Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd

One of the BEST AMERICAN bands EVER!!

I'm southern and this music speaks to my soul, always has. I grew up on this stuff. I love these boys and I miss them terribly. I still LOVE Gary and Billy, who are with the new "Skynyrd", but I don't think anyone would disagree that we lost the real Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977.
"Pronounced" is their first album and it has that feel from the road, playing gigs all over the country, driving miles and miles. You can hear that they live what they play.
I hope you will buy this album, kick back with a beer (or a coke a cola), turn it up loud and get to know these extrordinary musicians.
I love RVZ 4ever!!!! May 30, 2008

Skynyrd's finest studio album

Okay, so this isn't Dylan or the Beatles, but it sure is fun.
Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album isn't just "the one with 'Free Bird' on it", it's much more than that, one of the original group's best efforts, and quite possibly the best one of the lot. It mixes heartfelt ballads, country, swaggering riff-rockers, and the delightfully silly down-home boogie-rock of "Gimme Three Steps" and "I Ain't The One".

I do prefer the slightly tougher (and string-less) live rendition of "Tuesday's Gone" from the "One More From The Road" album, but this one is no throwayay either. And you can't help but love the aforementioned "Gimme Three Steps" and "I Ain't The One", a wonderful blend of self-deprecating lyrics and gritty guitar riffs.
The stately slow rock number "Simple Man" is not one of Skynyrd's best-known songs, but it's certainly one of their best, and it showcases what a talented vocalist the late Ronnie van Zant really was. And the rollicking country-rock bounce of "Things Goin' On" makes you want to jerk your shoulders up and down while pushing out your lower lip. (Seriously.)

Skynyrd also try their hand at an acoustic country blues pastiche, "Mississippi Kid", and with plenty of succes at that.
"Poison Whiskey" is probably the most sincere hard rocker on the album, a rough but juicy slice of prime Southern rock. Oh, and then there's a looong number called "Free Bird" tacked on to the end of the original album.

...This expanded 2001 edition features five excellent bonus tracks, demo versions of "Tuesday's Gone" (a tougher version with no strings, which I consider a plus), "Gimme Three Steps", "Free Bird", and the non-album tracks "Mr Banker" and "Down South Jukin'". Three of them are previously unreleased; the low-key "Mr Banker" and the melodic rock n' roll of "Down South Jukin'" have seen the light of day earlier, but they are certainly great to have if you don't own them already.

Great bonus tracks on a great, great album, one of the classics of Southern rock. 70s rock n' roll. Or just American rock n' roll in general. Don't let the(partly tongue-in-cheek) redneck image of Lynyrd Skynyrd scare you off; this is really good stuff. Great melodies, big hooks and big riffs, a tight band and some really excellent musicianship. Four and three-quarter stars! April 25, 2008

Hit me like a ton of bricks....

I well remember listening to Beaker Street on the old AM radio powerhouse KAAY out of Little Rock back in '73 and hearing "Simple Man" for the first time--this was my introduction to Skynyrd.The next day at school I was telling anyone who'd listen about this great new band I'd heard and about their funky name. Shortly afterward, again on Beaker Street, I heard "Tuesday's Gone" and "Freebird" and that was that--I had to get this album.Get this disc, take off your shoes, crack open a cold one and boogie down southern style. April 5, 2008

kickin' it southern style

Wow, Lynyrd Skynyrd certainly came out of nowhere with a bang! A debut album that contains a MASSIVELY huge hit, along with two other ballady type "soft rocker anthems", and just for fun, a short and sweet hard boogie rocker ("Gimme Three Steps") to confirm they were, in fact, TOTAL southern rock right behind the Allman Brothers in terms of popularity. So the album has a total of 4 hits. That's how you make a statement!

One of the most underrated songs is actually "Poison Whiskey" with its energetic and forceful tone in the chorus. Love the vocals on that one. "I Ain't the One" has picked up popular steam in recent years. Before 10 years ago or so, we never would have heard this song on the radio. Now people wanna hear it. "Things Goin' On" is just pure southern rock catchiness with its tasty instrumental parts and melodic singing sections.

Overall, one great album that certainly is a masterpiece. March 18, 2008

Lynyrd Skynyrd - A Southern Rock Classic

I grew up in the era where southern rock had it's hey day and Lynard Skynard was the king of them all. On this their debut album, the band shot out of the gate right from the start with one of their best discs. This album is best known as the disc that produced one of the most popular classic rock songs in history "Free Bird" which closes the album. The disc also contains the Sknyrd classics "I Ain't The One", "Tuesday's Gone", "Gimme Three Steps", and "Simple Man" all songs that continue to receive airplay to this day. The other three songs "Things Going On", "Mississippi Kid", and "Poison Whiskey" are all solid as well. This is definitely one of Skynyrd's best and a southern rock classic album. September 11, 2007

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