Grand Funk Railroad ~ Grand Funk Lives / Whats Funk CD 2021 Wounded Bird ••NEW••

Grand Funk Railroad The Complete Warner Recordings Grand Funk Live / What’s Funk AUDIO CD BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED WOU 6050 UPC | 664140605022 1981, 1983, 2021 ► features the rare 7″ b-side bonus track, Let It Happen TRACK LISTING Grand Funk Lives (1981) 01. Good Times 02. Queen Bee 03. Testify 04. Can’t Be With You Tonight 05. No Reason Why 06. We Gotta Get Out of This Place 07. Y.O.U. 08. Stuck In The Middle 09. Greed Of Man 10. Wait For Me What’s Funk? (1983) 11. Rock & Roll American Style 12. Nowhere To Run 13. Innocent 14. Still Waitin’ 15. Borderline 16. El Salvador 17. It’s A Man’s World 18. I’m So True 19. Don’t Lie To Me 20. Life In Outer Space BONUS TRACK 21. Let It Happen ~ Grand Funk Lives ~ Rising like a Phoenix, which was the title of one of their previous albums, perhaps Mark Farner is sending a subliminal message with opening track “Good Times” that his “Bad Time” is over? The song “Testify,” track three, sums up this very good album from Mark Farner, Don Brewer, and bassist Dennis Bellinger replacing the MIA Mel Schacher. It’s a hooky rock tune with Farner’s religious overtones. All these tracks are strong, from “Can’t Be With You Tonight” to the glorious ending of “Wait for Me.” The no-nonsense production of manager Andrew Cavaliere — shades of Terry Knight! — and Bob Destocki, lets Farner and Brewer shine. This album is like a subdued version of the Grand Funk classic Survival. In fact, both Survival and Grand Funk Lives are underrated, not just among Grand Funk fans. Where the first Mark Farner solo album, produced by Dick Wagner, had more of a bluesy feel in 1977, and 1978’s Flint by Brewer and company sounded like a stab in the dark, this collection rocks. “Queen Bee” has riffs taken from Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep, specifically the ending of the song; “Black Sabbath meets Heep’s “Easy Livin’,” with Farner’s pop influences glossing it up. “We Gotta Get out of This Place” has more in common with a hard-rocking Young Rascals than the Animals or David Johansen. “Y.O.U.” is almost there, halfway to a hit, missing the strength of producers Jimmy Ienner, Todd Rundgren, heck, even Frank Zappa might’ve lifted this track into the Top 40. The restrained production on the rest of the album is a plus except for “Y.O.U.,” which needed just a bit more. “Stuck in the Middle” is fun Mark Farner, and is perhaps the best track on this excellent outing. Heavy keyboards, a great hook, and thick chorus — a nice sequel to Funk’s 1975 hit “Bad Time.” “Greed of Man” goes back to the harder preaching of original GFR. All tunes except the cover of “We Gotta Get out of This Place” were written by Farner, who closes out the album with the introspective “Wait for Me.” In a world mutated by Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, and Aerosmith gone pop, Grand Funk Railroad kept the flame of hard rock lit with this solid disc. ~ What’s Funk? ~ After making a comeback in 1981, the revamped 1980s version of Grand Funk Railroad took one last stab at the ’80s rock market with What’s Funk? This time, the band enlisted Gary Lyons (producer for Foreigner and the Outlaws) to create an updated version of the kind of slickly produced album that made the group into a pop hit maker during the mid-’70s. The end result is an improvement over 1981’s underproduced Grand Funk Lives, but it still suffers from some uneven moments. Lyons adds plenty of early-’80s frills to the group sound, the most notable examples being the synthesizers and drum machines that dress up tunes like “Innocent” and “I’m So True.” This approach doesn’t always work (the Gary Numan-like programmed synthesizers that underpin “Borderline” clutter up what could have been an effective slice of guitar-driven hard rock), but the group turns in the kind of songs and energetic performances that help make What’s Funk? an engaging album. Good examples include “Still Waitin’,” a straight-ahead rocker that seamlessly blends heavy guitar riffs with a catchy chorus, and “Borderline,” a soulful power ballad that balances the group’s instrumental power with plenty of smooth harmonies. Another highlight is the group’s cover of the James Brown classic “It’s a Man’s World,” which cleverly rearranges the tune to fit the band’s power trio format. In the end, What’s Funk? lacks the kind of exceptional songs and breakout hits that would have made the album cross over to the mainstream, but it remains a solid batch of tunes that will please the group’s fans. SHIPPING TO USA ONLY Buyer Pays Shipping 1st CD $3.99… each additional $1.50 CDs will only be combined with other CDs or DVDs To qualify for the combined discount, all items must be purchased together, paid for with 1 payment, and shipped all together in 1 shipment. Please use the add to cart feature, once you have ordered all your desired items, proceed to checkout to complete your order with the combined total.