Grand Funk-Shinin' On (1974)

By the time Grand Funk released "Shinin' On", their creative and commercial decline was more than evident, despite continuing to produce quality albums that nevertheless lacked the musical excitement and energy they had displayed on their first seven records. With production by the iconic Todd Rundgren, the band led by Mark Farmer ended up getting lost in more commercial musical meanderings, without the risk or energy of their initial output. Even so, the instrumentation remained impeccable, as is evident in tracks like the title track, the hypnotic "Carry Me Through", the exhilarating "Please Me" and "Gettin' Over You", and the hard blues rock "Little Johnny Hooker". However, songs like the less successful "To Get Back In", the mediocre pop-rock version of the classic "The Loco Motion", and the predictable bluesy "Mr. Pretty Boy" show that, in a way, the group was beginning to rest on its laurels.