Mark Farner – Closer to My Home

Throughout a lifetime of following Mark Farner, the voice, guitar, and pen behind Grand Funk Railroad’s most prolific work, I’ve been teased with bits and pieces of new music from this classic rock icon. There’s been the sporadic single/music video, as well as live performances of jams like “Hoochie Mama”. The prospect of a new Farner full length came that much closer to reality with the release of 2021’s From Chile with Love, which featured five new songs as bonus tracks. A few short years later and here we are, face to face with Farner’s first full length album in nearly two decades, Closer to My Home.

The album title is no coincidence. Besides referencing GFR’s 1970 anthem, which receives the rerecording treatment on this affair, Closer to My Home is an introspective look back on over half a century of life, love, and hard rocking ways. That said, it doesn’t nearly come off as much of a musical epitaph as the latter day output from Farner’s peers, Ozzy Osbourne, Dennis DeYoung, and Alan Parsons do. Farner’s got way too much gas in the tank to wistfully reflect upon being in his sunset years, eager to keep on tearing up stages and melting off faces until the man upstairs calls him home.

The Captain immediately captivates with a tale of soulful liberation on the opening “Anymore”. Touching on both his spiritual rebirth and the unfortunate split from his ex-bandmates, it sets the stage for an album that’s compellingly introspective, but without being overbearing. The old school ’70s rock n’ roll spirit screams through cuts like the swaggering “The Prisoner”, as well as the breathtakingly atmospheric “Facade”, which I found to be rather exotic and unpredictable compared to his usual straightforward rock attack. Speaking of being unpredictable, the crushingly defiant “Same Game” sees Farner dip his toes into, wait for it, groove metal. I’m not joking. The riffs on this one sound straight off a Pantera or Alice in Chains album cut, albeit with a Grand Funk twist.

The anti-establishment spirit that has fueled Farner from day one exudes on cuts like the upbeat and cleverly titled “Surveilling US”, as well as the heavy rockin’ riff barrage that is “Real”, the latter sounding straight off Closer to Home. Contrasting these no frills rockers are equally compelling ballads, which see Farner tap deep into his soul. For a man with a knack for penning some of the greatest ballads in rock history (“Bad Time”, “Mean Mistreater”, “Heartbreaker”, etc.), the legacy continues with cuts like “Oh Darlin'” and “Tiny Fingers”. The aforementioned rerecording of GFR’s “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” brings it all home, pun fully intended. I usually don’t care for rerecordings, but Farner nails the spirit of the original as ONLY he can.

While I don’t intend to make this closing paragraph another Mark vs. Mel and Don argument (besides, as the song goes, Mark’s not angry with them anymore), as there are enough of those littering the internet to last a lifetime, here’s some food for thought. In the 26 years since Farner’s unceremonious dismissal from the very band he formed and fronted, GFR have not released a single piece of new music, not even a single. Meanwhile, Farner continues to play like he’s got something to prove, dominating the concert scene and treating his fans with new rockers to crank on their stereo, albeit at his own pace. That, my friends, is what “Rock ‘N Roll Soul” is all about.

7 out of 10

Label: Independent

Genre: Hard Rock

For fans of: Grand Funk Railroad, Ted Nugent, Blue Öyster Cult