Caught in the Act

this album,GFR`s second live, climbed into the top 20 in the U.S before we in the U.K knew it was out , could be described as their greatest live toons at the time. masters of their field a rock band recorded on the All the girls in the world beware tour with new member craig on keyboards,Nothing here from the wembley arena gig which I was very lucky to attend! and its a shame they never did Stop looking back from Were an American band, my Fav track, a very good live album BUT not as good as the Live 71 album!

Great band,terrific live album

I'd forgotten how good this was

Great!

Briiliant!!

In 1975 this band was one of the worlds hottest! They would collapse (drus, arguments) soon afterward in 1977 only two years later. They would never rise to this level again and now have been on the oldies circuit for decades. But if they had kept to the path they were on they could have stayed at the top for many years after this one. On this one however we hear them tear it apart in a blistering conert filled with hits sung and played well. They do everything right here and at this point everyone assumed that they were gonna stay up in the stratosphere. They thought so too and this concert is a testament to that. Every song just rocks here and they were burning it down totally.

In August 1975 GFR put their 2nd live collection out into the world.Distinctly different from the 'Live Album', 'Caught In the Act' neatly combines the original heavy, rock style with the commercial, less indulgent GFR recordings in their revised approach.Footstompin' Music kicks off with great bass pumpin' drive and enthusiasm.Rock'n'Roll Soul is a party track delivered in an up-tempo style. Excellent.Closer To Home is a long, moody track with some good changes and a tight performance by the band.Next up is Heart Breaker which is remarkably true to the original version - guitars, melodramatic and right on the money.Some Kind of Wonderful is party time. A real crowd pleaser with a great, simple, punchy bass backed beat. A sparse arrangement and a towering, almost aggressive Don Brewer vocal that hits the spot. Right on. Right up there.Shinin' On is a bit of a mish mash that doesn't really sparkle.The Locomotion doesn't do it for me. A heavy, plodding arrangement. Doh!Black Licorice is hi-energy, fast, up-tempo piece with a bit of a vocal shriek fest thrown in.The Railroad is the killer. When the guitar intro quietly rolls in and the Mark Farner vocal strikes up - it's game on. A real gem.We're An American Band continues the high and takes the crowd along with ease. Good singin' and good playin'. Everything is now well and truly in the groove.T.N.U.C. refers to their rock roots and kicks it up some more. Farner is on fine form with the band strolling effortlessly round this epic track.Inside Looking Out is still unbeatable. Although the all out rock, over the top aspect has been diluted a little, it's still the place where GF were always meant to be.Gimme Shelter is a strange finish. Doesn't quite float my boat - it just seems a little out of place to me.Best tracks : Some Kind of Wonderful, The Railroad, T.N.U.C, Inside Looking OutBest left alone : The Locomotion, Gimme shelter5 years on from the Live Album and they've still got it. Not entirely but still well up for it.

Ein schlicht "Live album" betiteltes Werk war 1970 die erste Konzertaufnahme der amerikanischen Rock-Band Grand Funk Railroad. Die einstmals lauteste Truppe der Welt war darauf noch in Trio-Besetzung zu hören. Mark Farner (g, voc), Don Brewer (dr, voc) und Mel Schacher (bg) agierten auf der Scheibe roh, zügellos und ungeschliffen. Dieser Mitschnitt dokumentiert die Band energiegeladen und voller jugendlichem Elan in ihrer Frühphase. Das Live-Opus "Caught in the act" ist fünf Jahre später entstanden. Hier zeigt sich die Band deutlich gereifter. Die ungezügelte Energie, die die Musik der Jungs in ihrer Frühpase auszeichnete, ist darauf einem geschmeidigeren und Elemente der Soul- und Rhythm & Blues-Musik integrierenden Stil gewichen. Gleichwohl strahlt die Performance der Jungs auch auf diesem Album die gleiche Power aus wie auf ihrem Live-Debüt. Sie haben nichts an Saft und Kraft verloren, wissen ihre Energie aber gezielter einzusetzen. Als eine wirkliche Bereicherung für den Band-Sound stellt sich dabei die Aufnahme von Keyboarder Craig Frost in die Combo heraus. Mit seinen Künsten auf der Hammond-Orgel gestaltet er die Songs von Grand Funk Railroad vielseitiger, ja kitzelt aus ihnen ganz neue Facetten heraus. Bereits angesprochen habe ich die Integration schwarzer Musikelemente ins Repertoire der Band. Dies drückt sich auch in der Mitwirkung der Funkettes, zweier souliger Backgroundsängerinnen, aus. Als ein Musterbeispiel für diesen R&B-Einfluß auf das Schaffen der Band kann der alte Soul-Klassiker "Some kind of wonderful" gelten. Toll wie die Jungs hier ihre ureigene Rock-Power mit eingängigen Soul-Harmonien verbinden. Neben fulminanten Versionen ihrer eigenen Schlachtrösser wie "Heartbreaker", "Shinin' on", "We're an American band" oder "Closer to home" zeigt das Quartett neben "Some kind of wonderful" zudem seine Stärke bei weiteren Coversongs. Über Little Eva's Oldie "The locomotion" läßt sich dabei trefflich streiten. Wer das Original kennt, weiß die Interpretation von Farner und Co. jedoch zu schätzen. Geradezu grandios klingen aber das bereits auf dem "Live album" vertretene "Inside looking out" von Eric Burdon und der Rolling Stones-Song "Gimme shelter". Letzteren kann ich nicht oft genug hören. Schließlich muß man noch die für das Remastering der Scheibe Verantwortlichen loben. Der warme und differenzierte Sound, den sie den Bändern entlockt haben, läßt die Feinheiten im Grand Funk Song-Katalog erst richtig zur Geltung kommen. Was bleibt mir nun noch zu sagen? Ich überlasse Steve Roeser das letzte Wort. Er schreibt in seinen Linernotes zur CD: " .. the recordings they captured of Grand Funk on their 1975 tour measure up to the best rock 'n' roll concert albums of that era". Dieser Einschätzung schließe ich mich voll und ganz an.

Un live eccezionale come versioni e come qualita. Ho scoperto cosi questa brillante hard rock band, la risposta americana allo strapotere del rock inglese negli anni 70. Meno dark dei cugini britannici ma piu brillante e varia, con un sound che va dal surf rock all'hard rock con soul, funk ed elementi protodisco molto pop, ma semore dentro un vortice di grande energia. Recuperatevi almeno i loro primi 2/3 dischi

Grand Funk were a great band, end of story. If you saw them live during the seventies, you will not be disappointed by this disc. These are great performances and the remaster appears to be well done. The fade out and in of I'm Your Captain on the vinyl never bothered me but apparently some purists disliked it. It's fixed here and interesting to hear how the band moved from one tune to another. Mark Farner and Don Brewer are both great singers and you can really hear it here. Mel Schacher is one of the most overlooked bass players of his time and his playing is worth the price of the CD alone. These guys were hit makers and even if you're a casual fan, I think you'll like this collection.

Habe dieses Album von Grand Funk Railroad 1978 als Erstauflage bekommen und seid her mindestens 100 mal gehört, es ist ein echter Hammer was die Jungs da ab geliefert hatten. Die wirklichen Ohrwürmer sind darauf enthalten. Anhören und jeder wird verstehen ohne lange zu schreiben was ich meine und wenn nicht dann lieber eine andere Richtung einschlagen.

Die wohl besten live Mitschnitte der 'lautesten Band der Welt'-super