My... how those boys have grown

Greta Van Fleet The Battle At Garden’s Gate

The spectre of 1970s rock casts a long shadow. Greta Van Fleet emerged four years ago with Highway Tune, and the quartet from small-town Michigan immediately divided opinion.

Some dismissed them as hopelessly derivative. The more generously inclined saw them as youthful champions of rock’s golden age. Either way, that first single went platinum and their 2018 debut album was a hit in 10 countries.

The early Led Zeppelin influence was inescapable – listen to singer Josh Kiszka channel Robert Plant on the Grammy-winning Safari Song and the Jimmy Page-worthy riff on When The Curtain Falls.

But three years on, they have upped the ante, adding a liberal dose of prog rock to their combustible mix.

The Heat Above opens like vintage Yes with Sam Kiszka’s keyboards joined by Josh in Jon Anderson mode. There are power ballads, such as Broken Bells, displaying Jake Kiszka’s evolving lead guitar skills, and mid-paced rockers including Built By Nations.

Age Of The Machine shows how much they’ve grown. Atmosphere builds throughout and the chorus refrain“We need some healing” reflects widespread worries about the splintering of western societies.

Josh’s themes have matured too. On the haunting Tears Of Rain, he sings about plains turning to dust as mothers pray for relief. Impending war haunts The Heat Above, while The Weight Of Dreams equates the quest for material wealth with fool’s gold.

Trip The Light Fantastic comes with puzzling mantra “Ah Sri Rama Jayam Ram” which boils down to realising we’re all part of the greater circle of life.

Josh, 24, formed the band when he was 12, with twin Jake and their young brother Sam on bass. Drummer Danny Wagner joined in 2013.

They’ve come a long way already and clearly there’s a whole lotta quality to come.