GRETA VAN FLEET frontman Josh Kiszka Is Tired of The Led Zeppelin Comparisons
GRETA VAN FLEET frontman Josh Kiszka says that it’s time that people stop comparing his band to LED ZEPPELIN.
Despite the fact that GRETA VAN FLEET has managed to sell out shows all over the world, the four-piece has been criticized for channeling a sound uncannily similar to iconic rock outfit, with some music fans slamming Josh for allegedly copy-and-pasting Robert Plant‘s vocal style.
An October 2018 review of GRETA VAN FLEET‘s debut album, “Anthem Of The Peaceful Army”, ripped the record as “stiff, hackneyed, overly precious retro-fetishism” and called the Michigan quartet “more of an algorithmic fever dream than an actual rock band.” “Anthem”was given a 1.6 out of 10 on the web site’s rating scale. The disc also earned a lukewarm 53/100 score on review curation site Metacritic.
Kiszka told Rolling Stone that he didn’t even read the Pitchfork review. “It’s unfortunate they’d be putting that energy out into the world, but it’s their prerogative, I guess,” he said. “Ultimately, I’d like to think that there’s substance to what we’re doing.
“Obviously we hear the similarity,” he added. “That’s one of the influences of ours. But at this point it’s like, ‘Okay, we’ve acknowledged that. Let’s move on.'”
After the Pitchfork review was published, fans mobilized to defend the band’s honor online and “Anthem Of The Peaceful Army” ended up debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, earning 87,000 album-equivalent units. GRETA VAN FLEET also topped the Billboard Artist 100 chart, which comprises album sales, streaming, radio airplay and social media buzz surrounding an artist.
GRETA VAN FLEET‘s sound has been compared to LED ZEPPELIN numerous times, with Planteven seeing the similarities. “There’s a band in Detroit called GRETA VAN FLEET: they are ‘Led Zeppelin I’,” he said. “Beautiful little singer, I hate him!” he said last year.
Last month, GRETA VAN FLEET scored four Grammy Award nominations, one for each major rock category — “Best Rock Album”, “Best Rock Song”, “Best Rock Performance” — and a “Best New Artist” nod.
