Ricardo Sevilla's Blog

After a long day at work one evening, I decided to sit back and enjoy an episode of SNL. I noticed a musical performance of a rock band called Greta Van Fleet. 

They sounded terrible! So bad, that I wondered why SNL would host such a funny looking and sounding band. Wow. 

My curiosity swelled, and I searched on Spotify for more of their music. There has to be, I said to myself, a reason why they played on SNL. 

"Black Smoke Rising" was the song they played on SNL. I put on my headphones and listened. 

"Woah, WHAT!?" I said to myself. They sound so much like the legendary rock band Led Zeppelin, in terms of guitar riffs and even the vocals!! I listened to a few more of their songs and did more research on them. 

As it turns out, Greta Van Fleet is gaining massive amounts of traction and at the same time having a polarizing effect in the rock community. On one side of the aisle, there are those who say they sound way too similar to Led Zeppelin and are not offering anything new to the rock genre. However, the other side of the aisle is loving this band precisely for that same reason: they sound like Led Zeppelin.

I came to conclude that this band just had a weak performance during their SNL play time, but their music is good.

In a market that's overly saturated with R&B and Hip-Hop, is it such a bad thing to have a band reviving the hard rock sound of the 70's and bringing it to a new generation of listeners? Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin's lead singer, even acknowledged the similarities between the bands and happens to give Greta Van Fleet a friendly nod of approval. 

Greta Van Fleet offers a high contrast to today's rock offerings and lets' face it, we will never see Led Zeppelin perform live again, let alone produce new music. I happen to be a huge fan of Led Zeppelin, and Greta Van Fleet is creating music that might as well come from Zeppelin. So I ask again, is it such a bad thing that they sound like Led Zeppelin? Absolutely not. I am enjoying their music, and I take a seat with the side of the aisle that applauds the comeback of a style of rock music that has captured the hearts of millions during the '70s. Kudos to these kids (all younger than 22 years of age). They are brilliant musicans, and I hope that as the years come before them, that they manage to solidify their style and possibly step out of the Zeppelin's shadow. I see good things happening for this band.

Welcome back Rock n Roll. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJg4OJxp-co

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhbMbiYb5bg