Greta Van Fleet - Birmingham O2

[Paul S]

13 minutes ago, The59Sound said:

 it's why all these muppets keep mouthing off that rock is dead. It was dead in the 80s, 90s and 00s as well according to them.

Well that didn't take long.  Insulting people who disagree with your own opinion isn't a great way to have a discussion.

[dmccombe7]

I struggle to hear or see anything new in music these days. Its all been done before. People tend to think something is "new" and "different" just because they are "into" a particular band but more than likely there is a link or an influence from someone before them. 

Its too easy to dismiss a band because they sound a bit like someone else but maybe not as good. Give the young bands time to develop and find their own image and style.

I still enjoy some of the current bands for what they are. Of course i hear similarities to other bands but that's not a reason to dismiss them.

Dave

[Bassassin]

3 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Its too easy to dismiss a band because they sound a bit like someone else but maybe not as good. Give the young bands time to develop and find their own image and style.

But that - with this band -  is patently absolutely never going to happen. You have heard/heard of them because they have been marketed at you. They look exactly the way they look, and sound exactly the way they sound because that is the thing that is being marketed.

If the marketing is successful (which for some reason it currently appears to be) then they will be expected to repeat that success in future, and it's unlikely that the formula will be allowed to change. And if it does, then you probably won't hear much from them again.

Briefly considering musical history over the last 40-odd years, there have been a good few bands who came to short-lived but significant prominence by cloning Led Zeppelin. Off the top of my head I can think of four, three of which have long since achieved well-deserved obscurity. Those three are (or probably were) a German band called Kingdom Come, an ar$e-end of BritPop band called (imaginatively) The Music, and some Canadians called The Tea Party. All of them, like Greta Van Fleet, went well beyond influence, & deep into the territory of imitation.

The fourth bunch of shameless Led Zep clones were lucky enough to pre-date the level of label & management control that many of the bands of the 80s & later found themselves subject to. They recorded their Zep  ripoff debut in 1974 and released it on their own label (unheard-of at the time), and got picked up by a major for a further 3-album deal, importantly maintaining full creative control. They subsequently sacked their old drummer, bought a bunch of Yes & Genesis albums & started reading objectivist philosophy, resulting in a slightly altered musical direction. That was another bunch of Canadians called Rush.

Not sure I can see Greta Van Fleet being in a position to follow a similar path, even if they had either the talent or the ambition. But they might well end up supporting members of The Music or Kingdom Come on a touring tribute band festival in a few years.

Edited November 18, 2018 by Bassassin
Intelligence-insulting nanny filter. Grow up, BC.

[The59Sound]

You have to remember 'the kids' who like this band may have heard the name Led Zep but not actually heard any of their music. 

[Bassassin]

3 minutes ago, The59Sound said:

You have to remember 'the kids' who like this band may have heard the name Led Zep but not actually heard any of their music. 

Until Grandad gives them Houses Of The Holy to listen to.

[dmccombe7]

At the end of the day they are being discussed on the UK's biggest and most famous Bass Forum. That's no mean feat in itself.

 

 

[The59Sound]

40 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

Until Grandad gives them Houses Of The Holy to listen to.

I wonder who they would like more with fresh ears? 

[Paul S]

The bottom line here is that this is music and, like any art form, it is entirely subjective.  OP and some folks like them, that is great.  Myself and other 'muppets' don't - that's also great.  There is room for everything, folks!

[Bassassin]

18 minutes ago, The59Sound said:

I wonder who they would like more with fresh ears? 

Realistically, I'd suggest that a band that looks & sounds like this, is marketed at Grandad & his scratched Led Zep discography just as much as it is at Da Kidz.

[The59Sound]

4 hours ago, Paul S said:

The bottom line here is that this is music and, like any art form, it is entirely subjective.  OP and some folks like them, that is great.  Myself and other 'muppets' don't - that's also great.  There is room for everything, folks!

The muppet thing wasn't directed at people who don't like GVF - as my post states, it is directed at the crowd who say 'rock is dead'. It really isn't - you just aren't looking hard enough to find it, i.e. stop listening to the top 40, expecting to hear great new bands!

[skankdelvar]

Having now listened to pretty much everything they're released, my problem with Greta Van Fleet is that the execution is flawed and the material is drab. When they're totally trying to cop Zep they lack the energy and bite, and when they're trying to do their own thing they haven't got the riffs. 

There's nothing wrong with working in an obsolete genre but they're simply not bringing anything - er -  new to the party. Unless their next album manages the almost impossible task of being period-perfect while adding to the canon I suspect that will probably be it for them. Anyway, they'll sell some records and they're touring and they seem like nice enough people so in the end who really gives a toss.

Edited November 18, 2018 by skankdelvar

[The59Sound]

I think their next album cycle will result in them playing arenas, not theatres. 

[Woodinblack]

On 17/11/2018 at 12:24, The59Sound said:

Please see them live first before passing judgement. You sound like all those punters who would also know how to guide England to World Cup victory.

Well, I know nothing about football, but the answer to that is pretty easy, you kill all the other teams. I don't know why they have to complicate it - what are the chances of being better than some kid growing up in a country in abject poverty with absolutely nothing apart from a football?

As to Greta Van Fleet, I think their music sounds ok, guitar / bass / drums, all in sync and doing the right thing. Yes, its derivative, but then Zeppelin weren't going to be the new Yardbirds for nothing. Personally don't like the sound of the singer - more Vince Neil / Axl Rose than Robert Plant, but I am sure there are some that will.

Good luck to them for trying.

Edited November 18, 2018 by Woodinblack

[KevB]

20 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Briefly considering musical history over the last 40-odd years, there have been a good few bands who came to short-lived but significant prominence by cloning Led Zeppelin. Off the top of my head I can think of four, three of which have long since achieved well-deserved obscurity. Those three are (or probably were) a German band called Kingdom Come, an ar$e-end of BritPop band called (imaginatively) The Music, and some Canadians called The Tea Party. All of them, like Greta Van Fleet, went well beyond influence, & deep into the territory of imitation.
 

Always thought Tea Party were as much Doors influenced as anything else but you have a point. I'll see your Kingdom Come and raise you a Michael White.

 

Edited November 19, 2018 by KevB

[la bam]

for me - i love it.

they really do sound like led zep making new music (albeit in an old style).

i cant believe people think theyve no, or even a slight resemblence to led zep - i think theyre EXACTLY like led zep.

they vocal style, phrasing, drum sound, guitar playing - its as if theyve done a degree in playing like led zep.

good to hear some decent rock for the first time in a while. whether thats a reflection of how good greta van fleet are, or how bad the current scene is, im not sure.

 

[Barking Spiders]

On 15/11/2018 at 22:03, Mudpup said:

Singer sounds like a hoover thrown in a swimming pool......

Nothing new there for me

and then the band should be thrown in after it

Edited November 19, 2018 by Barking Spiders

[Barking Spiders]

15 hours ago, The59Sound said:

The muppet thing wasn't directed at people who don't like GVF - as my post states, it is directed at the crowd who say 'rock is dead'. It really isn't - you just aren't looking hard enough to find it, i.e. stop listening to the top 40, expecting to hear great new bands!

When people say 'rock is dead' they mean as a significant commercial force where the big name bands of yesteryear sold  shedloads e.g. PFloyd, Led Zep, Metallica, Van Halen , Eagles blah etc.  It's an inescapable fact that even current biggish name rock bands like the Foos don't  sell multi-platinum albums in the US or UK . The only big name rock bands currently still doing business are all at least in their mid 50s and mostly making their dosh from gigging and not album sales

Edited November 19, 2018 by Barking Spiders

[Paul S]

16 hours ago, The59Sound said:

The muppet thing wasn't directed at people who don't like GVF - as my post states, it is directed at the crowd who say 'rock is dead'. It really isn't - you just aren't looking hard enough to find it, i.e. stop listening to the top 40, expecting to hear great new bands!

I don't know why you have latched on to the chart thing - no-one mentioned charts other than you.  I haven't listened to the top 40 for decades - you make some appalling assumptions. Just accept we all like different things and leave it there.

[KevB]

34 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

The only big name rock bands currently still doing business are all at least in their mid 50s and mostly making their dosh from gigging and not album sales

Does anyone in any genre make significant money from album sales alone these days?

[Barking Spiders]

1 minute ago, KevB said:

Does anyone in any genre make significant money from album sales alone these days?

I'm sure Ed Sheeran, Adele etc are doing quite nicely from their multi-platinum album sales 

[The59Sound]

4 hours ago, Paul S said:

I don't know why you have latched on to the chart thing - no-one mentioned charts other than you.  I haven't listened to the top 40 for decades - you make some appalling assumptions. Just accept we all like different things and leave it there.

Again - why are you taking offence to my comments that are not even directed at you? At lot of people on here judge success by album sales. Sure, that's one way of looking at it but to assume rock is dead because no one sells albums anymore well... that's just dead wrong. 

[Paul S]

Seems straightforward to me - if you quote me and answer, I assume you are talking to me.  As I was also one of the 'rock is dead' 'muppets', although what I actually said wasn't those exact words, I assumed also that what you said was headed my way.  

Whatever.

[The59Sound]

I never quoted you in the first place though? You just took offence. If you would like to sort this in private, please PM me so we can keep this thread on topic. 

[dmccombe7]

Come on guys its a bass forum. Try not to take things too personally and lets accept we all have different tastes in music, bass, life, the universe and everything.

Its only a discussion on a band. Its not Brexit or for me Indy2 

Dave