Production Grand 2

Grand Funk Railroad continued to move further into the pop/rock mainstream with this hit album. They are aided considerably in this aim by the ultra-slick production of Jimmy Ienner, a producer best known for his work with the Raspberries: songs like "Runnin'" and "Memories" boast rich yet punchy horn and string arrangements that beef up the group's sound without softening its energetic edge. The album's combination of high-gloss production and the band's energy resulted in some impressive hits: "Some Kind of Wonderful" is an exuberant, organ-drenched soul song that highlight's the group's strong harmonies while "Bad Time" mixes a delicate, string-laden melody with a pulsing beat from the rhythm section to create a one-of-a-kind power ballad.

Rising like a Phoenix, which was the title of one of their previous albums, perhaps Mark Farner is sending a subliminal message with opening track "Good Times" that his "Bad Time" is over? The song "Testify," track three, sums up this very good album from Mark Farner, Don Brewer, and bassist Dennis Bellinger replacing the MIA Mel Schacher. It's a hooky rock tune with Farner's religious overtones. All these tracks are strong, from "Can't Be With You Tonight" to the glorious ending of "Wait for Me."

Since Phil Lynott's Grand Slam never issued an album during their brief career, some assume that the group never saw the inside of a recording studio. But as proven by the double-disc set, Studio Sessions, this assumption is false. Compiled from tapes from the group's keyboardist, Mark Stanway, Grand Slam saw Lynott attempting to update Thin Lizzy's guitar-driven hard rockin' style, with more of an emphasis on keyboards/electronics and pop melodicism. Several of these tracks would later appear elsewhere (on recordings by Lizzy alumni Gary Moore and a Lynott solo single), but it was with Grand Slam that Lynott first tried out such tunes as "Nineteen" and "Military Man," both included here in their original form.