Greta Van Fleet come into their own during The Battle At Garden's Gate

Out now: Much-hyped Michigan siblings Greta Van Fleet diversify successfully on second album The Battle At Garden's Gate

Greta Van Fleet: The Battle At Garden's Gate
(Image: © EMI)

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

There was a rich irony missed by the many observers who criticised Greta Van Fleet’s early output for bearing too much of a Led Zeppelin influence. After all, Zep themselves didn’t start out as paragons of originality; their approach was not so much to take inspiration from blues and folk tunes, more that they just took them, frequently without credit (until the lawyers came calling). 

So if we concede that most new bands, especially those formed by musicians barely out of their teens, are likely to still bear their formative influences pretty noticeably, how long do we give them to develop a sound that’s more identifiably their own? 

The Battle At Garden’s Gate, GVF’s followup to 2018’s Anthem Of The Peaceful Army, showcases an undeniably more varied sonic palette, even if that just means there are more classic bands that its 12 songs remind you of.

On opening track Heat Above, the high-register voice of Josh Kiszka combined with an acoustic-based anthem throws up echoes of REO Speedwagon. Or you could be hearing Geddy Lee keening his way through Trip The Light Fantastic and My Way, Soon, a feeling strengthened by gutsy Lifeson-like guitar chords and the lyrics ‘I’ve packed my bags and I’ve got my freedom… I’ll throw out the plans and live with no burden’ echoing Neal Peart’s libertarianism (thankfully without the Ayn Rand philosophising). 

But rarely do those similarities overshadow the album, even when those oft-mentioned Zep-isms are evident once again. Built By Nations is punctuated by an archetypally Page-style shuffle riff and a crunching, Bonham-esque rhythm. But, as with much of this album, the gutsiness of the playing and the top-line vocal melodies are just as likely to grab you – and those are qualities that can’t be begged, stolen or borrowed.

Are there weaknesses? Not many musically. But, as with the band’s debut, while intriguing titles suggesting epic, Tolkien-esque tales of adventure and mystical wisdom, The Battle At Garden’s Gate is full of lyrics that are invariably so difficult to decipher that keeping track of any narrative is a fool’s errand. 

We need some healing… you have been cheated,’ Josh howls on Age Of Machine, one of relatively few full lines we can make out without a lyric sheet. So it’s very loud, and you can’t hear the words. But since when has that been a reason not to dive into a rock album? 

Make all the comparisons you like, but Greta Van Fleet are rapidly coming into their own.

Johnny Sharp

Johnny is a regular contributor to Prog and Classic Rock magazines, both online and in print. Johnny is a highly experienced and versatile music writer whose tastes range from prog and hard rock to R’n’B, funk, folk and blues. He has written about music professionally for 30 years, surviving the Britpop wars at the NME in the 90s (under the hard-to-shake teenage nickname Johnny Cigarettes) before branching out to newspapers such as The Guardian and The Independent and magazines such as Uncut, Record Collector and, of course, Prog and Classic Rock

Read more
Mogwai – The Bad Fire
“Some bands would think such an unlikely chart-topping feat would require them to lurch into a new chapter. Instead, Mogwai retreat to their discomfort zone”: The Bad Fire is reassuringly blurry
Larkin Poe - Bloom cover art
"The joy is more joyous, the heartbreak more alluring": Larkin Poe serve up more country-infused rock'n'roll on Bloom
The Wildhearts: Satanic Rites Of The Wildhearts
“An ode to the litany of wankers we all have to deal with every day”: The Wildhearts prove once again they’re one of the UK’s greatest bands with The Satanic Rites Of…
The Halo Effect
The Halo Effect have crafted the first great melodic death metal album of 2025 with March Of The Unheard
Imperial Triumphant press
"Those sultry licks get weirder and weirder, until they resemble the sound of a UFO taking off." Masked metal weirdos Imperial Triumphant go straight on new album Goldstar
Tremonti
"If this album had been released 25 years ago, it would have been a revelation." New Tremonti record The End Will Show Us How is just about what you'd expect, but it's pretty damn good all the same
Latest in
Foreigner at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2024
Foreigner will complete their Historic Farewell Tour with four different singers – and one of them has recorded Spanish versions of their hits
Linkin Park 2024
Linkin Park launch "the best song we've ever made" Up From The Bottom
Vera Farmiga in 2021
The Conjuring star Vera Farmiga announces debut album with her heavy metal band The Yagas
'Emo' Ed Sheeran busking
Watch Ed Sheeran cover Chappell Roan's Pink Pony Club on the New York subway while disguised as an emo busker
A close-up shot of the Marshall Major IV on-ear headphones on a turquoise, blue and black background.
I’ve never seen the Marshall Major IV headphones this cheap before - get them for half price in Amazon’s big spring sale
Evanescence in 2025
Evanescence release new song Afterlife from Devil May Cry TV series soundtrack, have their next album in the works
Latest in Review
The Horrors
Ghouls Aloud: The Horrors come back from the dead with "a dazzling nocturnal spectacle of sombre reflections and oozing catharsis"
/news/the-darkness-i-hate-myself
"When the storm clouds clear, the band’s innate pop sensibilities shine as brightly as ever": In a world of bread-and-butter rock bands, The Darkness remain the toast of the town
Sex Pistols at the RAH
"Open the dance floor, you’ll never get to do it again." Forget John Lydon's bitter and boring "karaoke" jibes, with Frank Carter up front, the Sex Pistols sound like the world's greatest punk band once more
Arch Enemy posing in an alleyway
Arch Enemy promised they'd throw out the rule book for Blood Dynasty. They didn't go quite that far, but this is the boldest album of the Alissa White-Gluz era - and it kicks ass
The Darkness press shot
"Not just one of the best British rock albums of all time, but one of the best debut albums ever made": That time The Darkness added a riot of colour to a grey musical landscape
Roger Waters - The Dark Side of the Moon Redux Deluxe Box Set
“The live recording sees the piece come to life… amid the sepulchral gloom there are moments of real beauty”: Roger Waters' Super Deluxe Box Set of his Dark Side Of The Moon Redux