Greta Van Fleet's "Battle at Garden's Gate" Leaves Much to be Desired

It's no secret that Greta Van Fleet rocked a hell of a lot harder when they first came onto the music scene than they do now. 

 Greta Van Fleet's much anticipated second album, The Battle at Garden's Gate, dropped on Friday, April 16th and it left much to be desired. 

’Photograph courtesy of Alysse Gafkjen/©Alysse Gafkjen 2020

After thrashing onto the rock music scene in 2017 and releasing two EPs (From the Fires and Black Smoke Rising, both 2017) and their first album (Anthem of the Peaceful Army, 2018) all within an 18 month period, the band took a break from releasing music for nearly three years. 

The band's arrival to the mainstream music scene was met with mixed reviews due to their music sounding a lot like Led Zeppelin and Rush; some loved it, some criticized them relentlessly because of it.

While the band claimed that their second album would be an evolution of their sound and exemplify their overall growth as a band, that claim seems to fall short when you actually give the album a listen. 

"Broken Bells" and "Built by Nations" both feel like the band's best attempt at a replication of Led Zeppelin. With that being said, the latter of the two certainly has more of the classic rock feel that the band originally had back in 2017. 

"Caravel" feels heavily influenced by Soundgarden, with a gritty guitar riff and Josh Kiszka's strong vocals. 

While "My Way, Soon" is arguably the most fun to listen and the best song to play when you have all of your windows rolled down, it certainly is lacking in the lyrical department. 

"I see many people / there are so many people / some are much younger people / and some are so old." 

Thanks for that, guys. I didn't know other people existed. 

Whatever the original purpose of the album was, it comes across very relaxed and all feels very much like a casual jam-session, and there's nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that nothing ever really happens. 

"The Weight of Dreams," the closing track on the album, is nearly nine minutes long, and for what? It never really picks up or goes anywhere, it just is. 

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh in my assessment of Battle at Garden's Gate, but as a listener who was so in love with Greta's original sound, I find myself disappointed with this release. 

You can listen to the album for yourself below: