Album Review: Greta Van Fleet, Anthem Of The Peaceful Army

When we last heard from the Fleet, on the From The Fire EP, they were such carbon copies of Led Zeppelin that a writ, sent on raven’s wing, from Jimmy Page’s coven of lawyers, would have surprised no one.  But they’ve moved on, matured, and forged their own sound, shaking off the obvious influences, right? Wrong. If this lot had one original idea, it would quite possibly die of loneliness.

‘The Cold Wind’ and ‘When The Curtain Falls’ sound like the half-arsery that was dug up to fill out the latest Zep reissues, the material that Page et al didn’t think was good enough for release the first time. The guitar solo from ‘Watching Over’ borrows from a certain Stairway, and the object in ‘Lover, Leaver’ is our man’s “heart’s desire” and “sets his soul on fire” prompting the ascending vocal riff from ‘Whole Lotta Love’ which the rest of the band obviously think is a good idea and fall in behind. And so it goes on. Take a drink each time you hear a Zeppelin lift, and you’ll be unconscious before you reach side two. Good thing too, for you’ll then be spared Josh Kiszka morphing into Yes’ Jon Anderson on the surely ironically titled ‘Brave New World’, or the shocking revelation that “the world is only what the world is made of” during ‘Anthem’.

It would have been alright, for I enjoy a well-woven riff and a properly thumped drum as much as anyone, if they had only remembered to write a few songs. There’s nothing anywhere near as arse kicking as ‘Safari Song’ from the aforementioned EP, and when a band are this in thrall to their influences, listening only serves to remind you of something else, something better, and what’s the point of that? Rock n’ roll, as we all know, could use some saving, but these lads, on this evidence at least, aren’t yet up to the job.