Customer Reviews

Shinin on

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

 

 

First off, I just want to say that I'm glad they included 3D Glasses with the Trunk of Funk. This is a band that does outstanding things with cover designs, and although the CD is smaller than the original vinyl, people have the opportunity to view the cover the way it was originally intended. I must say that, all in all, Capitol Records has done an outstanding job with the remasters, as far as nostalgia is concerned.

While I'm on the subject of remastering, this is the fourth album I've purchased since the albums were reissued. The other three were The Red Album, Survival, and E Pluribus Funk. I've posted reviews for all of them, and on each, I felt that Capitol has also done an outstanding job going back and enhancing the old master tapes to the point where the audio was crystal clear and really gave the listener a feel for the brilliant, and much underrated musicianship of the band. I'm not sure if this is indicative of the differences in engineering styles between Ken Hamann and Todd Rundgren, but I felt that the audio on this one was not as clear as it could have been. Several songs, such as "Please Me," "Little Johnny Hooker," and their cover of "Locomotion" sound like every instument is swimming in feedback, and even Don Brewer's vocals in "Please Me" seem garbled. This is a shame, because there are instances where the music is multilayered, with several different things going on. It's good, but it would have sounded better if it were clearer. Mark Farner dusts off his harmonica for one of the songs, and the group brings back a small group of backup soul singers. Unfortunately, there's so much feedback in both instances that everything sounds like noise.

As far as the music is concerned, the group moved farther away from the hard rock they started with, though they still managed to balance both it and their newer pop sound at certain points in the album. "Shinin' On," the title track, is probably one of the best Mark Farner/Don Brewer collaborations I've heard (with the exception of "I Can Feel Him In The Morning," off of Survival), with solid rhythm from Brewer and bassist Mel Schacher, fiery vocals ( also from Brewer, that sound clearer than any other song on the album), and a lengthy Farner guitar solo with all the right twists and turns. Keyboardist Craig Frost also has his turn at soloing, and the way he and Farner feed off of each other is magic. In addition to playing longer and better organ solos, Frost also tries his hand at songwriting on this one. His best effort is "Getting Over You," a collaboration with Don Brewer, that has all the energy of the title track, plus a solo on the moog synthesizer that complements the fast pace and energy of the track magnificently. "The Locomotion" is a classic cover, which the band always does in style, remaining true to the form of the original while putting their own unique stamp on it that says: "Hi, we're Grand Funk Railroad!" One of my favorite songs on here, though, and one that sadly suffers from the feedback problem, is "Little Johnny Hooker," one of Mark Farner's famous songs with morals. Each of the band members is in top form on it, and it transitions about halfway into a lengthy instrumental with a soul choir that provides a nice finish to a partially decent record.

However, this album did have a few unfortunate trends that started to rear their heads in Grand Funk's repertoire: it contained tracks that you can skip over! "Carry Me Through," for some reason, didn't sit right with me. I don't know if it was the excessive stereo fading (which I normally like, but in this case, everything was too echoey), or the fact that the producer was invited into the recording booth to play guitar for it. This was another unfortunate trend in the bands devolution, and that was way too many cooks. Finally, there's the second track on the album. "To Get Back In" is a fun pop song, with classic down-on-your-luck lyrics courtesy of Mark Farner, but it also contains horns, which complement the instrumentation of this song nicely, but were used too excessively on later albums.

I don't know, maybe the reason for the feedback is because the band intended this record to be played in a room with the curtains drawn, incense burning, and a joint being passed between friends. Or maybe I just got the one defective copy. But even without the remastering issues I have to say that as a pop album, this does very well. But as a Grand Funk Railroad album, you're better off starting with something like On Time or Closer to Home, and then coming back to check this one out.

This isn't the best Grand Funk release,but it is very good.
The title track "Shinin'On" is one of their all time best songs.
The vocals on it are excellent! There are a lot of great vocals
on this release,by both Brewer and Farner. Good song writing though out. "Little Johnny Hooker" is another stand out number.
The inclusion of "Destitute And Losin'",a song not on the
original release,is a great addition. The whole band is in
good form.
I don't care for the song "The Loco-Motion",but evidently
my opinion on this is not widey shared,being that the song
hit #1 on the charts. Much too pop for me.
All in all,I'd recommend this one to any Grand Funk fan,or
anyone who enjoys good hard rock.
thanks.

This was Grand Funk's second album with producer extraordinaire Todd Rungren. He puts some spacey moments in (check out 'Carry Me Through) and lots of echo, but it doesn't detract from what is, with one exception, a very strong set of rock songs.

I'd buy this album for the title track alone. Drummer/vocalist Don Brewer proves his singing talents, belting this out like it's the last song he'll ever get to sing. And check out the R&B influence - complete with horns - on Mark Farner's To Get Back In. GFR was always influenced by the Motown sound, though that might have been hard to discern on their earlier efforts.

Of course, this was the breaking point for some fans, who simply couldn't stand how much the band had departed from it's loud 'n' proud garage rock roots. And, if you listen to its take on the old pop classic The LocoMotion, I suppose you couldn't blame them. This is a straight throwaway ditty, in my books. (But I still like it better than Farner's Mr. Pretty Boy, a dirge every bit as underwhelming as Mean Mistreater.)

One of the best things about this reissue is the inclusion of Destitute & Losin', a stretched out rocker with plenty of power. It showed the band was still capable of flexing plenty of muscle.

Oh, if you're wondering about the strange cover art, the original vinyl album had a pair of glasses you could punch out of the cover (thus the two grey stars) and check out the artwork in 3-D.

I've come to appreciate more then ever the post-Terry Knight era of Grand Funk Railroad (in particular their 'Good Singing Good Playing' album) and 'Shinin' On' is nearly as good as its predecesor 'We're an American Band'. Having Todd Rundgren produce was a genius move, since GFR by 1973 could have used some better production and overall help in bringing out the best in what they could do. Standout tracks for me are the title track, "Carry Me Through" and "Destitute adn Losin'" Of this period of GFR I would also recommend the very underrated and overlooked Born to Die album.

Shinin' On was the second album that studio wizard (and a true star) Todd Rundgren produced. Sound quality is excellent throughout--much better than the worn out vinyl copy I've been listening to for years. The disc includes two bonus tracks, the bluesy "Destitute and Losin'" (originally released as the b-side to "The Loco-Motion" and later available on the Thirty Years of Funk compilation) and an alternate version of the title track with a different vocal arrangement. The only thing missing is the 3D glasses that came with the original album. With songs like the title track, "Gettin' Over You" and "Little Johnny Hooker," Shinin' On is one of the band's best albums.

Many tracks here sound like they were recorded in an empty club with house mikes instead of any line outs on the amps. Like when you're watching the news and there's a story about a festival and the reporter's on camera with the band booming and echoing in the background? Well, some of these tracks sound like footage shot by the cameraman without the reporter. There's fairly decent bottom, but that can be boosted in the final mixdown. One point of interest is that there are three tracks Mark Farner didn't participate in the writing of. The most obvious is the single release "Loco-Motion" (written by Carole King when she was a teenager). But "Carry Me Through" and "Gettin' Over You" are written by drummer Don Brewer and keyboardist Craig Frost. I think it's Brewer singing lead on these--he's soloed before, beginning back in the "Closer To Home" days when he swapped lines with Farner in the bridge section of "Hooked On Love". I thought "Little Johnny Hooker" would turn out to be some sort of nod to blues legend John Lee Hooker, which would be the first time this blues-influenced band has done that, but instead it deals with a kid bullied in school and getting sent up the river because he replied with a switchblade. If there's a message here about there being a certain injustice in getting busted for a fight you didn't start, it's too elusive to hang your hat on. Maybe the 3-D cover art, plus the presence of an early-1960s classic, was a warning that this album would have a cheesy retro 1950s/ 1960s blare in the recording quality, I don't know.

Shinin On is a great hard rock album, This is from the We're An American band period of GFRs History; where Don Brewer, Grand Funk's Great Drummer and vocalist, steps up with his song writing and lead singing (on songs such as Shinin On, Please Me, Getting Over you, and Carry Me through). And GFR rocks hard on Please Me, Getting Over you, Carry Me through, and Shinin On. The song Destitute N Losin (the B side from Locomotion) is included on this one, and it is a great Mark Farner song. To Get Back in is a good song. Locomotion the number 1 hit from this album, was a big hit for GFR, but kind of hurt the band in that people starting thinking of GFR as a pop band, that must produce hits; and many of the hard core hard rock GFR fans, were disappointed that GFR covered that song, and felt they were selling out for radio play. I personally always liked the song and I love Mark Farner's great Guitar solo in that one. Mr. Pretty Boy is a strange song (no drums) that really does not fit on this hard rock album. BUT over all Shinin On is Pure Grand Funk, and Pure Hard Rock; Don Brewer, Mark Farner, Mel Schacher and Craig Frost rock hard on shinin on. This CD is 24 bit remasterred and has two bonus tracks Destitute and losin, which I mention above, and an alternative version of Shinin on, both are great numbers. The CD sounds great, it also has new liner notes, which are excellent, and very nice artwork. It is a must get for every GFR fan.
RickDC

Grand Funk Railroad - A GREAT band out of the Motor city (Flint, Mi.) that really needs to be inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. Come on people let's get with it, acts like Prince are in the Rock Hall and not G.F.R. something's wrong with that picture. One of the BEST 3 piece bands in Rock N Roll. Long live G.F.R.

Grand Funk wasn't showing any signs of falling apart just yet- that would happen with their next album, All the Girls in the World Beware.

While nothing from the Shinin' On album comes close to the incredible power and rocking energy of the title song with its fantastic rhythm beats, I can't find anything to complain about either.

Hearing this album for the first time after hearing all the other Grand Funk albums released before this one, you'll probably be shocked by the way the album sounds and the direction Grand Funk chose to take their music. This is pretty much an obvious attempt to go commercial, though not really a necessary one since they WERE pretty popular before this after all, and the band also probably wanted to fit in with the times.

Whatever the reason might be, this is a pretty good album. Don't expect a whole lot in the way of excellent guitar solos, but expect a decent songwriting effort.

I bought the original vinyl of this on the back of my enthusiasm for 'We're An American Band' and was absolutely not disappointed. These guys are gutsy and project such intensity and oomph. Along with many great tracks, their 'gotta join in at a fuelled up party' rendition of "Loco-motion" absolutely leaves Kylie's later 'boopy-doop' version for dead - hands down! "Carry Me Through"'s almost ethereal (for its time) style puts you in another place, on another plane, and I defy anyone to not find themselves toe tapping away happily with "Little Johnny Hooker"!