"XXX" and the album in general practically vomits disaffected bile through your speakers. Plus, it's hard to call near half of these tracks' actual songs, while bandleader Mary Timony appears to be on a demented mission to deconstruct her guitar and make her vocals as flat as possible. The overall tone is downright nasty, but at least it's distinguishable.
Quite the rarity among classic rock acts, Grand Funk released not one, but two live albums during their prime run, and the second is quite different from the first. Not only have they expanded to include Frost and their very own crop of female background singers (dubbed "The Funkettes"), but it's clear from the choice of material and presentation that their days as heavy rock power-trio arena bulldozers were long gone. Surprisingly, many a review I have read praise the album as essential, but I go a bit in the other direction, because for me, this is GFR gone Vegas variety show. A similar transformation took place with Humble Pie's live performances post-Peter Frampton. So, much like the studio efforts from the same general period, the results make for entertaining listening, but the old grit and soul is just not there. Some minor surprises - Brewer's vocals are even stronger in a live setting, the version of "Gimme Shelter" is better than expected, "Shinin' On" is so good you wish they had doubled or tripled it, and on the average, the performances are reasonably done. Still, I can't help but view this as a minor sidelight in the GFR pop era, before the whole thing truly started running out of steam.
The first of two records produced by Todd Rundgren, and the band transitions to more of a pop sound. It's a welcome change compared to the Farner-isms they were wallowing in at the end of their tenure with Knight. The tactic garnered them some surefire hits (the title track, "Walk Like a Man"), but overall, there's a trade-off between glam and substance.
