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Jimmy Page, It's time to call your lawyers?

I'm pretty late to this party--as usual.  A Chicago radio station is starry-eyed over Greta Van Fleet.  I gave them a listen today.  All I could think was...

Is this a Zeppelin parody band? 

There are so many features to their sound, playing, and sonics that sound just like LZ--so much so that I cannot get into the music passionately.  These are (IMHO):  Vocals (phrasing mimics Robert Plant without stopping);  Lyrics (the themes seem, based on limited listening, to track LZ);  Lead Guitar (I cannot think of another guitarist who sounds like he's trying to sound like Page as much as this one).  

Does Greta Van Fleet sound like a facsimile to you?  I'm not hung up on punishing artists who copy, as I think it's part and parcel of the art form.  But I'm having real trouble getting past the photocopy nature of this.  Again, this is just one person's opinion. So curious to hear what others think and feel about this group.  I'd like to give them more of a chance and maybe others can help.  For now, I can't keep listening.

128x128jbhiller
wolf_garcia
4,650 posts
 
A #1 album on the Billboard charts and 4 Grammy nominations is, by definition, "making it." Their current world tour doesn't include any 1000 seat clubs as far as I can tell, but if it did they'd likely sell those out in about 30 seconds. I agree, they "may" do well.
n80
1,227 posts
 
Yep, that's up and coming for sure. 
amansker's avatar
amansker
32 posts
 
Never heard of them. Played "When the Curtain Falls" on youtube. In the first 45 seconds the lead singer threw his hands up in what can only be interpreted as mimicking a Robert Plant move. Its more than just the music.
n80
1,227 posts
 
baffler54 said:

"For a group that takes 70’s influences and makes them there own, I recommend checking out the Struts’ "Everybody Wants.""

I completely agree. With GVF there is almost a wink-and-a-nod to the LZ parody. They just haven't broken away from LZ enough to be their own band.

With The Struts you hear Queen, you hear The Darkness, you hear the Stones, you hear The Sweet, you even hear a little Jack White. But it isn't a parody. Their riffs and hooks are certainly borrowed but they are reassembled and made into their own stuff. They own it. And to me they seem more genuine than and to have a broader approach than GVF. The lead singer of The Struts also has much more stage presence and charisma than GVF. He has been likened to Freddy Mercury and Mick Jagger's love child.

Their second album, Young and Dangerous, is even better than the first.

I've seen the Struts live and will see them two more times in May. They seem like the real deal to me. GVF seems like a parody. To me it seems like GVF's popularity is out of novelty.

But, to put things in perspective, The Struts recently opened for GVF which tells me GVF's star is rising faster than The Struts even though The Struts have had more TV exposure (anchor band for Victoria Secret Fashion Show, etc). So, from a popular standpoint GVF is rising fast as noted in other posts above.

Anyway, if you ever want to see a heck of a live show (everyone on their feet dancing and jumping around the entire show....go see The Struts in a small venue (1-2 thousand people). You won't regret it....and you will be tired the next day.
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