| Grand Funk Railroad's ham-fisted approach to rock 'n' roll left music critics appalled, but they sold twenty million records and even broke the Beatles' record for selling out Shea Stadium. During the band's tenure at Capitol Records (1969-1976), they hit the Hot 100 singles chart more than a dozen times. Mark Farner--the band's underrated guitar player and usual lead singer--wrote much of the group's material. However their two No. 1 singles, "We're an American Band" and "The Loco-Motion," were written by drummer Don Brewer and Goffin & King respectively. Despite the non-stop criticism from the rock press, nothing succeeds like success, and Grand Funk was undeniably one of the biggest bands of the era. I do, however, have a few issues with this remastered collection: *It's nice to see that they added the 1976 hit "Take Me" (No. 53), not found on the 1991 Collectors Series compilation. But with a running time of only 71 minutes why did they also delete "Inside Looking Out" from 1970 which was the only UK hit of their career? [These are the only two track listing changes that differentiate between Collectors Series and Classic Masters.] *Three other singles are missing: "Upsetter" (No. 73) from E PLURIBUS FUNK, "Sally" (No. 69) from BORN TO DIE, and "Can You Do It" (No. 45) from the Frank Zappa-produced album GOOD SINGIN' GOOD PLAYIN'. *Also, the track sequencing on Classic Masters is not chronological, which hurts the continuity.
All told, this is a great artifact from one of the great power trios of the era. GFR was a no-nonsense party band, and if you're looking for a single CD to provide you with all of their best moments--this is it. For maximum effect, crank this up to ten, and roll down the windows. LOUD! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
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