Stairway To Hell: Greta Van Fleet’s Scorching Album Review That Went Viral

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2018

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Classic rock climaxed a half century ago, yet it still survives in two places: FM radio & Greta Van Fleet. The later are an upstart of four boys from Michigan who have found stardom by dusting off the mantle of guitar driven rock. Their latest album, Anthem Of The Peaceful Army, bares an uncanny sonic resemblance to Led Zeppelin. Jeremy D. Larson, senior editor of Pitchfork, gave the album a 1.6 out of 10 calling it "stiff, hackneyed, overly precious retro-fetishism." His vicious and hilarious takedown went viral and caused a rift amongst music fans on the internet. We ask Jeremy to join us to reveal what it means to earn such a bad review. After, we do something we've never done before: a track-by-track album breakdown. In a game of musical Pictionary, Charlie challenges Nate to find every Led Zeppelin reference on the album to answer the question: is it a copy or an homage? We have a feeling this will be a divisive episode... Songs Discussed: Greta Van Fleet - Age of Man Led Zeppelin - Rain Song Led Zeppelin - In The Light Led Zeppelin - What Is And What Should Never Be Led Zeppelin - Your Time Is Gonna Come Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song Led Zeppelin - Kashmir Greta Van Fleet - The Cold Wind Led Zeppelin - Custard Pie Greta Van Fleet - When the Curtain Falls Led Zeppelin - Wanton Song Greta Van Fleet - Watching Over Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You Greta Van Fleet - Lover, Leaver Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love Spirit - Taurus Muddy Waters - You Need Love Small Faces - You Need Love Willie Dixon - I Can't Quit You Babe Greta Van Fleet - You're the One Led Zeppelin - What Is And What Should Never Be Greta Van Fleet - The New Day Led Zeppelin - Over The Hills And Far Away Greta Van Fleet - Mountain of the Sun Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day Greta Van Fleet - Brave New World Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand Greta Van Fleet - Anthem Led Zeppelin - Tangerine Lover Leaver (Taker, Believer) Read the Pitchfork review of Greta Van Fleet's Anthem Of A Peaceful Army Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:27.0	It's all inspired by an album release that has the internet in Tizzy.
1:33.0	Greteveran Fleet has released Anthem of the Peaceful Army, and they've been accused of ripping off the entire catalog of Led Zeppelin.
1:41.0	In Listeners, we're torn about if this is the so-called revival of authentic rock, or simply a rebranding of the role of pop music.
2:01.0	We're going to do a full album comparison to find out if this is a carbon copy of the original.
2:07.0	But first, we're joined by Pitchfork senior editor Jeremy D. Larson, whose recent review of the album has broken the internet.
2:15.0	He scored the record 1.6 out of 10, and it is trending everywhere.
2:21.0	In our conversation, we break down the role of the critic in the age of streaming, the cultural politics of a negative review, and the unique relationship between critics and musicians.
	...

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