This time last week I had never heard of Greta Van Fleet. My mate from work shared a video on Facebook of them and I just thought it was brilliant. I looked them up and found out a bit more about them and have been listening to them all week. Greta are a 4 piece rock band from Michigan, USA. This is a bit of a strange release in a way. They released their debut, "Black smoke rising" EP in April 2017 which was 4 tracks. The "From the fires" EP includes the 4 tracks from the "Black smoke rising" EP and has 4 new tracks. According to Wikipedia there is another EP to come in mid 2018 and then if I interpreted right they will have add another 4 tracks on to this one which will make a full length studio album. Although they have seemed to have broken through in the last year they did actually form in 2012. This may seem like a long time ago but when you take into account they are still only 21, it seems like they have a bright future ahead of them.
I think I'm pretty safe in saying that this band will divide the music public. When you first listen to them, the resemblence to the likes of Led Zepplin is very apparent. I must point out here that although I do like the likes of Led Zepplin, I didn't grow up in that era so I wouldn't say I am in a position to comment on all their influnences as I simply don't know most of the music brought out in that era. But it is clear that GVF have embraced the 70's rock era big time. If you watch videos of them, you can tell by the way they dress and their long hair. But more important than all that, their music. I think the first question which comes to peoples minds when listening to this band is - are they too much like the bands from the 70s, namely Led Zep? Is it their fault their singer sounds like that? He has an amazing voice so why not use it? Personally I did have the same thoughts for starter that this band sounds far too much like their influences. But then I got past that. And that is when you start to enjoy this band and appreciate their music for what it is.
One thing I found quite interesting is the inclusion of 2 covers on the double EP, one being Sam Cooke's "A change is going to come" and the other being Fairport Convention's "Meet on the ledge". I haven't heard the originals, but these tracks do fit on the EP well and to be honest I never even realised they were covers till I did a bit of research reviewing this EP. But one thing that this does bring into question is their creativity. Have they started to run out of ideas already? I know bands starting up generally play covers to start off with, I assume this is because it's easier to play other peoples songs than to create your own. But that is an assumption and is coming from someone who has hardly played an instrument, never mind be in a band. I do find it unusual though to put 2 covers on an EP as short as this which is why I questioned their creative output. I am hoping it is really down to their age and hopefully they will grow even more as a band and find their creative juices more. Another reason could be that they just really like the songs and wanted to do it and its nothing to do with their creativity which would be fair enough.
I would say the general mood of the EP is upbeat rock and roll. I wouldn't say their is much variation in the types of tracks, for example, there are no ballads on here. I think in a way talking about the covers blending in with the album is a compliment as it just shows how good the rest of the songs are too. My favourites are "Talk on the Street" and "Black smoke rising". The guitar work on these tracks in particular and indeed throughout the album is fantastic. As I said earlier though the vocals are a stand out feature. Josh Kiszka has an amazing voice. I don't really think it's his fault he sounds like Robert Plant. If you've got a voice like that, you use it!
Overall, this is a very refreshing EP. I say refreshing as although all the talks of the 70s etc, there is no one who is really doing this type of music at the moment and that is why it is refreshing. This is a strong EP. I don't know how older fans will feel about this having 4 tracks on this that were already on a previous EP. Then if I have read it right there is going to be 4 new tracks on top of this EP to make an album later this year. Should it just have been released as 3 seperate EPs? I think so. But maybe it is a way to gradually build their fan base which I have no doubt is set to sky rocket even more especially since they seem to have a good reputation as a live band. In short though I would thoroughly recommend giving this EP a listen.
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