By James Burcky

Photo via blabbermouth.net

Greta Van Fleet has stirred up a lot of buzz since the release of their double EP, “From the Fires.” Without actually having released a debut album yet, they have had success that some artists don’t see throughout their careers.

It’s obvious that the band wears their influences on their sleeve. Led Zeppelin, arguably the greatest band ever, being the most apparent, but with others being some AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, and even a little Rush in there too.

This release has made me particularly happy. As a person who has ran the Zeppathon, where I listened to Led Zeppelin’s entire catalog in one sitting, it’s refreshing to almost listen to new music by one of my favorite artists.

However, their stark similarities to Led Zeppelin might not be great for Greta Van Fleet members Danny Wagner and the Kiszka brothers. In the rock world, pretty much everyone tries to sound like Led Zeppelin. Every drummer aspires to be John Bonham (myself included), every guitarist worships Jimmy Page, every bassist praises John Paul Jones, and every singer prays for Robert Plants’ pipes. So there’s not a whole lot of distinction there, but what does make Greta Van Fleet distinctive, is that their sound is almost indistinguishable from Zeppelin’s.

In future releases from Greta Van Fleet, I’d love to see them branch out into their own sound. This could be difficult, however, because the two least-sounding Zeppelin songs are covers: “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, and “Meet On the Ledge” by Fairport Convention. This means that the only times they branch out into other space is when they aren’t writing their own music.

So, are they the second coming of Led Zeppelin? No. Led Zeppelin changed the face of music forever. Greta Van Fleet likely won’t.

Best Tracks: “Safari Song,” “Flower Power,” “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “Black Smoke Rising”

Worst Tracks: “Highway Tune,” “Talk On the Street”

Overall Score: 8/10