Customer Reviews

Live Album

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.........

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.

If anyone ever wonders why Grand Funk was so popular, listening to this album will solve their mystery. This live album is by far their best work and enbodies the spirit and connection with the fans which was the key to their success. There just ain't nothing like a live album.

OK, so maybe the sound quality of this album isn't equal to the newly released "Live in 1971" album, (which I haven't heard, so I can't really compare), but I doubt that album, recorded a year after this one, can equal the sheer pounding power and rawness of this, one of the greatest live albums I've ever heard. (And I will say there is a vast improvement over the early vinyl and the CD import versions I've been listening to for years). Before Funk became, like so many bands before and after, a hit-making ... machine, they were a precursor not so much to heavy metal, but to the grunge sound that came out of Seattle so many years later. And this album, with the screaming crowd noise left in, is simply ELECTRIC. Unlike any other live album I've ever heard, YOU ARE THERE! Amazingly ripping versions of "Inside Looking out", "Into the sun", and "In Need", that surpass even the live rawness of the original studio versions. So....if you're looking for a neater, tighter, better-recorded Grand Funk, I guess the 1971 album is for you - but if it's a less-perfect, raw, in-your-face Funk you need, try this masterpiece!

Grand Funk Railroad got their first notice at the Atlanta Pop Fest in July of 1969 by blowing about 180,000 people out of their seats, coming out of nowhere to nearly instant stardom. Capitol Records signed them immediately after this event, and LIVE! will show you why. If you want hard driving, earth-shaking music, this is the album to get...not for the Mariah Carey set, nor the namby-pamby meek and mild...this is the real thing, people. Put it on the stereo and let 'er rip. Warn the neighbors, hide the dog, do whatever you need to, but play this LOUD, as loud as you want. You'll thank me for it later. This is a MUCH better recording than the import versions, too, having been remixed at some point to reduce the crowd noises between songs, and the bits that were removed from the Holland imported version are restored in their entirety.

Get ready to ROCK. Grand Funk LIVE! is timeless, raw, electrifying, and could be used to TEACH what REAL ROCK'N'ROLL MUSIC can still be...if the kids want to LEARN what we old fogies still know to be true, that is!

GRAND FUNK RAILROAD ROCKS. Still!

I love this session, maybe the best live album ever, along with Deep Purple's Made In Japan. I even own the original LP. But the remastering is a fiasco. Grand Funk's sound is largely defined by the strongest, soul-filled bass line ever found in clasic rock. But this year 2000 remastering, buried the bass with the other instruments. It does not sound right. Don't buy this album, get the original non-remastered 1970 version.
I give 5 stars to the band and music, bit only one star to the lousy remastering job.

This album is really great as most of the reviewers have already said... it really brings back memories of Junior High for me. GFR was the first rock concert I ever attended... Octiber 1971 at The Forum in Los Angeles... this album comes closest to what thet concert was like. I can't describe the ferocity and sheer hippie magnetism that this group had in the early '70s... it would be very hard to describe the feeling of the times... these guys must have scared the pants off anyone right of center. Raw, loose and scary, few young'ns these days will relate to GFR but it's a great time machine for us old enough to remember.

In my opinion this was the greatest Live album of all time.
It was also the end of an era for Grand Funk.
After this album Mark started playing more keybords.
This band had the most energy Live of any band I had ever seen.
Also at this time they were selling out Shea Stadium faster
than the Beatles.
I am so impressed at how this album has stood the test of time.
These young kids now days have a hard time the 1st time they hear this.
Most have never heard a bass player play like Mel. (lead bass)
Mark was like a rythmn player adding the harmonies to the
heaviest driving beat ever heard by Mel, (one of my favorite
bass players) and Don (also one of the best drummers ever).
This album still blows me away!!!

Compared it for you with the older cd version.
Can't compare with the lp, 'cause I wore 'em out so fast. Nothing left but scrach's.
Would be cool if they included a mail in for a copy of the poster. (good thing I still have mine)
Side by side, this one all they really did was crank up the volume level.
It will never be "crystal clear" "digital perfect" OK!!
It was recorded in 1970,lol.
They did move,Inside Looking Out,
from the,6th tune to the 10th tune.

What this mean's is that now your amp doesn't have to put out as much watt's for the same volume level.
So that means you can CRANK IT UP EVEN LOUDER!!
THE GREATEST OF ALL AIR GUITAR, KILLER, LIVE ALBUM/CD!!!!

Now, not only does your next door neighber get to hear.
But the people down the block,yeah baby!!

I have never been able to put this on without playing the whole thing, all the way through.

Mark,Don & Mel at their best~Live and loud!

Mel Schacher was such a vital part of the Grand Funk sound.
To bad when they add'd the keyboard playerin '73, they turned him down in the mix for future lp's. A great loss{:-(

But this cd is testimony to how powerful he is.

And Don is a thunder buster on the Drum's.

Mark really should be getting more and more recognition for all he's done for rock and roll.
Hell,a whole generation grew their hair because of this man!
And a thousand guitar player's today will tell you it all started with this lp/cd right here.
Lick by lick, note by note.

HERE'S THE GROUP YOU'VE BEEN WAITING TO SEE:

GRAND FUNK RAILROAD!!
ONE!,TWO!,THREE!
ARE YOU READY?!?!?