Greta Van Fleet are a smash breakout hit rock band. Their success is most unprecedented. No one in the band is even twenty-two years old yet. They have yet to record an official debut album. They released their first single last year, and with that and a couple LPs, they are selling out everywhere on their first North American tour. Their popularity and success do not match what would be expected from their current creative output. How does this happen?
The first thing everyone notices about Greta Van Fleet is that they sound a lot like Led Zeppelin. It is not possible for anyone to ignore this fact. Many rock bands have attempted to sound like Led Zeppelin and to the best of my knowledge and memory, Greta Van Fleet is the first band to actually pull it off. They legitimately sound like Led Zeppelin.
A very talented guitarist can study Jimmy Page and with the right guitar and the right tuning, learn how to copy his rifts to close approximation. A very talented drummer can study John Bonham and with the appropriate set of drums copy they can sound convincingly the similar. Every human being has a voice that is theirs, some people posses a talent to impersonate others and very talented singers can reach beyond their natural tenor and sound like someone else entirely, however no one has ever been able to mimic Robert Plant’s voice, until now.
This is like someone pulling Excalibur out of the stone. If a boy can sing like Robert Plant, then a boy shall be rock and roll king. I believe we are not all forced to conclude that Josh Kiszka is the chosen one.
Naturally there is a lot of discussion surrounding Josh Kiszka’s voice.
One perspective is, this is the first time in rock and roll history we have someone who has a natural singing voice nearly identical of our lord and savior’s, Robert Plant. This is a gift that needs to be shared with the world. We cannot fault Josh for having that singing voice, it is his natural singing voice after all.
Or is it?
Most people, including myself, hold this second perspective where we are pretty sure Josh had to work really hard to learn to sing like that, and fair enough, if I could sing like that I would, and believe me, I have tried. I have heard that Josh started singing like this because he was tired of the being drowned out by the instruments. I believe this is true, but I also believe there is a deliberate effort to sound like Robert Plant.
Someone should get Robert Plant’s opinion; oh good, someone already has:
The real question at hand is, is it a good thing or a bad thing to sound so much like Led Zeppelin.
There is the very real negative side effect to sounding too much like someone else, especially when that someone else are rock gods, for if we are to forever compare Greta Van Fleet to Led Zeppelin they will forever be a second-place candidate, the inferior product, and listeners will likely grow indifferent to them in time. Some critics will say their sound is uninspired, and indeed some already are saying that. But to Greta Van Fleet’s credit they have wisely avoided doing any Zeppelin covers, while that would be tempting as it would create a great pop from current listeners, it would seal their fate as an imitation. Also, to be fair, while Zeppelin is clearly their greatest inspiration, I heart a lot of Rush and Heart in their sound as well, and while it is significantly less clear I suspect the “Van” in their name comes from Van Halen, and the “Fleet” comes from Fleetwood Mac, I am just guessing on that last part though. The point is, there is more going on here then a Zeppelin tribute.
The positives of sounding like Led Zeppelin are obvious, you get to sound like the greatest rock band of all time and we have well seen people are responding to that with great jubilation. The music industry has fragmented into subdivisions of genres more so now then ever, and the pop music industrial monster is struggling to keep up with this change, and one thing they have always under appreciated is the appeal of that sixties and seventies classic rock style. There is a huge following to this day of people who proclaim that was the greatest era of music; I am one of them. We were so hungry for more that when Greta Van Fleet showed up most of us did not care if they were an imitation or not, we just wanted that sound back.
This situation reminds me of the band The Darkness. If my memory serves me correctly The Darkness performed a decent cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and people began comparing their sound to Queen, and this surged their popularity for a time. Obviously, the comparison is not perfect because The Darkness while inspired by Queen and others did not really sound like them, they were their own band with their own style and sound, but you can see why I see the similarity in the return to classic rock and the appreciation the world has for it can be, and I think should be made. It confirms that all generation enjoy and love the style of Zeppelin and Queen.
Greta Van Fleet do not have too many songs yet, but from what we have so far, I like their titular track from their first LP “Black Smoke Rising.” A fine sounding Zeppelin song, that is not a Zeppelin song. A nice walking the line between imitation and original creativity. It possesses that sense of mysticism with a call to face the challenges forcing our world, the very make up of an epic classic rock song. I had a lot more to say about the band than a specific song this time, but yeah, “Black Smoke Rising” I think that is the best track they have to date. Probably the best example of sounding like Led Zeppelin without being Led Zeppelin.
A final thought. It does not matter who Greta Van Fleet sound like, or how they managed it. What really matters is good music, and they have thus far delivered on uppermost important criteria. It is my hope that Greta Van Fleet will not only be popular with the current youth but will inspire them to discover the gods of rock and roll past. My other hope is when Greta Van Fleet create their first few albums they develop their skills and find a style more so their own, they have a great sound now, but it is not theirs. Sounding like Led Zeppelin is an awesome thing to be, but to become legends they will have to find a way not to be the next Led Zeppelin, but instead become the first Greta Van Fleet.
Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.
- King of Braves
Well written Mr Kelly.
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