Greta Van Fleet - The Battle at Garden's Gate - second album thread (04/16/2021)

These guys are a lot of fun, look forward to hearing the new album!

 

Since they employ every rock and roll cliche known to man, let's add another, they are "laughing all the way to the bank".

 

I am enjoying the new music so far.

First day buyer.

 

You can express your dislike for whatever you want as long as you keep the discussion respectful AND it's in line with the point of the thread. This particular thread seems to be about sharing the new songs with fellow fans (I'm not exactly one) and people who may be slightly interested (place me in this group). A couple of guys clearly didn't understand this and now their posts have been deleted and they may even have been banned. If the thread was about new bands and what people think about them (or this particular band even), their comments would probably have been welcome, even if they were slightly pedantic and not 100% respectful with other fellow members. But coming to a thread created to share new songs of a particular band just to say how much they suck is definitely trolling. That's not what the OP wanted the thread to be, nor is it welcome by other fans of the band.
Even my own posts arguing with them about their attitude here have been deleted, which I completely understand.

 

Annoying the old fogeys is a sure sign they are doing something right

 

That's totally fair. This isn't an opinion thread and it's disrespectful to aggressively put them down in a thread that's here to attract interested people to their new music.

For me it is frustrating to read the over the top compliments this band get too, just because they rock apparently. There's more originality and talent at different things in plenty of pop groups than these have. I've never been a fan of rock being held up as the pinnacle of music and that pop is inferior, so much so that a mediocre rock group, which in the scheme of things GVF are (this isn't down to opinion, I'm talking compared to Zep, The Who, Queen, Rush etc), get lauded just for playing instruments and existing, despite an clear lack of ideas of their own.

Like I said I don't begrudge them as people or as a band, but there has to be far more creative rock bands out there more worthy of the publicity and backing GFV are getting.

 

No it isn't, because they are playing "fogey" music. Most of the people who dislike them, including myself, would welcome a great new rock band. Not a pale imitation of ones we've listened to for decades.

The interesting stuff that annoys the "fogeys" is stuff that's so new and challenging sounding that previous generations can't relate to it. That's always been the case.

 

Thanks for not deleting mine. I hope that while I'm not a fan, I'm not being aggressive or are attacking GVF without making a valid, well thought out and articulate point. I don't expect people who like them to agree or change their minds about GVF because of anything I post!

I don't have a problem with GVF as a band, like I said, they're harmless. Not that harmless is a quality great rock should have! They're a bunch of musicians who passionately love 70s rock and that's cool. It's more that they are getting the industry backing and publicity ahead of what must be more interesting bands out there. Is this really the best rock can do in 2021?

 

GVF..."mostly harmless."

They're one band. If you don't like them, don't get wrapped around the axle, just move on.

I still enjoy "Army" from time to time and am curious to hear what they do next.

 

No - fogeys just don't like young whipper-snappers trampling on their sacred music. After all no one can play it as well as - insert revered ancient boring old fart band.
People who like new 'interesting stuff' don't reply to threads about bands that they are not interested in. No one replies to threads about bands they dislike unless that band has managed to provoke a reaction.

 

Couldn't agree more. So far I'm liking the new songs. They certainly aren't my favorite band of all time but for anew band they tick all the boxes.

 

I have mixed feelings about this band. On the one hand, I like their energy, musicianship and their classic rock style. On the other one, I am not that fond of Josh's voice most of the time and around 50% of their output (I have their 2nd EP which contains the first, and their debut album) sounds boring or uninspired to me, while the other half is really great.
I would say they're uneven but still interesting. The new songs are fine. I'm still not a fan but I'll probably buy their new album regardless. Decent band at the very least.

 

Listened to the new album to give them the benefit of the doubt and like the earlier stuff, I just cannot get past the "Robert Plant-isms" vocally and the band themselves seem to be well versed in 70s classic rock stuff however to me it seems to be all the 70s rock tropes and not much substance beyond that

I don't mean to be too bashful, just how I fee - to me bands like Rival Sons take the Zeppelin inspired sound and give it more of an interesting go around than Greta has so far. That being said I am curious if Greta can shake that and develop a more interesting sound in the future


The rhythm section are obviously decent musicians and they know their way around blues based hard rock tropes, I hope that in the future they can bring a unique take and voice into the mix with maturation and more experience

 

I agree about Rival Sons, they're a better band overall, but they're also in their 50s and way more experienced as musicians.
I only own "Pressure and Time" at the moment, but it's a brilliant record and the retro sounding production is spot on. Fits their music like a glove.

 

But in the case of GVF this is undeniably true. They aren't as good as their influences were when they were around the same age. Playing a lesser version of what you call "boring old fart" music is hardly something to be lauded or doing something right as you put it.

 

"Undeniably" is an odd word choice when talking about musical taste, even though I mostly agree with you in the case of GVF.

 

It's not really a matter of taste. I totally get why people would prefer to follow and listen to GVF. They're a new young rock band on the rise and if things were better loads of people would be having a great time at their concerts.

But I do think Zep, The Who, Queen and Rush are undeniably better than them in every way. For a start between them they pretty much invented GVF! Undeniably is a word I would very rarely use, because you're right, it is a strange one, but I think it's appropriate here.

 

I've never had a problem with 'Robert Plant-ism' in the past - I must be one of relatively few old-timer Zep heads who genuinely enjoyed, for example, Kingdom Come, particularly in comparison to what Page or Plant had come up with post-Zep up to that point - as long as it's done proficiently. The sad fact is that GFF-kid simply cannot sing. If he could, I'd be the first in line to sign up for the GFF fraud. Well, maybe not the first...

 

And I agree they're all way better than GVF, but remember that Zeppelin and Queen are very polarizing around here and there are lots of people who hate those bands, especially Zep from what I've seen. I don't think there's anything undeniable when talking about a musical act's virtues or flaws.

 

I'm thinking more in terms of standard of musicianship, diversity and songwriting as well as originality. It's not a crime not to be as good as rock's biggest ever bands! Just because some people don't like Zep or Queen, which I understand but don't agree with, it doesn't override the quality of their work. In everything some stuff is the highest calibre of what it is, but that doesn't mean it'll appeal to everyone's taste, far from it.

 

I think their musicianship is actually their best asset, and I especially like their drummer. It's just that 50% of their songs do nothing for me. But the other half I find pretty interesting. Josh Kizska definitely can sing, it's just that I don't like his voice much.
I admit that I prefer their EPs to their debut album. The sound and production are better and there are a couple of poppy songs there that stray further away from the Zep/Rush influence, even though their most 'Zeppy' tracks are there too. Overall, I agree that the hype they got when they started may be a little too much, but if they manage to keep a loyal following and make a living, kudos to them. I just don't get all the hate they seem to get from certain people who seem to blame the band for that hype.

 

I have dug this band from the get go. I think they will stick together. I also think they are nowhere close to making their best music. The new stuff is great!

 

Listening to some of the new songs... I think I like the previous album better.
This new one sound rather over-produced to me so far.