It probably comes down to their lack of a really strong album. And yet the other bands I listed are remembered more fondly, and regarded more highly by critics today. Grand Funk’s music was no different than these bands: bluesy, loose, somewhat heavy, somewhat groovy, with an emphasis on sex, drugs, and having a good time. Compare them to similar bands like Faces, Humble Pie, James Gang, Free, Jeff Beck Group, Foghat. Which is too bad because they made some great music (mostly). And despite their massive popularity they’ve failed to maintain a strong legacy. They’re not very well respected, even in their heyday they were seen as kind of low brow, even amongst other hard rock bands. Grand Funk occupies an odd and unfair place in rock history. It doesn't help that their lone comeback album was also bad. They struck while the iron was cold, shattering their reputation. By my count, they put out three bad albums in the span of three years. You might like George Thorogood as a young man up to no good, but unless you lived in the 80s it isn't really your music, it isn't rebellion.įinally: Grand Funk overstayed their welcome. Acts like Steppenwolf and George Thorogood & The Destroyers up through Nickleback have their fans of their time, but I don't think that fame is ever truly cross-generational. 17 year old males want their macho music, not their dad's macho music. Second thing: macho music has a very short shelf life. I don't necessarily think either act truly reaches that level, but it would explain the fleeting popularity of both. In my opinion, there is an idiot savant level of bad lyricism that taps into the American consciousness. They are like Limp Bizkit in that they have best in class musicianship for their era of rock and the dumbest lyrics imaginable. Front to back, there are no profound lyrics in their music at all. As another commenter noted: the lyrics suck. "Inside Looking Out" from Grand Funk (1969) obliterates whatever your favorite classic rock song is. I think they are one of the best rock acts of their generation when they are firing on all cylinders. I am unironically a big fan of Grand Funk Railroad. Critics were never going to be enamored with them, but they played the best songs they knew how to write and did it with excitement and energy. The way my dad explained it made it seem like they were the Nickelback of the time nothing extraordinary, nothing groundbreaking (perhaps during a time with many incredible bands) and appealing to the blue collared working man. Always in sync and always playing off of each other. You also mentioned the powerful rhythm section of Don Brewer and Mel Schacher, which is a highlight as well. Farner's lyricism can be a little hokey ("some folks need an education/don't give up or we'll lose the nation"), but his guitar playing and songwriting is incredibly catchy and hard hitting. Grand Funk definitely gets a weird reputation, but some of their songs are killer, specifically the epic "I'm Your Captain/Closer To Home." Their red album is, in my opinion, filled to the brim with all killer, no filler. They actually performed at a local county fair a couple years ago and I made it a point to see them in his memory. One of my dad's, and then one of my own, favorite bands. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it and can definitely see myself cruising down to highway blasting the album out my windows, but it got me thinking how did these guys seemingly disappear? Am I alone in never really hearing about this band? Do any more serious fans or people who were around back in the 70s have any insights into why this band doesn't seem to be remembered as much as a lot of their contemporaries? There were some pretty kickass guitar riffs, I generally liked all the tunes, and the closing track featured this massive symphony playing with the band that sounded a little over dramatic at points but certainly powerful. The bass and the drums were absolutely thunderous, a lot of the drum fills in particular really caught me off guard. A couple weeks ago, I picked up a copy of E Pluribus Funk on vinyl for 50 cents and I was kinda blown away. They just weren't a band that got talked about by anybody I knew. My dad's a huge classic rock guy and I don't think I ever heard him talk about Grand Funk. When I was growing up, I only ever heard Grand Funk Railroad mentioned by Homer Simpson.
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