God & Guns

Performer: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Engineer: Bob Marlette; Bob Robinson
Producer: Lynyrd Skynyrd; Bob Marlette
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Audio Mixer: Bob Marlette. Photographer: Martin Weiss. What to make of GOD & GUNS, the group's new album from Roadrunner Records? It certainly sounds like Lynyrd Skynyrd, maybe with a little more contemporary Nashville on board, and there's plenty of that Southern redneck rocker attitude on display. What might be missing however is a little more compassion and heart, two qualities that were the secret ingredients in the late Ronnie Van Zant's singing. Johnny sounds like him, sure, but where Ronnie came across slightly disappointed, wounded, and--God forbid--regretful underneath his swagger, Johnny comes across like an archetypal Southern redneck convinced that America is all about guns and God. The lead single from this set, "Still Unbroken," is a decent song, but that's about it, although the album has a big, full feel. There just aren't many songs here to go with that fullness (God & Guns was produced by Bob Marlette)--"Southern Ways" has a certain charm, maybe because it's essentially a slowed-down rewrite of "Sweet Home Alabama" with the same riff as an anchor, and "Floyd" has some ragged atmosphere going for it. It ends up feeling like an album that stomps and roars and sounds like Lynyrd Skynyrd but somehow just isn't the same.

During their 1970s heyday, Lynryd Skynyrd emerged as the preeminent practitioners of Southern rock. Their triple-guitar attack and country-tinged songs carved a permanent spot on the playlists of classic rock radio. Since its first release in 1973 their epic hit "Freebird" has received more airplay than anything this side of "Stairway to Heaven." The tragic deaths of visionary lead guitarist Steven Gaines and lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zandt in a 1977 plane crash cut down the band at its peak; but after parting ways for several years, the surviving members re-formed the group, with Van Zandt's little brother Johnny at the helm.

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