If you are not hip to the Greta Van Fleet scene, these four young men from Frankenmuth, Michigan are the latest band to be duly designated as the saviors of Rock and Roll. With a sound that soars somewhere between Black Sabbath, Bad Company, and Led Zeppelin, these guys are masters of throwback ’70s heavy riffage rock and wear the crown quite proudly. The band announced themselves in 2017 with a couple of smokin’ EPs that came together with From the Fires, a set that featured the hit “Highway Tune,” a song that hit number one on the mainstream rock radio charts. For what that is worth. Currently touring the country in mostly sold-out House of Blues sized venues with the Robert Plant worthy wail of Josh Kiszka as frontman, these guys should be poised to be the next big thing. Unless of course, they aren’t.
And now, with a major label deal with Lava Records fully in tow, the band enters 2018 and the next phase of their career with a Spotify Singles release. The set features an acoustic rendition of “Black Smoke Rising” from their 2017 E.P., and a cover version of Adele’s 2011 smash hit “Rolling in the Deep,” No need to adjust your ears. You heard correctly. I said Greta Van Fleet released a cover of “Rolling in the Deep.”
Fans of the band from the jump are likely going a bit apoplectic right now simply because for the first 2:22 the song pretty much sounds just like Adele, and that is not really how you want your new favorite group and the next greatest Rock and Roll band to sound. But give it a minute (or, rather, two minutes and 22 seconds). The rest of the song finishes up quite nicely as Josh gets back to his Zeppelin mojo and the rest of the band kicks out the jams a bit to wrap up the proceedings.
With this and another recent cover of “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Greta Van Fleet wis proving themselves to be one versatile high-octane Rock and Roll band that is capable of putting their own stamp on just about any song beyond just Zeppelin-pastiche. And, with talent like that, they should be around for a very long time.
Check out more – many more – Adele covers here.