo, the song instead adds a saintly voice from the heavens, almost singing a requiem for the planet, while the band becomes the musical funeral procession – before they kick back into it again. The musicality on display in this song is incredible with innovative arrangements.
The ordinary version of the album comes to an end with Anthem. Picking that as a closing track is certainly an interesting choice. Some bands like to end on an epic note, but forget that – GVF chose to start the album that way instead. Others like to end things with an energetic guitar extravaganza, but no.
Instead, GVF bring back the acoustic guitars and play another folk-inspired ditty about unification. “With the news there’s something every day; So many people thinking different ways, you say; Where is the music?; A tune to free the soul; A simple lyric, to unite us all, you know.”
The sentiment is nice, with lyrical shades of Rush’s 2112 (which tells the story of the lost sound that brought people together to claim freedom). The slide guitar notes in the choruses are quite lovely, and it all ends with a singalong. This is Greta Van Fleet’s campfire song, and I can understand them wanting to end the album with a message like this.
And there we have it – the much anticipated debut album by one of the most promising and fastest rising new rock bands out there. I am extremely pleased with its diversity, containing anything from great rock-out moments to folk-rock ballads to epics, all sounding like it could have been written decades ago. Their style is developing in front of our very eyes here, and I am not overly concerned that people will still be talking about their influences as they get further into their career.
Their ascendancy has been very swift, but it’s nothing less than deserved. Anthem of the Peaceful Army is exactly what rock needed in 2018. And just think: if they are this good now, imagine what they could be like in five years’ time.
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