"Classic Funk" !!

Grand Funk Lives !! A spectacular album indeed. I recieved a promotional copy of this on Lp back in 81 from a musician friend who got it as a freebie from a local radio Dj. Just one listen is all it took. I was hooked on Grand Funk again. In my oppinion the last good Funk album was Good Playin-Good Singin so I was a bit skeptical. I own more than 600 music Cd's and out of that, are at least 150 that I consider to be my all time favorites. Grand Funk Lives-- is an all time favorite.

This time around they record without Mel Schacher on bass. "But" lets face it, as good as Mel is, he is not Grand Funk. Mark Farner and Don Brewer are Grand Funk Railroad. Due in large part to there powerful soulful vocals. This is a very worthwhile effort and should be appreciated by all GFR fans. Virtually no support was given towards the promotion of this album and what a shame. It really is that Good !! I have always been a fan of Rock n Roll trio bands and this is no exception. Newcomer Dennis Benninger provides his unique soulful laid back style of bass playing. Every song spotlights that traditional GFR writing style. Song favorites of mine are:

"Good Times"-- the title track. Will hit you hard and heavy. The guitar and bass riff added with Don's funky foot work really captures your attention and from that piont on it only gets better.

"Queen Bee"-- up tempo fast Rocker with those trademark harmony's between Mark and Don.

"Cant Be With You Tonight"-- a slow tune with a somewhat sad message. The spotlight here are the vocals and the bass and drums which are very tight.

"No Reason Why"-- another heavy hit with Powerfull vocals.Fast and furious. A very syncopated choppy feel going on thanks to Mark's guitar work and Don's excellent drumming.

"We Gotta Get Outta This Place"-- an old classic cover song brought back in all it's glory. GFR should do more cover songs like this. They are quite good at it.

"Greed Of Man"-- a strong song with a strong message.A warning to us all about the pitfalls of greed. The spotlight is the fine drumming. Alot is happening between the instruments and once again you can hear those quality vocal harmonys. Geed Of Man is a Heavy handed Rocker in true GFR fashion.

Last but certainly not least is the beautiful song "Wait For Me"-- this song is Mark's way of telling us about God's love for us !! His spiritual message really shines through. All we have to do is listen with our hearts. The main focus of this tune is of course the vocals and the message it brings. A very dynamic song with what sounds like a full vocal choir towards the end as the song fades out.

A Great Cd !! It is recorded well and sounds good on any type of stereo equipment. It offers 10 solid tracks of GFR. Five hard Rockers, a couple of ballads and some middle of the road mixed in as well. It appears as if no one has done a review of this Great cd in some time and I am Happy to bring it to everyone's attention again. It really is That Good !!!! Check It Out !!!!

Decent effort

There's not a whole lot to be said about the pair of albums the resuscitated Grand Funk Railroad issued in the '80's. So little, in fact, that I don't believe they were even mentioned in the recent VH1 show on the band. But they're not as bad as all that. They are both ok, although I would give this first reunion effort the edge over the somewhat more dull follow-up. Why? For one thing, the material, while not exactly better, is pretty engaging for boogie-fried hard rock and the band seems at least serious about flexing some muscle on it. Thats probably all it boils down to; it does seem as though they cared, which isn't entirely evident on "What Funk?" There's one song that some will know, 'Queen Bee', which was featured on the "Heavy Metal" soundtrack. But the best track here is their raucous cover of the old Animals classic 'We Gotta Get Out Of This Place'. Otherwise, there's really not a whole lot to say. The Railroad is chugging along, all right, but this trip wasn't destined to pick up many passengers.

Good Funk

Grand funk lives is NOT a LIVE album neither a traditional Grand Funk album.The songs on this album are much shorter than on the classics GF albums, a lot less funky or soul leaning more towards a classic heavy metal repertoire.
This probably won't please a lot of GF fans, but still LIVES is good rockin' album.The sound and the production are good especially for a record made in the 80's when a lot of productions suffered from an overdose of keyboards or drum-machines.
It is clear that this album won't(didn't)change the face of the earth but it sure didn't stop the world from going round.
Short songs, straight to the point but also a very short album (around 30 minutes).
LIVES is not a priority, I wouldn't start my G.F. collection with that one, but its much more inspired, exciting than the previous Good singin' good playin' or especially the following What's funk?