Grand Funk Railroad

Closer to Home was Grand Funk's fourth album and helped break them on a larger commercial scale bypassing their heavier, but less-melodic, early stuff. With no less than eight albums released between 1969 and 1973, the band succeeded despite widespread critical disdain and sluggish radio airplay. "I'm Your Captain" is the one they still play on the radio, but you don't want to miss the fuzz-drenched "Sin's A Good Man's Brother" or the totally awesome "Aimless Lady."

You cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad. And
you cannot talk about Grand Funk without talking about the hate: how critics pissed on
them from an arrogant height. I saw Grand Funk very early on, playing for flies in
Philadelphia in December 1969, and I heard in their panzer-trio brio what the snobs did not.
Born in Flint, Michigan, of the same local, white-R&B lineage as Bob Seger and Mitc... More >

What's happening to me? Maybe it's that damned billboard. Or maybe I'm beginning to appreciate--I said appreciate--their straight-ahead celebration of beat, amplification, and youthful camaraderie. After all, rock and roll has always been loud, and its rhythms have always been described as "heavy." And at least Mark Farner doesn't pretend to bluesmanship. (Grade - C+)