I had a goal in mind when I decided to review Greta Van Fleet’s debut album, “Anthem of the Peaceful Army.” I wanted to be the one music writer that doesn’t mention Led Zeppelin in my review.
Less than 30 seconds into the album, I scratched that goal out of my notes. I realized it was impossible.
Greta Van Fleet, a band made up of three brothers and their one friend, first made a splash in 2017 with a series of EPs, after which the comparisons to Led Zeppelin almost immediately started.
And sure, it feels like it should be easy to write comparisons like these off, right? Music writers are always comparing this band to that band. Usually, comparisons like these are limited to pointing out sources of inspiration — Sleep’s guitars really do sound like something out of a Black Sabbath song — but sometimes they’re more ill-advised statements about a band’s future — “Oasis is the next Beatles” comes to mind.
But, with the release of Greta Van Fleet’s first full-length record, it’s clearly obvious why these comparisons exist. The band doesn’t just sound a little bit like Led Zeppelin. It’s not Led Zeppelin with a modern twist. It’s not a clear inspiration from Led Zeppelin.
Greta Van Fleet sounds literally just like Led Zeppelin.
And in many ways, this is a pretty huge compliment. Led Zeppelin always came across as one of those force-of-nature groups — each member of the band is undoubtedly one of the most talented musicians in their respective instruments in the history of rock music.
And the fact that we can reasonably say that Greta Van Fleet sounds exactly like Led Zeppelin is to suggest that they are equally talented musicians.
Lead singer Josh Kiszka sounds strikingly similar to Robert Plant. Guitarist Jake Kiszka has Jimmy Page’s sound down to a T. And even Danny Wagner makes a pretty solid attempt at mimicking John Bonham’s wild drum playing, and I’ve always said Bonham is probably the hardest member of Zeppelin to imitate.
But all this leads to a very troubling question, at least for what I do: is originality more important, or is quality? Which makes a good song or a good album?
Obviously, you need some combination thereof. But Greta Van Fleet’s problem is they skew far too hard into the “quality” direction without enough in the way of originality.
Let me be frank about this: if Led Zeppelin didn’t exist, and Greta Van Fleet simply came upon their sound in a fit of divine inspiration, “Anthem of the Peaceful Army” would be one of the best records of this year. The music is of that high quality.
But the problem is, Led Zeppelin does exist. And their specter hangs over Greta Van Fleet so pervasively that it’s impossible to not be thinking about them the whole time.
And unfortunately, that means that there’s very little on this record that’s actually memorable. Not because it’s in any way bad, but because it sounds like music that has formed the basis of rock and metal for the past 40 years.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t something enjoyable about “Anthem of the Peaceful Army.” It’s exhilarating to hear a band made up of such young people — members range in age between 19 and 22 — have such an incredible handle on how to make blistering blues rock songs.
These kids are talented. Really, truly talented. I’m hoping for them to fall into a style that’s more uniquely their own on their next record. I’m really rooting for them.
