Grand Funk Railroad

Grand Funk Railroad released their first two albums in August and December 1969, respectively. This one features uptempo songs on the A side and longer, slower, heavier ones on the flip, a choice Black Flag’s My War and Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual de lo Habitual would emulate in subsequent decades. The bare-bones mix allows every instrument and element to be heard clearly, even when they’re pounding riffs into the listener’s skull like a jackhammer, and the sprawling jams (“Paranoid,” “Inside Looking Out”) are almost anti-progressive, sticking to caveman grooves and simple lead lines that almost anyone in their then rapidly growing audience could imagine themselves playing.