Lynyrd Skynyrd Thyrty CD

"THYRTY" celebrates the 30th anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album.
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Ronnie Van Zandt (vocals); Ed King (guitar, bass); Gary Rossington, Allen Collins (guitar); Billy Powell (keyboards); Leon Wilkeson (bass); Robert Burns (drums).
Additional personnel includes: Ed King, Jimmy Johnson (guitar); Ronnie Eades (saxophone); Leslie Hawkins, Cassie Gaines, Jo Billingsley (background vocals).
Producers include: Al Kooper, David Johnson, Quin Ivy, Jimmy R. Johnson, Tim Smith.
Compilation producers: Andy McKaie, Ron O'Brien.
Recorded between 1973 & 2003. Includes liner notes by Ron O'Brien.
This one's a tough call in many respects. First, there is the notion of 30 years. Of that time period, only a very short chunk of it produced the tracks listeners consider Lynyrd Skynyrd classics today -- the earliest period when the band was fronted by the late Ronnie Van Zant. Lynyrd Skynyrd may have been influenced by the Allman Brothers with their guitar attack (three and sometimes four guitars would stalk a Skynyrd stage), but rather than try to imitate the Allmans (a blues band that was such a singular entity anyway and can hardly be termed "Southern rock"), they created their own identity as a rock & roll band. It was Skynyrd who invented the Deep South's redneck rock genre, and they spawned so many imitators it became a parody. However, these cats could play and write. Of these two discs, the lion's share of the material is devoted to the original band, whose string of hits is dizzying to consider even today. All of the expected material is here -- from "Free Bird" and "Tuesday's Gone" to "Gimme Back My Bullets," "That Smell," and "Sweet Home Alabama." Also included, for better or worse, is the Lynyrd Skynyrd that carried on some years after Van Zant's death and have been carrying on with Johnny Van Zant fronting the band, looking like a carbon copy of his older brother. This may piss off a lot of purists, but it needn't -- as this material is solid, rocking, and drenched in blues, if lacking originality a bit in the writing department. Fans of the band already have what they need and this is no prize on that level in any way. Newcomers may be tempted by the price point, but would do better with All Time Greatest Hits as a proper introduction. ~ Thom Jurek
Although it's easy for the hip intelligentsia to dismiss Lynyrd Skynyrd as no more than a hick Southern rock band, the fact remains that their canon is as worthy of critical praise as that of fellow Southerners, the Allman Brothers Band. The two-disc THYRTY commemorates this Florida outfit's 30th anniversary by revisiting their impressive musical legacy even as the band continues creating new music. Led by the fiery Ronnie Van Zandt and a three-guitar attack that essentially defined the Southern rock sound, Skynyrd has penned songs that manage to decry their Southern pride while chastising Neil Young ("Sweet Home Alabama"), give props to their record label ("Workin' For MCA"), and cast a dark light on the specter of drug abuse ("That Smell"). Also represented on this anthology is the band's equally potent in-concert talents as revealed by soaring versions of "Simple Man" and "Comin' Home." Although Lynyrd Skynyrd could be swaggering Southerners, some of the band's best moments come across on lighter, jauntier fare like their sprightly cover of J.J. Cale's "Call Me the Breeze" and late guitarist Steve Gaines' equally catchy "I Know a Little."