| "Broken Bells" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Promotional single byGreta Van Fleet | ||||
| from the albumThe Battle at Garden's Gate | ||||
| Released | March 19, 2021 (2021-03-19) | |||
| Recorded | 2019 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 5:50. | |||
| Label | Republic | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Greta Van Fleet singles chronology | ||||
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"Broken Bells" is a song by Americanrock bandGreta Van Fleet. It is the fourth single from their second album,The Battle at Garden's Gate.
The song was written and recorded duringThe Battle at Garden's Gates sessions in 2019. The song was then released on digital media on March 19, 2021, as a promotional single for the band's second album.[1][2][3]
The band has said on the social media accounts that "Broken Bells is what the fetter of society does to impact a pure and innocent soul. Our intention is to remove the obligation of generational synthetic expectations; break down these walls and not build new ones."[4]BensBeats compares the song to theLed Zeppelin song "Stairway to Heaven" saying "The band places their most obvious "Stairway to Heaven" nod yet in the album's prime third position with "Broken Bells," copy-pasting the timeless sense of awe with slightly altered chords and running through the same structure"[5]
In an interview withConsequence the band talked about the song saying "Broken Bells is about losing our primal innocence as we face the world. When we are brought in to this life, the soul is perfect. But when faced with the tribulations of our man-made society, the self becomes damaged working within the confines of such."[6]
The song was met with mostly positive reviews and has become one of the most highly regarded songs off of the album,Battle at Garden's Gate.[7][8][9][10]BensBeats reviewed the song positively saying "Kiszka is at the height of his theatrical vocal delivery here and completely sells the chorus, sounding as though he’s choking up as he sings the final lyrics".[11]Rolling Stone magazine reviewed the song positively calling it a "sprawling ballad".[12]
Greta Van Fleet
Additional musicians
Technical
| Chart (2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Hard Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[13] | 15 |