Live Album (Grand Funk Railroad album)

Live Album is the first live album by American hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad, originally released by Capitol Records on November 16, 1970.[1] The first single released from the album, "Mean Mistreater", was released on November 23 and the second, "Inside Looking Out", was released in January 1971.

Live Album
Live album by
Grand Funk Railroad
ReleasedNovember 16, 1970 (1970-11-16)[1]
RecordedJune 23–25, 1970
VenueFlorida
GenreHard rock[2]
Length76:42
LabelCapitol
ProducerTerry Knight
Grand Funk Railroad chronology
Closer to Home
(1970)		 Live Album
(1970)		 Survival
(1971)
Singles from Live Album
  1. "Mean Mistreater"/"Mark Say's Alright"
    Released: November 23, 1970
  2. "Inside-Looking Out"/"Paranoid"
    Released: January 1971
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Record GuideC–[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

The album was originally released as a double album on the LP format. Subsequent reissues of the album on the compact disc format have been both double and single disc sets.

Recording, production, and artwork

The album's gatefold cover depicts a photograph of the band at the Atlanta International Pop Festival during the weekend of the 4th of July 1970, but none of the music was actually recorded there. According to the liner notes on the 2002 CD reissue, the album was recorded at the Jacksonville Coliseum on June 23, 1970 with the exception of "Paranoid" and "Inside Looking Out" which were recorded at the West Palm Beach Civic Auditorium on June 24, 1970. "Heartbreaker" is listed as being recorded at 'either Jacksonville or West Palm Beach'. A further three tracks ("In Need", "Heartbreaker" and "Mean Mistreater") from The Orlando Sports Center on June 25, 1970 are included as bonus tracks on the Closer to Home 2002 CD.

Reception

Upon the album's release, Live Album was panned by the critics, while becoming commercially successful.

Critical

The reception of Live Album by music critics upon the album's release were unfavorable. A modern review of the album by James Chrispell for AllMusic stated the opinion that people either loved or hated the album. Chrispell also gave the opinion that Grand Funk Railroad were the most popular live act of their time and said that the concerts were powerful.[2]

Commercial and sales

Despite the massive dislike of the album by music critics, Live Album became very successful in the United States, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and crossed over to the R&B Albums chart at No. 17—the band's only album to do so.[5] The album was so successful that it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America a week after its release and was eventually certified 2x multi-platinum in 1991.[1] Live Album also became the group's first and only release to make the top 40 on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No. 29.[6] Side two, in particular, featured their two strongest airplay cuts "Heartbreaker" and "Inside-Looking Out". The barely hidden drug references on "Inside-Looking Out" may have not won them favor at Top 40, but, it proved perfect for the new burgeoning FM band where the group also probably benefited from, oddly enough, R&B play taking the album to a prideful No. 17 on that chart.

Track listing

"Introduction" and "Words of Wisdom" are spoken-word tracks; consequently, original pressings of Live Album did not list author credits for these tracks. All other tracks are by Mark Farner, except where noted.

Side one
  1. "Introduction" – 2:30
  2. "Are You Ready" – 3:34
  3. "Paranoid" – 6:20
  4. "In Need" – 9:50
Side two
  1. "Heartbreaker" – 6:58
  2. "Inside Looking Out" (John Lomax, Alan Lomax, Eric Burdon, Bryan "Chas" Chandler) – 12:22
Side three
  1. "Words of Wisdom" – 0:55
  2. "Mean Mistreater" – 4:40
  3. "Mark Says Alright" (Farner, Don Brewer, Mel Schacher) – 5:10
  4. "T.N.U.C." – 11:45
Side four
  1. "Into the Sun" – 12:10

CD reissue

On the CD reissue, the order of the songs has been re-sequenced to reflect the order of performance used in the band's 1970 concerts:[7]

  1. "Introduction" – 2:27
  2. "Are You Ready" – 3:39
  3. "Paranoid" – 7:20
  4. "In Need" – 10:58
  5. "Heartbreaker" – 7:10
  6. "Words of Wisdom" – 0:52
  7. "Mean Mistreater" – 4:53
  8. "Mark Say's Alright" – 5:14
  9. "T.N.U.C." – 10:54
  10. "Inside Looking Out" – 13:43
  11. "Into the Sun" – 11:24

Charts
Chart (1970) Peak
position
Canadian Top Albums[8] 5
US Billboard 200[5] 5
Chart (1971) Peak
position
Australian Top 20 Albums[9] 15
UK Albums Chart[6] 29
US R&B Albums[5] 17

References
  1. "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database" (PHP). Recording Industry Association of America.
  2. Chrispell, James. "Review: Live Album by Grand Funk Railroad". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: G". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 24, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 12, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Grand Funk Railroad: Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  6. "Artist Chart History: Grand Funk". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  7. Roeser, Steve (2002). Live Album (liner notes) (CD booklet). Grand Funk Railroad. Capitol Records, Inc. p. 9.
  8. "100 Albums". RPM. 14 (19). December 26, 1970. ISSN 0315-5994. Archived from the original (PHP) on October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  9. Nimmervoll, Ed (October 2, 1971). "Top 20 Albums". Go-Set. 6 (39). Archived from the original on March 29, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
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