Greta Van Fleet

The Battle At Garden’s Gate

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Genre: Rock.
Released: 16/04/2021
Via Lava/Republic

Album Review: Greta Van Fleet – The Battle At Garden’s Gate

Greta Van Fleet are back with their second album ‘The Battle At Garden’s Gate’. Since the band’s debut album the quartet have moved from Michigan to Nashville, and have spent much of their time with Foo Fighters/Paul McCartney producer Greg Kustin. The band’s last album took them to every corner of the globe, playing to millions of people, and earning them praise from the likes of Foo Fighters Dave Grohl, as well as seeing them scoop a Grammy award. Let’s see if they can keep its momentum with their latest release ‘The Battle At Garden’s Gate’.

The album starts out with the single ‘Heat Above’, the track warms up with a soothing organ melody before breaking into it’s true rock styling using acoustic guitars, violins and more. Initially, Josh Kiszka distinctive vocals are a little off putting on this track however as the track proceeds they start to complement the layers underneath. We even see the vocalist yodeling at points. The track sets the album’s sound straight off, changing it up from their debut album and EPs, but keeping their classic rock influences close to heart. The song is very clean sounding, and a little repetitive but definitely catches your ears right off the bat of the album.

The album then moves into another single with ‘My Way, Soon’, it starts with these very bluesy sounding guitars. The song really picks up the beat of the album, making it feel a bit more alive. When Josh’s voice kicks in on this track it’s a lot more enticing than the first track, sitting more comfortably in his range. I really love the guitar solo from Jake Kiszka that’s towards the end of the track.The song feels familiar yet new, and is well worth a listen for anyone looking for some straightforward rock. ‘Broken Bells’ slows the album’s pace right down to a soft lull. Despite it’s pace the song stays fresh throughout. It very much gives off hints of Pink Floyd throughout, and has some great guitar work from Jake once again.

The tempo then speeds up with ‘Built By Nations’, the track feels straight outta the 70’s rock scene. I really love the guitar tones in the track, the song’s not as clean sounding as the previous tracks and it adds some character. At four minutes the track is on the shorter side of the album, not overstaying its welcome. In contrast to that we get the 7 minute single ‘Age Of Machines’. It has some interesting moments but feels like it drones on a little bit with some sections. The parts that seem to know their direction are great, and it features yet another really great guitar solo. I just can’t help but it could have benefited from being a little shorter. ‘Tears Of Rains’ gives a nice end to the first half of the album, using a mix of pianos and acoustic guitars to create a more gentle sound.

‘Stardust Chords’ goes back to the ethereal organs that are heard in ‘Heat Above’, the song combines this with Josh’s voice and a few stringed instruments to create an epic sounding track. That’s followed ‘Light My Love’ which is a bit too simplistic and repetitive, and just ends up being very meh.

As if out of nowhere, the style of the album is turned on its head with the track ‘Caravel’, going back to basics of drums guitar bass and vocals. A nice change from the string organ synth mixes present on most of the tracks. This song is great, and doesn’t run too long or short. It knows what it wants to do and gets it done. We hear some very nice sounding guitar riffs starting off ‘The Barbarians’, these fade into the background when the vocals kick in but they complement his voice well. The track also has a great pace, and a great memorable chorus.

Penultimate track ‘Trip To The Light Fantastic’ is very much more of the same from the album, it’s not a bad track but nothing really wowed me from it, and it just blends in with a few of the other tracks on the album. Coming in at nearly nine minutes long, ‘The Weight Of Dreams’ is an epic goliath of a track, which utilises every second to build a massive finale. The track leaves with a simple acoustic guitar riff.

‘The Battle At Garden’s Gate’ definitely see’s the band evolving a little bit in their sound, but keeping their classic rock influences throughout. Lots of tracks on this album feel really grand and epic, with organs and stringed instruments filling all the speakers. Unfortunately because of this the album has a lot of tracks that blend together, and some tracks that go on a little bit longer than they need to. Overall I enjoyed the album, and it’s worth a listen if you want to hear a fresh bluesy-classic rock album.