Anyone have a preference for ..."Grand Funk" ST. The remaster is not much to my liking. I also own the Cema edition. Maybe the original tapes are terrible to begin with, dunno And my vinyl leaves a lot to be desired......(played the ell' out of it when I was young.) Is there another version out there?
Definitely the original Japanese "Past Master" series CD for the "Red" album. It's worth picking up if you can find one. Ed Hurdle HeavyDistortion
Keep your eye out on ebay. I picked one up shortly after the remasters came out for under 20. I agree the Japanese is the most listenable version out there. The Red Album is never going to sound like Dark Side, but it shouldn't sound like heavily compressed muck either.... steve c
comparing red funks I have the Japanese "Pastmasters" release as well as the new remaster. After some extensive comparison, I would say that the new remaster is slightly cleaner; the vocals especially are cleaner and clearer. But the Pastmasters version seems to have more of a visceral feel - Schacher's bass is badder-sounding, and the vocals seem to be part of the organic whole. On the new remaster the cleaner vocals seem to be slightly "detached" from all the noise being made by instruments. This may be a good thing, or it may serve to skew the sonic memory of this grungy album. I guess it comes down to personal preference. Keep in mind that the differences are not too pronounced, and both sound good. I could be happy with either and not lament the loss of the other, but if I had to choose one I'd keep the Japanese import because of a slight preference for the sound and because of the collectability.
I like the Classic Masters version best. I also have the one remastered by Kevin Reeves and you have to turn your stereo up to 20 to hear it. The Kevin Reeves version has a lot more songs from the early years though. I am a big fan of theirs, but the "fuzz bass" doesn't stand the test of time very well.
This particular CD makes my "top ten" for hifi demos - particularly "Inside Looking Out". Clear, raw, and dynamic, with tremendous bass...plus it has that visceral "one take/live in the studio" quality (don't know if it was or not, though).
I wonder if they'll ever get back together and do some touring? Maybe they could get an all Michigan tour together with Bob Seger, Grand Funk and Ted Nugent. Hell, add ??? & The Mysterians and Mel could get two paychecks!
Japanese "Pastmaster" version is one of the best sounding CDs I own. If your a fan of this LP do yourself a huge favor and find one or if you can't have one burned for you. Not much of a fan of the Remasters except the bonus cuts. Joe
Grand Funk is touring right now but I don't know what the lienup is. The way I knew this is it was advertised that they were playing at the Flamingo Laughlin Nevada in June (This Month). I think it is just Mark Farner and whoever he lined up for a band though but not sure about that. I guess I'll have to do a web search on Grand Funk and see what the deal is. A great band in their heyday . The "Survival" album was always my fave although the latest remaster is not very good really in my opinion. I like the LP better still.
I heard them on the Tonight show a few years ago and they sucked. They had a big horn section with them and sounded like a Las Vegas show band. I was hoping that they were going to get back to the power trio thing and do stuff off the first few albums like Time Machine (my personal favourite) or TNUC.
Grand Funk Lineup Not sure about this, but I think Mark Farner is on his own, billed as "Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad," and the other two started a tour as Grand Funk Railroad. I know the Farner info is accurate, not sure about the latter. I believe Farner is doing some Christian material, as well.
GFR You know what's weird? When I was sixteen this was my favorite band. I loved that red album. I listened to that all the time. I was into Sabbath, Deep Purple, James Gang, Johnny Winter, Hendrix... Definitely the heavier, guitar oriented bands. It wasn't too long though before GFR became about as uncool as a band could get. The rock press used them as an example for everything that was bad about rock and roll. I distinctly remember going into a record store to get their live album and getting the "Are you still listening to that?" look from the clerk. Funny, but GFR became cool again. They went from plodding to raw and dynamic. I guess if you hang in there long enough your cool factor rises. Kind of like survival points. I think Peter Frampton gets the same deal. I mean if you remember the Ozzy that bit off the bats head and pissed on The Alamo can you imagine the Ozzy that is a prime time media darling. Anyway, remember the clerk at the record store with the attitude. He was really into the authentic blues sound of Fleetwood Mac. Wonder what he listens to now? Rhiannon? Peace Norm
I still like the early Grand Funk music. Footstompin Music is one of the best rock and roll singles ever. I put it right up there with Rock & Roll by Led Zep. I just didn't care for much of their stuff after We're An American Band. They were turned into a teeny bopper bubble gum band after that. Of course, they made a fortune doing it and I'm still sitting here in squalor, so what do I know? But I really loved their early music. It's a shame they got screwed so bad financially. By their records sales, they should all be multi millionaires.
I have the "cool price" version of the Japanese import. Is the mastering the same on this and the "past masters" CD?
I happen to agree......I played it the other day for a couple of my son's friends....the look on their faces...both are in a band. Raw...emotional....energic... From Survival..(I do own the Japan version and it's killer) it has the best rendition of Gimme Shelter. At least imho.......Soon after that, I think the band kinda lost its roots...
I think part of it is that no one EXPECTS it to sound that good...after all, it's 33 year old Grand Funk, for cryin' out loud... Another cut that does the trick for me, in the same way, is Led Zep's Good Times Bad Times off the Classic Records vinyl.
Well, this looks like as good a place as any to post a GFR comment... I am of the age that I was listening to GFR when they were a new band. I actually played in a cover band in the 70's that did American Band (Oh, how original....NOT). Anyway, I have some of their stuff on vinyl, but as I lack vinyl playback at the moment, I picked up a Greatest Hits disc on a whim the other night. Its dated 2002, and lists it as a 24 Bit remaster. It has an essay summarizing the history of the band, and the tracks on the disc. SQ thus far is all over the map. I have only listened to about 1/2 the disc, but I was very disappointed in American Band and Walk Like a Man. Very muddy to my ears. But I thought Time Machine, one of the oldest tracks on the disc sounded great; like three guys in a room playing blues (OK, four guys since there is obvioulsly some overdubbed guitar in there). Funny that the liner notes single this track out as sounding "rough". Sounds good to me ears, while AB and WLaM sound way over produced. I found that very humorous since the liner notes go on to praise Todd Rundgren's production work on those cuts. Hummmm. And as for the previous comment on fuzz bass not holding up well, Amen to that. Just take a listen to GFR's cover of Gimme Shelter. For the love of God, someone puhhhhleeeez take Mel's fuzz box away before he hurts someone. I was not expecting sonic miracles for $10, and thus far would say I got what I paid for. A decent collection of all the familiar tracks, and a few others for short money. BGL
OK,we're on a Grand Funk Railroad thread.Always one of my favorite bands.And Mark Farner was REAL nice to me after a show in '92.He signed all my stuff...anyways,since we're all collectors here,could anybody tell me,either way,if ON TIME or 'the Red Album' were ever pressed on the rainbow label.Record club even????
