Van Zant

LYNYRD SKYNYRD Sounds Of The South/MCA Years 1973-1988 (Limited edition 2007 promotional Japanese box set) contains Lynyrd Skynyrd's original MCA albums digitally remastered and expanded and housed in miniature LP sleeves [One More For The Road is a double CD], all of whichare promo-stamped. Five of the albums include bonus tracks and each includes replica liner notes or picture inserts. Not least there are two booklets: an extensive 80-page booklet with English lyrics and specific notes onthe bonus tracks + a 28-page booklet about the boxand album reissues themselves.

This concert film captures southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd performing over a dozen songs at a 1996 music festival appearance.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was the definitive Southern rock band, fusing the overdriven power of blues-rock with a rebellious Southern image and a hard rock swagger. Skynyrd never relied on the jazzy improvisations of the Allman Brothers.

Recorded live during Decades Rock Live-Trump at Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, June 23, 2006. Lynyrd Skynyrd was the definitive Southern rock band, fusing the overdriven power of blues-rock with a rebellious Southern image and a hard rock swagger. Skynyrd never relied on the jazzy improvisations of the Allman Brothers. Instead, they were a hard-living, hard-driving rock & roll band they may have jammed endlessly on-stage, but their music remained firmly entrenched in blues, rock, and country.

So named because this consists of Skynyrd's earliest recordings and was released after the tragic plane crash, thereby seeming to close the door on the band's career, Skynyrd's First and…Last is more than a simple historic curiosity, but not too much more…

The rich, lengthy, and sometimes painful history of Lynyrd Skynyrd is not only one of the true epic tales of Southern rock, but in all of rock & roll itself. The early rise to fame, the tragic loss, and eventual rebirth of the group has been well documented over and over again in the form of box sets, greatest-hits collections, and deluxe reissues. But this sampler takes the best of the best and puts it all into one disc. The greatest moments of Skynyrd's career – "Freebird," "Sweet Home Alabama," and "What's Your Name" – are all here. But what makes Family truly special is the branching out into the side projects like .38 Special, Rossington Collins Band, and Van Zant to name but a few. This might not be the most comprehensive collection available, but it is certainly one of the more enjoyable and easily accessible.