IN REVIEW: Greta Van Fleet - "Anthem of the Peaceful Army"

To talk about Greta Van Fleet, hailed by many as modern saviours of rock n' roll, is to talk about the fine line between homage and parody. It's often difficult for a band to fall into the "sounds just like" trap, because once it happens, you're pretty much stuck. Joshua Kiszka sounds a lot like Robert Plant, and his band sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin, ergo Greta Van Fleet "sounds just like" Led Zeppelin, and now they're stuck.

The problem with this thinking is, there's nowhere safe for Greta Van Fleet to go on their debut album; stray from what drew people to you and you risk losing their attention, play up the classic comparison and you risk being drowned out by your detractors, most of whom are offended fans of the band you've been permanently linked with.

On Anthem of the Peaceful Army, Greta Van Fleet sound just like Led Zeppelin. Which opens up that whole can of worms, the one in which Zeppelin aficionados feel insulted that a young band of upstarts would dare to sound like their beloved, and young fans of Greta Van Fleet are wondering why all these grey haired dudes are so angry.

In any event, Greta Van Fleet's debut album isn't likely to win any awards for ingenuity, and some moments border on the silly (like that laughable artwork for instance), but it's not like they're roasting Zeppelin here; hell, Anthem of the Peaceful Army is far less an offence than Train attempting to cash in by covering Led Zeppelin II note for note a few years back. The way I see it, let the kids be kids; if this is what it takes to introduce a new generation to Led Zeppelin, then said generation is in a better place than they were without it.

October 19, 2018 • Republic/UMG
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