Lynyrd Skynyrd
Street Survivors

THE REVIEW

Lynyrd Skynyrd? Oh yes! Those who wrote "Sweet Home Alabama"!...

Wrong! Lynyrd Skynyrd did write "Sweet Home Alabama," but "Sweet Home Alabama" is a good piece in the repertoire of a band that managed to do much better; but you know, that's how it goes... not even the phenomenal solo in "Freebird" or the blues of "Honky Tonky Night Time Man" can compete with the catchy tune of the aforementioned song (or with the sort of cover that Kid Rock made of it). That said...

...Lynyrd Skynyrd is a band that gained fame in 1973 with the album "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd" containing among other great songs the already cited masterpiece "Freebird" that took them to the top of the charts. This was followed by "Second Helping" which took them to the peak thanks to the "superclassic" "Sweet Home Alabama" (but we've already talked about it enough...). Then came two good albums, but not at the level of the previous ones: "Gimme Back My Bullets" and (sometimes forgotten) "Nuthin Fancy". But in 1978 they returned to the levels (and beyond) of the first albums and produced this wonderful "Street Survivors". However, the singer would not see the results of this work due to the terrible plane crash that brought the Lynyrd to their knees and ended their first chapter. And so with this album ended the golden age of the American group.

The record contains eight tracks, all characterized by different compositions but also by that unmistakable Southern style that the Lynyrd were known for. Overlooking the celebrated (perhaps too much) "What's Your Name", the most catchy, we arrive at the masterpiece of the album: "That Smell" is a piece of class, which immediately strikes, from that initial solo so aggressive and blazing, but also for the excellent chorus to sing along and the dual-guitar solo at the end. Also splendid are "I Know a Little", with its fast and decisive blues and a superb piano solo, "You Got That Right", thanks to a brilliant slide guitar and the band's ability to create fluid and impactful songs, and "I Never Dreamed", an expression of the band's class and expressive ability. Finally, another remarkable piece is "Honky Tonk Night Time Man", with an almost country style, but truly excellent. Collins and Rossington stand out (guitars), who unlike the past demonstrate a high technique, but always manage to put that feeling and measure into the solos that always make them pleasant and expressive, and Powell, who (accompaniment or not) always manages to perfect and complete the songs with his joyful way of playing the piano.

Last album of Lynyrd Skynyrd as they were at birth, but also their best album, which, as already said, took them to the peak before the end.

Someone said that the greatest always leave too soon... we would have liked Van Zant and Co. to be the exception that proves the rule, but sadly it wasn't so, although the premature death guaranteed them a place in legend.