Endangered Species

by

Lynyrd Skynyrd

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Released in 1994, Endangered Species is Lynyrd Skynyrd's response to the "unplugged" phenomenon, featuring all acoustic instruments. Typically, Skynyrd delivers the goods, and this is a great disc!! While it has a couple of their hits ("Sweet Home Alabama", "Saturday Night Special" & "I Ain't The One"), it also has a strong collection of lesser known songs ("Down South Jukin", "Things Goin' On", "Am I Losin'", "Poison Whiskey"), as well as "The Last Rebel", from the post-crash version of the band. All of these are great, especially Sweet Home Alabama. The acoustic versions have a wonderful "laid back" feel, like your hanging out while the guys jam. The guitar playing is predictably strong, there's some great slide guitar or dobro on a couple of songs.

The best part, though, is the 5 new songs. "Devil In The Bottle", is worth the price of the CD, up there among my favorite Skynyrd songs. "All I have is a Song", "Good Luck, Bad Luck" and "Hillbilly Blues" are all top-notch. There's also a cover of "Heatbreak Hotel", with a bluesy feel.

From a personel standpoint, there's 4 of the original members: guitarists Gary Rossington and Ed King, bassist Leon Wilkerson, and, of course, Billy Powell on the piano. Johnny Van Zant continues to fill brother Ronnie's shoes as vocalist, as he has on all of the post-crash Skynyrd efforts. Also on guitar is Mike Estes, and Owen Hale plays drums.

This disc is a must-have for any Skynyrd fan!!