From The Fires
by Greta Van Fleet

I hate "haters" (Edited)

Aug20. Okay, yes, I am a very latecomer to this band. I didn't ignore them b/c they sound too much like Led Zeppelin. I have no problem with bands wearing their references on their sleeves and am just rapt to hear young rock bands even aware of such sounds. I had heard a few songs here and there, but found the vocals a little annoying and did not really tune in (other than one song that is not on this album). Then a few songs from this one made their way into my Checking Out playlist and from there into my head.
'Black Smoke Rising' is now a regular song rattling around in my head. I love everything about it. It is left to finish off the album here, and what an end.
'Safari Song' kicks off the album and it is another that has wound its way into my H100. It is basically a modern Led Zeppelin song. If you like such bands, I am not sure how you could hate bands in the 2000s playing this stuff. People often complain about 'music today' and then bands sound just like they did in 'their day' and still are not good enough. Weird.
'Edge of Darkness' is a cracking slower tune and 'Flower Power' gets the acoustic guitars out and tones things down even further. As a punk-lover, I am probably not meant to love such hippy sounds, but the guitars (and mandolin?) in this song are bliss. 'Change Is Gonna Come' is a pretty good organ-driven song with some gospel backing vocals, but not sure I would have sequenced a 3rd slower song in a row.
Things pick up with another that made its way into my #2017Hotterest100: 'Highway Tune' - the riffing in this song is irresitible. 'Meet on the Ledge' is another slower song, but starts to build towards the end then followed by the swagger of 'Talk on the Street' into cracking closer (already discussed). Yeah, this has won me over. 4/5

Great debute record. I don't mind that they sound like Led Zeppelin. Just great rock music!
Best songs:
Safari Song
Highway Tune
Black Smoke Rising

From rockinsteve 01/10/2019 23:32 | #229474

Wonderful music! This is SUCH a fresh breath of air among the stale, crappy sound of almost all contemporary rock and roll. This is REAL rock, loud and ballsy! Do they sound like Led Zeppelin? Sure, they DO at times. But that's a GOOD thing. These guys are a pleasant surprise!

This band is so good that people are treating them like they ARE Led Zeppelin and this is their newest album. Is this a good Led Zepplin album? NO WAY! Is this a good rock album composed by some extraordinarily young dudes that have so much time to grow and bring Rock n Roll back into a spotlight position in music? YES! To know these kids are as young as they are and sound as good as they do already is so exciting, and this music should be celebrated and not judged for sounding too much like the music you love that you wish would come back. And stop only comparing them to Zeppelin. They also sound a lot like early Sabbath, Aerosmith, Dio, hell I hear a little bit of Rolling Stones in here too. This is the band we've been waiting for. Let's just see how they do, and stop being such snobs! (Edited)