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Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sweet Home Alabama: The Rockpalast Collection
(Eagle Vision/Eagle Rock Entertainment)
Ask anyone who truly knows me and they’ll almost assuredly tell you that I’ve been a life-long worshipper of all things Southern Rock and Southern Rock-related. As a result, I have frequently found myself deeply enthralled with Jacksonville, Florida-born veterans Lynyrd Skynyrd. Perhaps that makes me a ‘fan boy’ or ‘nutswinger’, but, well, I don’t particularly care. I’ve just always dug their music and can’t possibly imagine a world without Street Survivors or “Truck Drivin’ Man”. Don’t get me wrong; I spent much of my inexplicably misspent childhood deeply submerging myself amid the likes of The Allman Brothers, Blackfoot and The James Gang as part of a general lust for all things loud and recorded. However, despite this, I’ve always found myself naturally gravitating towards the group’s trademark ‘…hard-driving Blues Rock…’ image and tonality.
On the stellar Sweet Home Alabama: The Rockpalast Collection (2008), an expertly captured, seventeen song collection of exhaustive ‘…in concert...’ footage, each track, beginning with the anthemic (and seemingly self-explanatory) “Workin’ For MCA”, the smoldering “I Ain’t The One”, and the oft-overlooked gem “Down South Junkin’”, instantly commands the rapt and undivided attention of even the most jaded and unimaginative of listeners, myself most definitely included. Easily obliterating one’s cautiously optimistic expectations via their now trademark blend of gritty vocals, searing fretwork and refreshingly airtight rhythms, the group, despite being rather firmly entrenched amid the not-so-recent past, once again easily prove themselves worthy of the highest of critical and commercial accolades whilst re-embracing the Platinum-encrusted formula of yore.
Continuing with the searing cautionary lament “Double Trouble”, the delightfully Country-tinged “I Know A Little”, and the woefully underrated “Swamp Music”, the combination of vocalist Johnny Van Zant, guitarists Gary Rossington, Rickey Medlocke and Hughie Thomasson, keyboardist Billy Powell, bassist Leon Wilkeson (both of whom have tragically since passed away), drummer Owen Hale and background singers Dale Krantz-Rossington and Carol Chase steamroll ahead like the well-oiled machine they so obviously have become. Tearing through a ‘…historically encompassing…’ set that manages to accentuate each of the group’s sonically distinct eras without overly focusing on a particular album (i.e. the majority of the group’s post …1991 efforts), the resulting sonic barrage drives home each key focal point with a nearly palpable, well-rehearsed enthusiasm.
Wisely intertwining footage from the group’s 1974 and 1996 performances on the infamous German Rockpalast television series, other standouts, including the poignant (if not outright blistering) “Simple Man”, the maddeningly infectious “Call Me The Breeze”, and the obligatory--albeit equally impressive--closer “Sweet Home Alabama”, effectively punctuate what can only be described as an already overwhelmingly impressive performance. With the group’s ‘…best years…’ arguably well behind them (let’s be honest, folks; Second Helping or Gimmie Back My Bullets this most definitely ain’t), the end result of the rumbling, airtight audiovisual behemoth that is the mighty Sweet Home Alabama: The Rockpalast Collection ultimately serves as both a much-welcomed reminder of the septet’s prototypical past and their continued endurance and longevity.
Is it groundbreaking? Is it revolutionary? Absolutely not. But then again, that’s not really the point, now is it? Effectively capturing the unabashedly kinetic essence of the group’s already much-celebrated live performances, the majority--if not all--of the decidedly sweat-soaked offerings contained herein offer a wealth of further sonic evidence in support of the group’s undeniably well-deserved position amid the fabled hierarchy of the Classic Rock genre. Love ‘em, loathe ‘em or otherwise, they really are that freakin’ good. Thus, if you’ve once again found yourself growing tired of the veritable plethora of bastardized quasi-‘reunions’ that so often flood our collective senses (and occasionally clog the charts and airwaves), then this, my friends, might just be the hook-laden, Southern-fried cure the powers that be ordered. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
Select Discography
Sweet Home Alabama: The Rockpalast Collection (DVD) (2008) */**
Lyve From Steel Town (2007) **
Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour (2006) **
Vicious Cycle (2003) **
Edge Of Forever (1999) **
Endangered Species (1994) **
Twenty (1997) **
The Last Rebel (1993) **
Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 (1991) **
Skynyrd’s Innyrds: Their Greatest Hits (1989) *
Southern By The Grace Of God (1988) **
Skynyrd’s First…And Last (1978) *
Street Survivors (1977) *
One More For The Road (1976) *
Gimmie Back My Bullets (1976) *
Nuthin’ Fancy (1975) *
Second Helping (1974) *
(pronounced ‘lĕh-'nérd ‘skin-‘nérd) (1973) *
* features vocalist Ronnie Van Zant
** features vocalist Johnny Van Zant