Greta Van fleet is a young American band (age spread: 19-22) composed of three brothers whose surname is not Van Fleet but Kiszka, two of which are twins, and with the addition of a good friend of theirs on drums. The album that got them the prize is called From The Fires and our advice to the kids out there who are about to form a band is to listen to GVF, Google Led Zeppelin and dive into their songs, then follow the righteous path to truly save rock 'n' roll.
Who cares if you come out sounding like refugees from a lost time? When Greta Van Fleet began appearing on people’s playlists, the direct comparison with ‘70s rock gods Led Zeppelin was instantaneous. GVF vocalist Josh sounds so eerily close to Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, right down to nuance and inflection, that you could swear their voices emitted the same frequency. GVF drummer Danny Wagner’s kit sound has the Led Zep John Bonham formula down pat (although no one will ever be able to copy the John Bonham technique). The debate is open on GVF guitarist Jake taking the fire out of Jimmy Page, only because to even attempt to do so would be sacrilege.
Before we go into more comparison, the assumption is that all of us kids have heard of Led Zeppelin, either because of our own impeccable musical tastes or because the ‘rents listened to them. If you haven’t, suffice it to say that Led Zeppelin embodied everything that was dangerous and therefore so appealing to rock: the big sound, the larger-than-life stage personalities, the sex, drugs and excess, the mysticism, everything. The Led Zeppelin myth is something that we have never seen relived by other bands of late. (You must find it out for yourself, especially that infamous mud shark/red snapper incident. If that had happened now Led Zeppelin would be dead and gone in an instant.)
From The Fires is an eight-song scorcher with some pieces of introspection thrown in to give you rest. That there are only eight songs already harks back to a time when an album could only have that many because that is all that can fit on vinyl or tape. The two songs we pick out as being straight Led Zep-esque are “Flower Power” and “Highway Tune”.
Robert Plant has been quoted in an interview that Greta Van Fleet is Led Zeppelin I, Led Zep’s debut album. We think GVF is more Led Zeppelin II-“Whole Lotta Love” or The Song Remains The Same-"Black Dog" because it is when GVF goes straight heavy blues-rock that the Led Zeppelin connection truly hits.
So is it all right that the Grammy Best Rock Album of 2019 sounds like a rock album from 1969? Well, until something truly groundbreaking comes what goes around will come around.