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Editorial Reviews

Grand Funk Railroad took longer than usual to make their fifth album, Survival, in early 1971, but when they came to make their sixth, E Pluribus Funk, that September, they spent less than a week at the effort. The rush shows. The album, made by a band by now popular enough to sell out Shea Stadium (depicted on the back of the album, its cover designed to look like a silver coin), consisted of a series of simple rock tunes with lyrics devoted to the joys of music itself ("Footstompin' Music"), social concerns generically expressed ("People, Let's Stop the War," "Save the Land"), and claims of romantic betrayal ("Upsetter," "No Lies"). Lead singer Mark Farner wailed in his limited tenor, joined in unison by drummer Don Brewer, and the rhythm section played in plodding lockstep. Farner added guitar and organ parts that emphasized the simplicity and repetitiveness of the musical patterns. "Loneliness," the concluding track, made a failed attempt at grandeur by adding a symphony orchestra. Six albums in, Grand Funk was still primarily a live band, able to achieve intensity, but with little sense of the varying dynamics and musical textures that might make a studio album interesting to listen to beyond being a souvenir of their live show. The 2002 reissue appropriately adds material from the 1971 tour that preceded the recording, including an extended medley of songs from the Closer to Home album -- "I'm Your Captain," "Closer to Home," "Hooked on Love," and "Get It Together" -- recorded April 27, 1971, in Dayton, OH -- and an instrumental jam, "Mark Says It's Alright," from an April 29, 1971, show in Detroit. This material, more than the studio tracks, gives a sense of what fans found appealing about Grand Funk Railroad at the time. William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

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