Greta van Fleet... yay or nay?

[fcgamer | 4,754]

So they've been around for about a decade now, I suppose. Ran into a guy over here in his fifties and we talked about the band some, and I thought his take was quite interesting.

Anyways, Greta van Fleet, yay or nay?

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

I think a third option of "Who?" might be warranted, as I'd never heard of the band before your post, and I imagine I'm not alone.

[fcgamer | 4,754]

8 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

I think a third option of "Who?" might be warranted, as I'd never heard of the band before your post, and I imagine I'm not alone.

I'm honestly shocked hearing this, as it seems as though there is a bit of a controversy behind the band, hence why I'm polling here.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,593]

Meh.

I dig their first single Black Smoke Rising, and whatever song it was that was receiving radio play early in 2022 was decent.  But overall I generally find myself avoiding them.  And getting through a whole album proved impossible.  And Highway Tune is so derivative it makes me cringe.

I considered doing a debate thread for them several times, but I probably would have given them a 5.

Oh, and I also hold a grudge that their first album won the rock Grammy.  Prequelle was robbed 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

26 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

I'm honestly shocked hearing this, as it seems as though there is a bit of a controversy behind the band, hence why I'm polling here.

I typically don't listen to the radio these days (in-car bluetooth FTW!), and I've never been "plugged in" as far as any music scene is concerned.  Never even heard the name mentioned before, let alone as a band, or in regard to any sort of kerfluffle.  I listened briefly at the first video of theirs that popped up when I Googled who they were and wasn't really impressed, but refuse to vote "yes" or "no" on a band solely on a single entry and wasn't impressed enough to want to go through their library to give them a fair shot.

[G-type | 2,539]

never heard of them

[Reed Rothchild | 9,593]

19 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

typically don't listen to the radio these days (in-car bluetooth FTW!), and I've never been "plugged in" as far as any music scene is concerned.  Never even heard the name mentioned before

They shot to prominence in 2017 on the back of Highway Tune because it sounds exactly like Led Zeppelin

[JamesRobot | 5,839]

Zeppelin ripoff which isn't necessarily bad but can't give them much more credit than a good cover tune bar band.  Pretty meh.

[twiztor | 855]

i'm not really a big fan of theirs, but on a fail/pass question i would go 'yay'.

[doner24 | 1,197]

6 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Meh.

I dig their first single Black Smoke Rising, and whatever song it was that was receiving radio play early in 2022 was decent.  But overall I generally find myself avoiding them.  And getting through a whole album proved impossible.  And Highway Tune is so derivative it makes me cringe.

I considered doing a debate thread for them several times, but I probably would have given them a 5.

Oh, and I also hold a grudge that their first album won the rock Grammy.  Prequelle was robbed 

This 

[fcgamer | 4,754]

Keep the opinions coming folks! I'll share my take likely later tonight, and then we can discuss that further if we desire.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

8 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

I think a third option of "Who?" might be warranted, as I'd never heard of the band before your post, and I imagine I'm not alone.

You are absolutely not alone.

[Gloves | 11,843]

Never heard of em.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Come on, say it with me, folks!  "Who? 2023!" "Who? 2023!" 

[Pendragonx | 117]

I was blown away how much they reminded me of Led Zeppelin  .. though my mom wasnt as convinced (and she had seen them live back in the day)

[fox | 1,681]

Major Zep vibes…but I was never much of a Led-head

[Hammerfestus | 3,891]

 

I’m part of the never heard of her crowd.  I’ve realized so out of touch with the young people and their music that they don’t even know the music that I’m too old to know any more.  

[B.A. | 1,139]

1 minute ago, Hammerfestus said:

 

I’m part of the never heard of her crowd.  I’ve realized so out of touch with the young people and their music that they don’t even know the music that I’m too old to know any more.  

That is a great van fleet!  10/10

I've never heard of her/him/them/they/she/he either. 

[fcgamer | 4,754]

Right, so the reason I started this thread was due to having discussions with three different people about the band. I wanted to hear everyone else's take, and perhaps we can discover some deeper meaning.

Guy 1: Ashton is my age, mid thirties. He loves classic rock and grew up listening to Zeppelin and others, classmate and good friend of mine since we were kids. He introduced me to the band a few years ago (I'm out of touch with a lot of the new music too) and said he really enjoyed the band, but that he feared that their success would nosedive as they had been receiving a lot of hate / criticism in more recent times.

Guy 2: Luke. He's in his early thirties, and from abroad, growing up in a non-English speaking country. He plays guitar and loves classic rock, hates the band. Didn't offer much of an explanation but I imagine it's for some of the reasons touched on by others in this thread, above.

Guy 3: Sam. He's in his fifties, an expat from the midwest, a deadbeat dad who's lived in Taiwan for twenty or thirty years. He loves the music, as he's a big fan of Zeppelin and other classic rock, but he feels that the outfits they wear is taking things a bit too far.

---

For me personally, I listening to one of their live performances (at the red rocks ampitheatre) and enjoyed it. For more context, while I like some Led Zeppelin, it's not something I'd generally listen to, though I do enjoy classic rock.

I feel the band is in one of those weird situations, which actually can be somewhat applied to video games too. By being derivative / sounding like Led Zeppelin, it instantly attracts some people to like them, such as Ashton and Sam from above. It's a double-edged blade though, as people like Luke feel put off and just see it as a ripoff, refusing to enjoy it for what it is even if they would likely enjoy it otherwise.

Bringing this to video games, the question I begin to wonder is at what point does a spiritual successor of sorts go from being enjoyed, to being hated and despised, being viewed solely as a ripoff? 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,593]

I actually do think that's an interesting discussion: where do you draw the line of inspiration vs being a copycat?

I do not care for most of Greta's library because I find it too derivative.  But when there are tracks I do like, I feel it's either because I feel like they have a little more actual identity shining through or perhaps because the songwriting is strong enough that I can temporarily forgot how unoriginal it is.  Maybe it's both things.  Here is a Greta track I do like, so you be judge:

Is it because the LZ worship is less overt?  Or is because it sounds like a good LZ song?  I haven't decided.

 

But then in direct contradiction to that, my absolute favorite band of the 2010-2020s, Ghost, is famous for their songs sounding like they're straight out of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.  So when they have a track that is very heavily inspired by Jake E. Lee-era Ozzy Osbourne, why don't they take heat for it like Greta does?  

I guess maybe it would if he tried to sound exactly like Ozzy did on the vocals?  Maybe that's where the line is crossed.  Maybe that's where we hone in on perceived phoniness.

[Brickman | 4,020]

I find them to sound too similar to LZ so I just go listen to the better band, LZ 

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

But then in direct contradiction to that, my absolute favorite band of the 2010-2020s, Ghost, is famous for their songs sounding like they're straight out of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.  So when they have a track that is very heavily inspired by Jake E. Lee-era Ozzy Osbourne, why don't they take heat for it like Greta does? 

I think there is a fine line between being inspired by and sounding exactly like a band.

Ghost are brilliant at making their music sound influenced by artists/genres but never make it sound like one particular band or singer. They then put their own spin on it and a masterpiece is born haha.

Greta van Fleet on the other hand sound like they watched LZ videos for months then mimicked everything they saw without even trying to sound different or put some originality.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

I like Greta Van Fleet a lot. I only see a few of their songs as very “led-zeppelin-y.” 

What usually happens when people compare two bands I like. I start hyper focusing on the two to find the similarities and often end up finding more differences then similarities. I particularly focus on vocals. So in my head I’m analyzing every little thing I hear, “nope, Plant wouldn’t have pronounced that like that.” “Nope, that cadence isn’t the same, that tone is pretty close, etc.”

I actually think the singer sounds way more like Geddy Lee just for being in such a high register at pretty much all times. Plant didn’t really do that. 

Anyway, even if your someone who thinks they’re just a ripoff Zeppelin, Zep is never going to give you anything new, might as well enjoy what you can get. It’s better then hearing Kashmir for the 20,000 time. I say that being a massive Led Zeppelin fan.

[mbd39 | 2,030]

Nay, but at least they're imitating Led Zeppelin and not Imagine Dragons.

 

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

I could do without although I was never a huge Zeppelin fan either. There are definitely worse things out there.