Thoughts On Grand Funk Railroad

Moss · 01-06-2014, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Smeenus

Actually I think that's one of their better early songs.

I agree it's a good song, but are you telling me you sit through that whole ending? It's endless.

Paul Smeenus · 01-06-2014, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moss

I agree it's a good song, but are you telling me you sit through that whole ending? It's endless.

Play that YouTube I posted above

Moss · 01-06-2014, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Smeenus

Play that YouTube I posted above

I tried, I really tried. You are right, Closer to home sounds like a 2 minute pop nugget compared to that. I imagine there was a lot of people racing to the bathroom during that one.

Paul Smeenus · 01-06-2014, 11:34 PM

Well in fairness, you're right, the Closer to Home coda goes on for 6 minutes but at least it has interesting elements and a bit of an instrumental bridge. That drum solo is like mainlining itching powder.

Surell · 01-07-2014, 01:46 AM

I love that one album that's all red and shit, that bass playing whoops all kinds of ass.

Psy-Fi · 01-18-2014, 07:56 AM

Here's a great article on Grand Funk Railroad...

The Story of Grand Funk Railroad

Well worth reading for any fan of the band.

Unknown Soldier · 01-18-2014, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psy-Fi

Here's a great article on Grand Funk Railroad...

The Story of Grand Funk Railroad

Well worth reading for any fan of the band.

That's a pretty good article but I'd say the real reason why Grand Funk Railroad aren't remembered in the way as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple are is that 1) They failed to evolve musically as the above three bands did (they tried though) 2) Once they became huge they were happy putting out average material. 3) They had their second chance with Todd Rundgren but once he went they lacked direction again 4) They were an American band playing heavy rock, meaning that they were treated like a latest fashion, rather than part of American musical culture like say the Beach Boys etc. 5) The American music scene of the 1970s was far less accepting of heavy rock as a whole than the UK one, despite the fact that the big three British bands were selling by the million there (the US still had a fixation with British bands in the 1970s) Apart from Blue Oyster Cult, Alice Cooper the US was starved of popular heavy rocks in the early to mid 1970s.

neardeathexperience · 01-18-2014, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

That's a pretty good article but I'd say the real reason why Grand Funk Railroad aren't remembered in the way as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple are is that 1) They failed to evolve musically as the above three bands did (they tried though) 2) Once they became huge they were happy putting out average material. 3) They had their second chance with Todd Rundgren but once he went they lacked direction again 4) They were an American band playing heavy rock, meaning that they were treated like a latest fashion, rather than part of American musical culture like say the Beach Boys etc. 5) The American music scene of the 1970s was far less accepting of heavy rock as a whole than the UK one, despite the fact that the big three British bands were selling by the million there (the US still had a fixation with British bands in the 1970s) Apart from Blue Oyster Cult, Alice Cooper the US was starved of popular heavy rocks in the early to mid 1970s.

I don't really think that Black Sabbath can be used as a example of a band that evolved unless you count when Ozzy left and other singers took over. Their first second third and fourth albums all sounded pretty similar in my opinion. As for Grand Funk not evolving. They chose to do cover songs which most bands when they became huge would never have entertained that idea. They also added a organist by the time Phoenix came out which totally evolved the band's sound. In the grand scheme of things they made some great albums and some terrible ones, but in all there was 13 actual albums, 4 live albums and 25 singles ( really?) They have left their signature on the American music scene for anyone who chooses to find out about them.

Unknown Soldier · 01-19-2014, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neardeathexperience

I don't really think that Black Sabbath can be used as a example of a band that evolved unless you count when Ozzy left and other singers took over. Their first second third and fourth albums all sounded pretty similar in my opinion.

Personally I think they're fairly different. The first album had the birth of their core sound, it was atmospheric but it still had no focus compared to the following albums. Paranoid tightened everything up to perfection and imo the finest example ever of a metal album. Master of Reality laid the groundwork for the slower extreme metal genres (doom, sludge and stoner) and Vol.4 is a more straight-up metal record but high on experimentation for the band and strongly aimed at commercialism.

Whereas over much of this same period GFR gave us albums built around lengthy riffs (sure they did it well) but they were a one trick pony in this respect. They then put out a number of below-par commercial albums built around song structure, as said earlier it was only when Todd Rundgren arrived that the band found their hidden potential.

In my journal I've reviewed all these albums by Black Sabbath and Grand Funk Railroad)

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As for Grand Funk not evolving. They chose to do cover songs which most bands when they became huge would never have entertained that idea.

But that could easily be construed as lacking quality material and using covers to fill in the gaps, loads of artists have done this.

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They also added a organist by the time Phoenix came out which totally evolved the band's sound.

Point taken with this one.

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In the grand scheme of things they made some great albums and some terrible ones, but in all there was 13 actual albums, 4 live albums and 25 singles ( really?) They have left their signature on the American music scene for anyone who chooses to find out about them.

They left their signature but sadly it's long since been erased and I think the points that I suggested above explain this, unless you want to add any other ideas and suggestions into the debate, as I'm sure there are other aspects to consider?

neardeathexperience · 01-22-2014, 08:21 PM

In the context of music from that era being the 70s if you are a music fan and continue to be I'm sure you are aware of Grand Funk and their contributions. Perhaps being out on the road and playing all those live shows did not offer the band enough time when they actually landed in the studio to have enough written material to make up an album as you indicated, but if that is the case they still cranked out 2 of the best covers in my opinion. Later on they also did a couple of other covers of songs Locomotion and that other Carol King song.... As I previously mentioned they had some awesome albums and some terrible ones, I'm just glad they decided to form a band.

01-22-2014, 08:21 PM	#20 (permalink)
neardeathexperience Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 531	In the context of music from that era being the 70s if you are a music fan and continue to be I'm sure you are aware of Grand Funk and their contributions. Perhaps being out on the road and playing all those live shows did not offer the band enough time when they actually landed in the studio to have enough written material to make up an album as you indicated, but if that is the case they still cranked out 2 of the best covers in my opinion. Later on they also did a couple of other covers of songs Locomotion and that other Carol King song.... As I previously mentioned they had some awesome albums and some terrible ones, I'm just glad they decided to form a band.