Grin: All Out

A ridiculously easy winner in 1971's "most promising" category was Grin, fronted by Nils Lofgeren, whose credentials were a matter of public record long before he debuted with his own band. At that time, they'd released two albums – Grin, an erratic opener that had flashes of excitement, and 1+1 with a flawless rockin' side and a soft side that came close to matching it. Grin seemed to be one of the few bands worth taking the time to get excited about. While All Out isn't the blind leap into uncontested greatness that faithful Lofgren-watchers might secretly have hoped for, it runs most of the current competition ragged enough to insure that Grin will be a mighty hard band to overlook in 1973.