Live Album [Live, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Grand Funk Railroad | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 27, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1970
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000068VV3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,900 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

24-bit digitally remastered reissue for one of the best live acts around. This album captured their show in all of its foot stomping glory! Reaching #5 in 1970, this was their third charting album in a year! 11 tracks. Capitol Records. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST HAVE LIVE ALBUM, September 3, 2002

By 

Richard D. Cappetto "RickDC" (Moodus, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Live Album (Audio CD)

This was THE GRAND FUNK RAILROAD in all their rawest, nasty, sexual, high energy, Live bombastic, Spinal tapish Power Trio Glory. This is one of the Greatest Live Album's of all time; there are no overdubs hear, only a few tweaks with the audience noise. Mark and Don together were just the pack, but when they stole Mel from ? and the Mysterians the magic happened, and the Pack became The Grand Funk Railroad. This album captured millions of fans for GFR who still reminisce about it to this day. This was what GFR was all about, Mel Schacher (the god of bass playing) Playing his BOOMING BASS behind the note. Don Brewer Playing his POUNDING DRUMS ahead of the Note and Mark Farner playing his WILD RHYTHMS and SCREECHING LEADS on GUITAR anywhere; before, after, or in the middle of the note. That magic gave GFR a special sound all to their own, It can't be faked or copied, its something natural to the three musicians. This edition of LIVE ALBUM is a 24 Bit Remastered Masterpiece, of hard rock n roll from cover to cover. Capitol Hired David Tedds (A Huge GFR Fan) to head the project and he did a wonderful job. The remastering is wonderful the (Bong Rattling) bass of Mel Schacher is right in your face the whole set, Mark Farner's Guitar is crisp and clean Don Brewer's (competent) drums are clear as a bell and the (wild shirtless) Vocals of Mark and Don are all clear and fantastic. (Parentheses from Homer Simpson). The songs have all be restored to there proper order and lengths; The track's are; Introduction, Are you
Ready, Paranoid, In Need, Heartbreaker, Words Of Wisdom, Mean Mistreater. Mark Say's Alright, T.N.U.C., Inside Looking Out, and Into the Sun. This is a MUST HAVE LIVE ALBUM from the 70s. for Every fan of Hard Rock.

RickDC

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Need to replace the vinyl?, August 29, 2002

By 

"johnchapter10" (Santa Rosa, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live Album (Audio CD)

FINALLY, all of us GFR fans that grew up with the boys from Flint can replace our old vinyl "Live Album". My grooves were
white so this is quite welcome.....for the uninitiated, this is
pure early 70's metal recorded at the Atlanta Pop Festival. The crowd is hanging on every note and Mark and the boys give 150%. I've seen the Funksters a half dozen times over the years but
this show is just so electric that I wish I could have been there. The opening song "Are you Ready" is just so loud and exciting that it instantly qualifies as an all-time live album
starting point. It gets much better with "Paranoid" and I really enjoy the version of "Inside Looking Out". The CD does it justice and there are many different ways that the group did this song but this is the definitive one. I've always liked "Mean Mistreater" and after everyone screams their lungs
out for the rest of the show, when Mark sits down and plays this
one, you can hear a pin drop.......(nice to hear it without all
of the pops and hiss). Of course, one of the best tunes (especially on this new CD version) is the amazing T.N.U.C., which gives Don Brewer a chance to get animalistic on the drums. One of the most underrated drummers in rock history, his drum solos are fast, tight and relatively short. The CD closes with
the great long cut "Into the Sun" which was on their 1st album.
This song ends the disc with Mark Farner getting very loud and distorted feedback and at the close Mel plays his bass as fast as anyone ever has on a rock album. These 3 musicians could flat out play and all of the gold and platinum records attest to it. Do yourself a favor - if you have/had the vinyl LP and want a cleaned up version that will totally annoy your neighbors but put a giant smile on your face then you need to purchase this CD immediately.......if you are not familiar with early GFR, I'm not talking The Locomotion or Some Kind of Wonderful, but the real early stuff that radio refused to play...then check this out because there isn't any other live rock album out there that is like this.......it's dirty, ear-splitting, grungy before grunge existed, underground heavy metal feedback garage band genius......Kiss Alive and Double Live Gonzo should sound this primitive and electric.......buy it and wear it out.........

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Needs to be played loud, REALLY LOUD to be fully appreciated, February 10, 2005

By 

Stephen Cabral (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live Album (Audio CD)

This album is raw, raucous, energetic and needs to be played loud, that's REALLY LOUD to be fully appreciated. I was 13 when this came out as a double LP for less that five bucks and it really did an amazing job of capturing the excitement of sitting in the front row at a live concert. It's been remastered onto a single disc and the songs have been placed in their correct sequence with no overdubs. The sound here is just very real and Don Brewer's bass is mixed equally with Mark Farner's guitar causing your entire house to vibrate. You can almost feel the sweat and smell the reefer while listening to this. This historical release is a perfect time capsule of 1970 and the stage patter from these heavy metal hippies sounds pretty funny today.

It was recorded on June 1970 in Florida right after they played the Atlanta Pop Fest with The Allman Brothers and The Who. One of the amazing things about Grand Funk was how huge they were. Critics hated them and radio ignored them (at this time) but this album still sold 1,000,000 copies in its first week of release and hit #5 on the Billboard chart. There is a nice booklet included here with the band members reminiscing about hanging out with Janis Joplin, their infamous 60 foot high billboard in Times Square and going from playing The Fillmore East to Madison Square Garden to Shea Stadium all in one year. I like the whole album but my favorite track is their cover of The Animals' "Inside Looking Out". It was my favorite song in the 8th grade and it rocked hard then and it still rocks hard today.