Greta Van Fleet

I mean they seem like nice enough guys and they are reasonably talented and I can't really hate them, but I kind of hate the musical zeitgeist that enables them to be a phenomenon rather than just a good bar band.

"Intro (Guitar Center Suite)"

― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Monday, April 19, 2021 12:45 PM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

hahaha nailed it

i'm not sold on 'reasonably talented'. feel like they too will be embarrassed of this in 10 years. but they'll also have a real estate portfolio and no real job, so they definitely still win.

yeah i mostly just kind of feel bad for the crowd going crazy eating it up, thinking they are seeing amazing face-melting rock, not realizing that they could be seeing a hundred versions of this band at their local bar or summertime beerfest in the park or whatever

they cannot break into the foo fighters fan scene. need to buy early on greta van fleet.

they feel less like a bar or beerfest band and more like a band that plays one song in a "Rock Through the Ages" type show that is free with park admission when you need to take a break from the roller coasters at Cedar Point.

or maybe a similar show in an off strip vegas casino/hotel. someone comps you tickets at check-in because your room wasn't ready yet. you see them selling for $8 later that afternoon.

yeah i mostly just kind of feel bad for the crowd going crazy eating it up, thinking they are seeing amazing face-melting rock

When the camera cuts to a guy in the crowd gleefully singing/rockin' along, it's a real eye-opener in terms of "even THIS is someone's favorite band"

I just think it's kind of funny that these kids playing classic rock cosplay get people so absolutely, frothing at the mouth furious in certain corners of the internet.

still watching this red rocks vid and gotta say i take major issue with them busting out the 4+ minute drum solo feature only 10 minutes into the set! a true asshole move

it's more being frustrated that there's a non-quiet sect of people hearing them and going YES, REAL MUSIC IS BACK, as if rock in the 70s was the zenith and we must never move beyond that template ever again.

Yeah, I mean the people praising them are just as hard to understand. I just find them too boring and, really, ultimately harmless, to get that angry about.

is the "it's rockist to hate this band for being derivative" take going spare or has it been done already

I guess this is classic rock's Renaissance Fair stage

they feel less like a bar or beerfest band and more like a band that plays one song in a "Rock Through the Ages" type show that is free with park admission when you need to take a break from the roller coasters at Cedar Point.

― microsloth fig stimulator (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, April 19, 2021 1:03 PM (thirty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah this is right, and also better captures the rated-PG feel of their classic rock pastiche

it's more being frustrated that there's a non-quiet sect of people hearing them and going YES, REAL MUSIC IS BACK, as if rock in the 70s was the zenith and we must never move beyond that template ever again.

― P-Zunit (Neanderthal), Monday, April 19, 2021 1:10 PM (twenty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don't even mind this as much as I mind that you could probably just take four random nashville studio guys and make a more convincing "classic rock is back" band than this with a week of rehearsal. It's like celebrating Bob Ross for reviving the technique of the old masters.

I heard these guys on the radio this weekend and was prepared to give them a shot. But when the singing started it was actually offensive.

They're a thought experiment: If Rush hadn't met Neil.

We already have an album of this!

I mean, lmk when GvF bassist plays something even on the level of "Working Man".

first Rush album is sweet

Totally! If they can give us anything as awesome as "Before and After"...
Also, thanks for the Starcastle rec earlier in the thread!

Wait for it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPQO6J-EU08

This is like classic rock written by an AI.

yeah, Al Roker

that is literally a c.2006 sketch show skit that is now a legitimate band in 2021. what a world.

That is one of the funniest combinations of music and performance I have ever seen.

I literally lolled when he started singing

Who Wore It Better: GVF Singer Dude, or Your Niece Madison at Homecoming.

Man the guitar player's acoustic fingerpicking sucks so bad, he can barely play in time.

I will say it's nice that they can also rip off '70s Elton John in a way that reminds you just how good he was and they aren't.

omg, the drummer

https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/seinfeld-jerry-puffy.jpg?quality=80&strip=all

Fuckin Edith Bunker on vocals

drummer def looks mad to be wearing that bird suit

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Di-tvG5UUAA3fxt.jpg

She wore it better.

This is like November Rain if it had been commissioned by the Liberace estate, but on a tight budget

Btw that singer is going to sound like Tom Waits in 3 years

^^Just in time for their "4 Guys In A Room" Roots move.

This song is terrible but, I don’t know, I almost admire them for this staging? Like, fuck it, you’ve made a decent amount of cash, have an inexplicably sized and loyal fanbase but you are probably the most hated band since Nickelback? Lean into it, I guess, and embrace the Liberace inside.

For sale - red dress, worn once and farted in

“Oh, he kinda sounds like Robert Plant.” “I dunno, I think he sounds like Geddy Lee.”

Both wrong:

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

It November Rains In Hotel California

gotta say this song changed my perception of rock music, I think I’m a fan

possibly the first song ever where I didn’t register a single word of the lyrics. what a song to wake up with. this promises to be quite some day. what a world.

More like Tears IN Rain amirite

the Greta Van Fleet Experience diminishes by about 100% without accompanying video unfortunately. hubby, with impeccable timing, chose this moment to start his vacuuming session. guess it’s back to the Eurovision comfort zone for me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P1ueI9j6gk

Worst mustache since Dennis DeYoung.

https://nostalgiacentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/styx876.jpg

look who’s sending Styx pix now

You know, I bet if Greta Van Fleet had clipped the first word off their band name and just been Van Fleet, they’d be in much better shape with critics right now. A band calling themselves “Van Fleet” and playing inept ‘70s rock pastiche could have been embraced as ironic, Tenacious D-esque japery. Weezer fans would ABSOLUTELY have bought that shit. But they decided to play it straight, and now they and their singer’s Dennis DeYoung mustache are rock’s laughingstocks. Bands need to recognize when their shittiness is their marketing hook, and lean into it.

I don't see how their marketing has failed, unless you think they want the respect of Pitchfork and ILM more than they want sales, airplay, and awards.

That sad, tentative little piano chord at the end sounds like he didn't know if the song was over.