Grand Funk Railroad - Phoenix (1972)

No, I'm not a Grand Funk fan yet, not by a long shot. But the group is getting better, and even the recent management hassles it has been going through have not dampened the gradual improvement in its musicality.
True enough, much of the space here is devoted to the kind of heavy-bottomed, simple-minded interpretation of the music of earlier, better groups (like Cream and the Rolling Stones) that has been the sum and substance of earlier Grand Funk outings. But there are also a few pleasant moments of acoustic gentleness, some good harmonica playing from Mark Farner, and the beginning of a feeling for textures in Don Brewer's drumming.
Not a lot to brag about, and for all the Grand Funk fans who are dashing to their typewriters at this very moment to send me the usual murder threats, it really won't make much difference. For those folks, the hotly-hyped trio can do no wrong. But for this listener, one step up may be a small one, but it's one worth making, and worth noting as well, nonetheless.
(Don Heckman, Stereo Review, 1/73)

Grand Funk have by now attained an almost permanent place in rock's hierarchy. They have legions of devoted, ready followers at every performance and lining up to buy their every album. Disappointing no one, and perhaps surprising a few, is the actual musicaI intelligence that is apparent on most of this album. Utilization of the wizardry of Doug Kershaw is an unexpected delight. The single "Rock 'n' Roll Soul" included.
(Billboard, 1972.)

If nothing else, this latest Grand Funk offering should be given an award for best biographical album of the year.
Whether Funk, like the Phoenix, will be able to soar from its ashes or have to crawl for a time looking for a take-off area, will be determined by future albums, not this one. Which is not to say this is a bad album. It is, to date, their best.
The most important differences in the group, and the music, are the addition of Craig Frost as permanent keyboard player and the elimination of an outside producer.
As passe as the organ may be as a viable instrument in contemporary music, Frost fills dozens of holes that have long been notorious in Funk arrangements. Not all of them, mind you, just some. Mark Farner also does a little over-zealous organ work on "Flight Of The Phoenix," an otherwise good-timey piece, neatly accentuated by Doug Kershaw's electric fiddle.
There is a certain looseness to this album that is perhaps created through the knowledge that the project belongs to Grand Funk alone. Farner, Brewer & Schacher brought it through composition to production and they are obviously pleased with themselves. No need thinking that material is totally different than what has gone before. The teeth-grinding guitar and drum solos still dominate, but they are softened slightly by Funk's much-improved harmony.
Phoenix is, by no means, a great album. It is, however, good enough to warrant the attention of all of us who previously ignored the name Grand Funk. If this is an indication of what we can expect from now on, we may even get to like them.
(Pat Baird, Words & Music, 1/73.)