Grand Funk-Survival (1971)

With their fourth album, "Survival", Grand Funk reached their popular and commercial peak with a more refined and technically advanced work than their intense and powerful earlier albums, primarily due to its exquisite and elaborate production. After three legendary albums their 1968 debut, "On Time", and the subsequent "Grand Funk" (1969) and "Closer to Home" (1970) the Michigan band was at its zenith, combining blues, psychedelia, boogie rock, and early hard rock with touches of funk and visceral soul, elevating them to the pinnacle of early 1970s rock music. On this fourth release, the band, comprised of Mark Farmer, Mel Schacher, and Don Brewer, enlisted the regular producer Terry Knight. It was recorded in March 1971 and released a month later by Capitol Records. On this album, the band showcases a sophisticated and polished sound that, while lacking the vigor and fury they had displayed up to that point, is also much more accessible and commercially viable. The refined "Country Road" opens the album, demonstrating everything mentioned above, while the psychedelic "All You've Got Is Money" highlights Mark Farmer's lysergic guitar work and his haunting vocals. The seductive "Comfort Me" reveals the group's multifaceted creativity with one of their best compositions. Closing the first side is Traffic's "Feelin' Alright", brilliantly covered here with that hypnotic and addictive touch. Towards the end are the soul rock track "I Want Freedom" and the attractive mid-tempo "I Can Feel Him In The Morning", which are the prelude to the devastating version of The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter", concluding an album that was criticized for its departure from the visceral original proposal of his first works, but with a great reception from his fans and the general public, achieving an extraordinary sixth place on the North American Billboard charts.