Grand Funk Railroad
Caught in the Act

THE REVIEW

"We must give back what we have taken from the Earth".

This is one of the messages sent to us by the Grand Funk Railroad, a band that has written some of the most thrilling pages of American hard rock history. Plunging their hands into the depths of their own Earth, what they have given back to us is pure energy. A raw, almost primitive sound, yet with a devastating impact.

Amps cranked up, scathing guitars, and a tight, overwhelming rhythm section. The melodies created by the fantastic vocal blends emerge like sun rays from this wall of sound. Grand Funk conquers America through their adrenaline-charged and overflowing live shows. Defying the critics, still fogged by the pseudo-intellectual fumes of the psychedelic summer, who describe them as apostles of coarse and vulgar music. Yet the people love them precisely for this, for their distancing from intellectual poses and their sincere naiveté, which raises them as champions of the working class and humanitarian causes.

But theirs is not pointless sonic violence, rather a sort of self-catharsis, a means to channel anger into positive energy. If the previous "Live Album" was the exaltation of that primal sound, the subsequent "Caught in the Act" portrays the band at the peak of their popularity. The power trio had long since become a quartet, with the introduction of keyboardist Craig Frost, and with the latest studio album "All the Girls in the World Beware!!!" they have just taken a turn towards pop-rock that will mark the beginning of their descending parabola.

Despite this necessary premise, the work in question remains for the undersigned the best testimony left by the band. From the pulsating rhythms of "Footstompin' Music" and "Some Kind of Wonderful" to the magnificent anti-militarist anthem "Gimme Shelter". "War is just a shot away". The masterpieces of a career unfold. "I'm your Captain / Closer to Home" is a splendid journey through the seas of emotion, with its many seasons and the beautiful intervention of a mellotron. "Heartbreaker" instead delves into the rhythm'n'blues roots, alternating delicate, poignant moments with bursts of electricity. Electricity that remains the common thread, both in the more successful hits "We're an American Band" and "The Loco-Motion" and in the instrumental orgasms of "Inside Lookin' Out" and "T.N.U.C.". To enhance the value of this album, there are finally two songs often overlooked in live performances, like the self-celebratory "The Railroad" and the wild "Black Licorice", in which Brewer's wild screams are worthy of the best Ian Gillan.

If you're not afraid of the roars of a distorted, relentless bass.

If you think you can withstand the percussive violence of a jackhammer.

If you ultimately believe you can resist even the seismic riffs and the piercing cries of the Indian Mark Farner, then this is the band for you!

"What are all the rock bands today good for if Grand Funk Railroad already existed?" Homer Simpson