Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991

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Lynyrd Skynyrd

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Andy Gill, the official critic above, is obviously not a fan of either Skynyrd or southern rock. Skynyrd are often misunderstood and easily dismissed due to the corner they have been painted into by the ubiquitousness of "Free Bird" and a few of their other hits. But to any healthy rock fan who listens to one of their albums, it will be obvious that someone who believes "Street Survivors" is a "rotten LP" has no business being a professional music critic. There's just no question these guys are worthy of a retrospective of this size, and they fill it out sensationally. This is obviously not the first Skynyrd purchase one should make (I don't think any box set is a wise first buy), but for those who are already aware of the amazing strength and consistency of this band's catalogue, I say buy this set immediately. "Junkie" and "He's Alive" on disc 1 are truly amazing songs that I haven't heard elsewhere. In addition, the demos of previously released tracks offer well-chosen peaks into the band's creative process that I enjoy listening to as much as the finished versions. Fantastic booklet, too, with informative writing and great pics.

The Lynyrd Skynyrd box set suffers from the schizophrenia many box sets do - it doesn't know whether to cater to the serious or casual fan. It contains lots of hits that all serious fans already have, but it leaves off several key tracks in favor of "alternate takes" or "demos" that pale in comparison the fiery released versions. If you are a true fanatic, go ahead. If you are a more casual fan, get the band's first five albums (all recently remastered), "Pronounced", "Second", "Nuthin'", "Gimme", and "Street". These five discs by the original band show Skynyrd not to be the hick boogie band of popular lore (Freeeee Biirrd!), but instead a group of talented musicians with an original and - yes - southern point of view. Not that there's anything wrong with that... By the way, most of the other "best of" CDs suffer from the same problem as the box.