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Grand Funk Railroad - Classic Masters Audio CD

A fair review of the Grand Funk Railroad "Classic Masters" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Grand Funk Railroad reviews here, or go back to the Grand Funk Railroad tabs.

Grand Funk Railroad Band: Grand Funk Railroad
Title: Classic Masters
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-07-30
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: We're an American Band 2: Time Machine 3: Walk Like a Man (You Can Call Me Your Man) 4: Some Kind of Wonderful 5: Gimme Shelter 6: Shinin' On 7: Heartbreaker 8: Rock & Roll Soul 9: Loco-Motion 10: Footstompin' Music 11: Mean Mistreater 12: Feelin' Alright 13: Take Me 14: Bad Time 15: I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home

Classic Masters
It contains fifteen tracks including almost every hit they had; the few omissions are very minor. For those unwilling to delve deeply into the Grand Funk catalog this is the cheapest, most convenient disc to purchase. If you want to know what Grand Funk was really about then this disc isn't a very good representation of their career. Grand Funk did make an effort to produce charting singles but their most essential recordings weren't hits nor were they ever meant to be. This was put together for the casual fan of Funk that just basically wants to hear what was played on the radio. The biggest drawback of this disc's presentation is that the songs aren't in chronological order; if one cares at all about the growth & progress of a group then this song order is a mistake. Of course, to the casual fan this isn't anything important, the pacing of the songs becomes the most prominent feature.

Classic Masters opens with "We're an American Band" (73), arguably their most famous song; it peaked at #1 & was the first of two singles to accomplish this feat. Next is "Time Machine" (69), perhaps their weakest single peaking at #48. "Walk Like a Man" (74) made it to #19. "Some Kind of Wonderful" (75) was one of many songs that they did a cover version of that peaked at #3; it has a near gospel feel with some excellent harmony vocals. "Gimme Shelter" (71) is a cover of a Rolling Stones song that went to #61. "Shinin' On" (74), from the album of the same name, went to #11. "Heartbreaker" (70), it charted at #72. "Rock & Roll Soul" (72) went to #29 & was the first single to feature their newest member on keyboards, Craig Frost. "The Loco-Motion" (74) was their only other #1 hit & a cover of a Little Eva hit written by the husband & wife team of Gerry Coffin & Carole King. "Footstompin' Music" (72) peaked at #29 that featured Farner on keyboards. "Mean Mistreater" (70) is a live version of the song & charted at #47. "Feelin' Alright" (71) was a cover of a Dave Mason song that peaked at #54. "Take Me" (76), sadly, was their last charting single & peaked at #53. "Bad Time" (74) was a song Farner wrote about his marriage going south, it was Funk's last major hit peaking at #4. "I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home" (70), probably Funk's second most famous song, peaked at #22 & was their highest charting single until "We're an American Band".

When you look at the chart positions you can tell that Grand Funk wasn't truly a singles act. This changed somewhat with the single "We're an American Band"; Capitol Records, their record label, was pressuring them to increase their sales in 1973. Their previous album, Phoenix, had been a mild disappointment, but the real reason was money, Capitol Records felt like Grand Funk needed to produce more income by having successful singles. It was unfortunate that when the singles ran dry Grand Funk pretty much did too but they had a great run of about six years that was almost as much fun for me as it was for them.


Grand Funk Railroad remastered???????????????
I have over 1000 CDs and this CD is by far the most DISTORTED--LOUD peace of aluminum and plastic I have ever heard or owned. I have had Grand Funk Railroad LPs from the original 60s releases and was looking forward to this new 24 BIT remastering. Even the stings on I'm Your Captain are distorted. The 1980s CDs have much less distortion. I understand analog 60s technology was not the greatest recording invention known to man but this new 24 BIT digital CD is in one word--TERRIBLE!!! I guess I should have recognized the cheap price is representative of this.
However, if you like CDs remastered at zero dB digital maximum so as to be clipping as loud as possible this CD is for you!.


When it is good it is good
Others were dated, but that was expected. I found some of the selections on this CD to just rock. Overall I would recommend it for the hits.


Classic Masters
Hard to find a version like this. Excellent. Arrived timely and in good shape. .


Good Classic Rock!
They could be compared in its era to Led Zeppelin. I really enjoyed the classic rock sound the grand funk railroad presented in its day. Some Kind Of Wonderful ranked among the group's biggest hits including We're An American Band. I didnt like the covers of the rolling stones Gimmie Shelter, or their cover of Feelin' Alright. But besides the poor cover songs their original material had a bigger impact on the group and the era. This is not my favorite classic rock band but its def. one of the better bands of the classic rock era. This deserves 4 stars because of the poor covers, other than that this deserves 5!.


You can see a complete list of all Grand Funk Railroad discography, or go back to the Grand Funk Railroad tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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