Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the top 2 or 3 blues-based rock trio albums!, April 4, 2003
I put this album right alongside "Disreali Gears" and "Are You Experienced". A tight, unified sound from start to finish - never mind that there weren't any radio hits on it. At that time and place, radio hits were beside the point. The music was rapidly evolving, and the power-trio format was the cutting edge of that evolution. Not as frenetic and competitive as Cream, and with a MUCH better rhythm section than the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Grand Funk Railroad was at the top of their game on this one! Led Zeppelin would take the power-trio format, add a great lead singer, and dominate the sound of the next decade. If you're into power-trios, you should DEFINITELY have this album. If you want to hear the very SOUL of Grand Funk Railroad, buy this one FIRST! You can pick up the "hits" any time, but this one is a jewel from start to finish!
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42 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Greatest Hard Rock Album of All Time., August 28, 2002
RED ALBUM was THE GRAND FUNK RAILROAD in all their raw, nasty, sexual, high energy, Live sounding Power Trio madness. This is a Great second Album surpassing there great debut On Time, and helps rank GFR with the Great's of the 70s like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. This album was recorded live and the only overdubs are putting some rhythm guitar where the leads are (al of GFRs Terry Knight Produced were done the same way, as fast as possible and No Frills). Like On Time its a sledge hammer album, but even heavier with the smash songs that GFR used live such as In Need, Inside Looking Out and Paranoid. Red Album which is what we GFR fanatics call Grand Funk, also has the radio friendly songs Mr. Limousine Driver, Please Don't worry, and High Falottin Women. As well as the Sledge hammer rocker Got This Thing On The Move. This was what GFR was all about, Mel Schacher 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. Or to be more accurate Don playing at the beginning of the note, Mel playing at the end of the note and Mark going wherever he wants with his wild rhythms. This sound made GFR something unique and special and gave them a driven sound that made you feel like your moving. Don and Mark do great Harmonies and both are excellent lead singers as well. Red Album is a special album every hard rock fan should have in there collection. GFRs sound can't be faked or copied, its something natural to the three musicians. This album along with Live, On Time, and Closer To Home, captured millions of fans for GFR who still reminisce about these albums to this day. This edition of RED ALBUM the CD is 24 Bit remastered with New liner Notes, Bonus Tracks, and photos. The Bonus tracks are a demo version of Nothing is the same and an extended version of Mr. Limousine Driver and there very cool. This is the first Time Capitol has released Red Album on CD in the USA and is a must have CD for every GFR fan and Every fan of Hard Rock. Is there someone standing Just out side your door? RickDC :)
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Red Alert!, February 22, 2005
About "Grand Funk" (AKA: "The Red Album"):
Vintage Grand Funk Railroad sound! This record is what defined the Grand Funk Railroad power-sound. ALL of their other records are compared to this release. It gave early heavy metal fans what they wanted. It gave people into funk and soul what they wanted. It gave the politically astute what they wanted. It satisfies the nihilists. There were elements the bubblegum squad could latch on to. It was a huge sound without the haughty, "Creamish" air attached. Simple, but very, very effective! This is the core sound--devoid of any cliché slickness that is duck taped to all-too-many rock recordings. However, GFR didn't seem to strive to achieve this sound; it simply WAS their sound! Everything sounds natural and unpretentious. Mel Schacher says on the liner notes, "I liked the RED ALBUM the best, because I think it represented what Grand Funk was really all about, musically."
About the "Grand Funk Remasters":
First of all, what took so freakin' long to release these records in this format? Why do we have to listen to crappy sounding CDs in this day and age? As Nathan (William Snape) says in "The Full Monty" during one his dad's (Robert Carlyle) clumsy dance rehearsals--"that were crap!" Even the Beatles catalog is taking forever to get released on quality CDs! ("The Capital Albums Vol. 1") Oh well, better late than never, I guess! I just have one last thing to say to the record companies, et al involved concerning this faux pas; guess which finger I'm holding up!
There's a world of difference between the sound of these CDs and the sterile sounding earlier digital releases of the same material; that fact alone justifies buying the remasters. However, the bonus music on these CDs makes them a must-buy for anyone who likes Grand Funk.
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