Meeting The Master - Greta Van Fleet

I'm not a fan but I do have to give them some credit: at least they are not ripping off the latest and greatest from last week. Remember the 80's when one band would do something a little different and then next week there were 5 more that sounded exactly the same? It might be cool to see some young guys do something similar with bands like Sabbath, Judas Priest, Dio or Pink Floyd.
 
gitfruit said:
yeah Greta´s got that Led Zep-sound down but not the quality of the songs. I saw them live once, was already bored mid-show and left earlier which I seldom do...
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It's funny. When they (Greta) first appeared I was shocked at the overt plagiarism of what they were doing and the apologists defending it. Then they seemed to mature and become themselves a bit more. Whilst this song has some tasteful playing it immediately struck me as if they must have studied The Rain Song musically and the aesthetics of the movie as a blueprint for it, which is sad as they clearly have a musical soul in a world of so many technically proficient/excellent musicians who don't (IMO). Polyphia, as an example, just leaves me cold. I would actually be interested to know what it would be like if the band let themselves loose with a different singer who had his (or her) own personality.
 
I really like this band and totally disagree with people who say they rip off LZ songs. Plagerism? Gimme a break!, Ya, they def have that LZ style and sound but their songs are original. If we're gonna call that plagerism, we're gonna have to call out a million other bands that emulated whatever style. I find it refreshing to have new original music that's in the style of, and heavily inspired by LZ - but not LZ - specially for me as I listened to so much LZ over many years that I now find LZ music so tired, stale, and overplayed (by me), I can barely stand to hear it. As far as the GVF vocalist is concerned: fantastic, specially in that classic style.

As mentioned above, I'd love to see more bands creating new music based on older styles like Black Sabbath, PF.., but GVF sets a high bar on how well that can be done.

By the way, for those that want to call out supposed song ripoffs, they need not look farther than LZ themselves.
 
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sprint said:
I really like this band and totally disagree with people who say they rip off LZ songs. Plagerism? Gimme a break!, Ya, they def have that LZ style and sound but their songs are original. If we're gonna call that plagerism, we're gonna have to call out a million other bands that emulated whatever style. I find it refreshing to have new original music that's in the style of, and heavily inspired by LZ - but not LZ - specially for me as I listened to so much LZ over many years that I now find LZ music so tired, stale, and overplayed (by me), I can barely stand to hear it. As far as the GVF vocalist is concerned: fantastic, specially in that classic style.

As mentioned above, I'd love to see more bands creating new music based on older styles of music like Black Sabbath, but GVF sets a high bar on how well that can be done.
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I agree, tons of bands sound/emulate other bands....and GVF is doing the same thing.
I like the songs (because I like Zepplin). This is no different than Kingdom Come doing it in the 80's.

My problem with this band is - I believe the only reason they are 'channeling' Zepplin is because their singer sounds like Plant.
Kind of like the guy that looks just like Steven Tyler and he plays in an Aerosmith tribute act.
My point is - they should just be a Zepplin tribute act and stop pretending that they're not regurgitating Zep songs.
 
BBN said:
they should just be a Zepplin tribute act and stop pretending that they're not regurgitating Zep songs.
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disagree - I don't want to hear those tired old LZ songs, from anybody - the GVF stuff is new and original! - it's not regurgitated LZ stuff. If you want to call out supposedly "regurgitated", why not then point to many actual LZ tracks which you could label regurgitated old blues stuff (if not direct ripoffs in some instances).

A bit off topic, but one of my pet peeves about the LZ story is that so many rate them so hi in terms of origionality and stature compared to Black Sabbath who emerged not long after LZ, - completely backwards imo. I love both bands and a fan since the beginnings of both, but to me Black Sabbath created a much more completely new and original sound in comparison to LZ where I find the familiar blues element much more prominent relative to the, new for the time, hard rock elements. Interestingly, tho I've listened to both extensively over the years, I still regularly enjoy listenimg thru full album plays of early Black Sabbath - LZ? not so much (original or tribute) - LZ just does not hold up as well imo, but I can enjoy GVF's fresh and original take on LZ style quite well.
 
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I owned a CD years ago with LZs 20 Greatest Hits, all rip-offs of other musicians/bands, published as LZ originals
Edit: what I was trying to say: on this CD were the real originals that LZ had stolen
 
I think it's funny the hate this band gets given Led Zep's very questionable history of being derivative to the point of straight up plagiarism.

That said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Led Zep is so old at this point that they don't even get much play on classic rock stations. I mean, Zoso came out in 1971...if anything, a band like this is contributing to new fans of Led Zep rather than stealing any away.
 
It’s nothing like what LZ did with old blues songs. That’s its own thing, and problematic for different reasons.

At least LZ made great tunes. GVF is borrrring.

From now on I’m gonna call them Less Zeppelin.
 
I feel this band was manufactured by older producers and managers wanting to recapture led Zeppelin
Glory
Sure there have been others comparisons like Whitesnake
But these guys are the ultimate tribute band to Zep the clothes the hair the sounds on records
Decent copy but really nothing original IMO
 
I think it's unfair to say they're just a Zeppelin ripoff. Their first album was definitely a Zeppelin ripoff, but since then they've broadened their horizons. They're now ripping off Queen and Rush, and probably some other bands.
 
jaycal6 said:
It’s nothing like what LZ did with old blues songs. That’s its own thing, and problematic for different reasons.

At least LZ made great tunes. GVF is borrrring.

From now on I’m gonna call them Less Zeppelin.
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Right, I'd argue what GVF is doing is actually less egregious. Led Zep settled out of court many, many times amending song credits to include the original writers of the songs. GVF is taking the Led Zep sound and writing new music. Is it derivative? Absolutely, without question. Nearly all music is derivative in some form or fashion, the best stuff pays tribute and turns on fans to the bands of yesterday, the worst just forgettable.

Now being 100% honest...for me it's been a long time since Led Zep was relevant, and as such GVF with the same sound doesn't do much for me. But I actually like that they've chosen the path that they have, as I'm sure there's a lot of young kid's out there for which it sounds new and unlike many other bands today. And if it eventually turns them on to Zep, then good for them.
 
Will Chen said:
Right, I'd argue what GVF is doing is actually less egregious. Led Zep settled out of court many, many times amending song credits to include the original writers of the songs. GVF is taking the Led Zep sound and writing new music. Is it derivative? Absolutely, without question. Nearly all music is derivative in some form or fashion, the best stuff pays tribute and turns on fans to the bands of yesterday, the worst just forgettable.

Now being 100% honest...for me it's been a long time since Led Zep was relevant, and as such GVF with the same sound doesn't do much for me. But I actually like that they've chosen the path that they have, as I'm sure there's a lot of young kid's out there for which it sounds new and unlike many other bands today. And if it eventually turns them on to Zep, then good for them.
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And if I thought the GVF songs were killer, I'd be a fan. I just think their stuff "sounds like" Zep, but has none of the originality, impact, intrigue, danger, bombast, etc. It's just boring radio stuff.
 
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