Lynyrd Skynyrd
God & Guns

The Skynyrd return to the studio to present yet another new album. The sound, in general, is seasoned with hefty doses of technology. The artificial contribution is inevitably noticeable, unfortunately. Say what you will, but the term "unfortunately" is not without reason. After all, we are talking about a band that was born rough, raw, and rebellious, far from needing technologies to improve. But the sad fate of the group is known to practically everyone who is about to purchase or listen to this record.

I think everyone is aware of the tragic plane crash of '77, which happened three days after the release of "Street Survivors," that killed the undisputed leader of the group Ronnie Van Zant and the guitarist Steve Gaines. And in my opinion, with Ronnie's life, also went that characteristic that made the Skynyrd a unique band. Several years later, Allen Collins, the historic author of Free Bird, left us as well. Finally, this year, the sad fate befell the keyboardist Billy Powell. And so, it is mainly up to Gary Rossington and Johnny, Van Zant's younger brother, to carry the torch. They are supported by a good group, of course, but the problem is that by now the band is tired and lacking ideas. The truth is that from "Street Survivors" onwards, no Skynyrd album has really left its mark. This "God & Guns," if it wasn't clear, is no exception.
However, attention: the fact that "God & Guns" is not at all at the level of a "Second Helping" or a (pronounced 'leh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd) does not make it a bad album. After all, we are talking about excellent albums with a strong reason why, and reaching those levels is really difficult.

The album spans 12 tracks, some successful and others less so. The strengths of this "God & Guns" are the tracks "Still Unbroken," which combines a hard rock with a technological background with good guitar solos, "Unwrite That Song," a romantic ballad with a dreamy spirit and "Gifted Hands," a majestic and very well-executed track. There's a bit of everything in this "G&G": hard rock elements, country and of course southern. A southern more akin to Gov't Mule than the old school Lynyrd Skynyrd. The worst tracks, in my opinion, are the horrible "Simple Life," worthy soundtrack of a Disney TV series, and "Storm," but more than anything because it replicates for the umpteenth time what was previously heard on the album (it is the penultimate track), making it heavy. The other songs are generally quite good.

All in all, "God & Guns" is a reasonably successful work. The main flaws are the high technology, which, as I have already written, I find strongly incoherent in the Skynyrd context, and the fact that this album does not manage to invent anything, ending with moving forward in an unconvincing way. The proof that the historic Southern bands can still make great southern rock and blues albums worthy of the great origins of the genre, lies in "Hittin' The Note" by the Allman Brothers Band, not here.