Compared to their predecessors - you know, the guys they want to emulate, then presumably eclipse (Cream) - the overall sound is bottom-heavy, dependent from the start on Mel Schacher's "lead bass" and Don Brewer's brawny drum kit, while Mark Farner's guitar is notoriously thin and reedy for a power trio. Songwriting wise, it's all credited to Farner, but you have to wonder how much hinged on manager Terry Knight as well, although he never took public credit, just in the monetary sense. What's interesting here is there is no real funk to speak of - unless the production and instrumental tone counts - and no R&B for that matter, just one gut-bucket rocker and/or power-ballad-ish exercise after another. The only place where the guys really go overboard is - where else - "T.N.U.C.", where Schacher's awesome high-level, frantic bass groove is quite danceable, and then gives way to an extended Brewer drum solo. Most of the time they want to fire their jam guns, but are restrained to 1-2 minutes of craziness at most, like on "Heartbreaker". Knight actually had these guys looking for hit singles, if you can believe it, with "Time Machine" and "High on a Horse", which are OK tracks, but Cream never cared about singles, so why should Grand Funk Railroad? Something about this doesn't quite gel - not even the album title, which presents the band as fresh new blood, but instead, you get the feeling everyone involved knows this is half-speed all the way around. I'm not even sure this is necessary for the progression, but in the very least, you do get to hear the genesis of this whole, crazy GFR thing.
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