08. Grand Funk Railroad On Time 1969 (Capitol)
Blues Rock-Hard Rock
Keep on jamming you bastards! Part.1
Overview
One of the great success stories of their time. Grand Funk Railroad were one of the biggest and most prolific power-trio outfits to have ever existed and in between the years of 1969-1972 all six of their studio album releases either went platinum or gold. They followed on from the power trios of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream and Blue Cheer and introduced us to their jamming hard rock style. They hugely benefitted from the production of the already aforementioned Terry Knight (having already worked together on Terry Knight & the Pack a few years earlier) and cut a sound that hit borderline blues rock and hard rock. Their sound was built around extended jamming rather than raw power and this is most evident on their early releases, where there is just so much energy. This album their debut along with their sophomore set (higher on the list) were hallmarks of their time and prove to be the perfect junction between blues rock, hard rock, melodic rock and heavy extended jamming. The band were often criticized over their lack of technical prowess but have always sounded good to my ear. Mark Farner was one hell of a frontman, Don Brewer just thrashed away on the drums and bassist Mel Schacher was the heart of the band's throbbing sound. Mark Farner also dominated proceedings when it came to writing both the music and the lyrics for these early GFR albums.
Mark Farner- Guitar/Vocals
Mel Schacher- Bass
Don Brewer- Drums
Production- Terry Knight
Album
Are You Ready?- An upbeat rocker where Mel Schacher's bass is the dominant instrument here, as it is throughout most of the album.
Anybody's Answer- A typical GFR song that is high on energy with a haunting riff that echoes in and out.
Time Machine- A typical and steady blues rock shuffle with added harmonica for effect.
High on a Horse- Catchy song and one of the shortest on the album.
T.N.U.C- An 8 minute track that is just dominated by a drum solo, if you like drum solos check this monkey out.
Into the Sun- Mid-tempo instrumental the eventually leads into a funky rocker, this was always a popular song when performed live.
Heartbreaker- One of my favourite songs on the album, a love song with a haunting bridge that is the highlight of the song, and the song really picks up towards the end as well.
Call Yourself a Man- dominated by what would become a trademark GFR beat, another very good song.
Can't Be Too Long- Decent song but at 6 plus minutes its overlong, in fact the song title seems to state this fact as well.
Ups and Downs- Album finales are usually amongst the strongest songs on most albums, but this is GFR at their most disjointed, as they try a variety of styles that simply don't work that well. Luckily the rest of the album was very good, so this song can really be overlooked.
Verdict
A superb jamming album that might not be to everybody' s taste, especially since it clocks in at around 50 minutes, which was long for its time. The jamming at times is extensive and this album by some could easily be cast off as one of those examples of instrumental wankery! Much of the criticism aimed at the album, often revolves around misplaced instrumental solos that have a tendency to fit in where more structured instrumentals should be, but that's GFR for you and one of the reasons I love their early work. In some ways I find this album more exciting than the sophomore effort also released the same year (Led Zeppelin would also manage this feat as well) but I've placed the sophomore set higher up on the list, as it's a tighter and a more compact effort that still manages to hold the energy of this album and would prove to be an influential piece of work as well.