Live Album 1970 Album

Grand Funk

This 75-minute-plus document is a ham-fisted testament to the band's prodigious amounts of energy, stamina, and absolute lack of subtlety and finesse. I can only imagine what the crowd - or the band - smelled like, just from a sheer sweat perspective, never mind the scent of other bodily fluids and illicit substances. I am not saying this to insult the band, or fans of the band, or anything of the sort. I am simply stating this because I really believe you need to be in a similar state of mind to properly enjoy Live Album. Whatever Farner and crew laid down on their previous studio records, pales in comparison in this setting, from an energy perspective. From the start of "Are You Ready", you get the drift - the studio confined them, and now they can really let loose, and to hell with all that nonsense if you have a problem with it. About the only problem I have with the approach is the boys only know one speed, and when you know nothing else, after a while it becomes predictable. Even the midsection of "Mean Mistreater" is over-driven all to heck. So, there it is. Live Album. A real head smasher.