Lynyrd Skynyrd - All Time Greatest Hits

"All Time Greatest Hits" is proof of this band's lasting legacy, tragically ended in a 1977 plane crash that killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, whose awesome voice was matched only by his songwriting genius; third guitarist Steve Gaines, whose addition to the band added zest and maturity; his sister Cassie, who sang background; and original tour manager Dean Kilpatrick. What an infinite loss for the music world, and how lucky we are to be able to listen to the music they left behind.

Because this collection is the band's greatest hits, all are familiar and well-loved, from "Sweet Home Alabama" to "What's Your Name" to "Free Bird," a magnificent live version that simply tears your heart out. But I love "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe," which Van Zant wrote with Allen Collins, an ode to the unsung heroes of the blues; and "Comin' Home," haunting in retrospect.

Really, I cannot say enough about this band and their music, and I recommend this collection to fans of the band as well as those whose only connection to their hits is "Sweet Home Alabama."


Really 3.5 Stars For All Time Greatest Hits...   December 24, 2005
Philip Turner (Redwood City, CA USA)
31 out of 38 found this review helpful

Whenever any band produces a 'greatest hits' album they run the risk of eliminating sales of many of their earlier releases. With this 'greatest hits' I think many of the tracks chosen are really not the best of those particular songs. If you're looking for a great live "Free Bird," it's not here! The positive aspects of this release are the great cross-section of songs chosen, and not the particular rendition. One of the things that sets a band like Lynyrd Skynyrd apart from the rest of the Southern Rock crowd is their musical and lyrical integrity. Tracks that really shine are, "Simple Man," "That Smell" and "Saturday Night Special". This band went way out on a limb with their anti hand-gun track "Saturday Night Special." This song was released at a time when the NRA and the gun lobby enjoyed almost unparalleled influence within the halls of Congress. I think that your money might be better spent by shelling out a couple of bucks more for the 'The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd' a two-CD set. This set has all the same releases as the 'greatest hits' yet there are almost twice as many tracks for a few dollars more. Many would say the reason why this band was so popular in the seventies; was that they played live and sounded decent, although sometimes fairly raw, when live too. In that vein, you might also want to consider a live release as the best way to really hear what the band could do with their studio material. My pick for the live album would be; "One More from the Road". What makes a choice like this extremely hard is the fact that this band is probably the most over-produced and over-released band in the Southern Rock genre. Amazon alone has over (80) releases listed for sale. Which amounts to a whole lot of redundancy for a band with about (45) songs! Unfortunately, none of the original 1970's releases are still offered here on Amazon as un-remastered original vinyl recordings on CD. If by some chance you have an opportunity to hear this band from a still-good vinyl release, by all means get it to a good sound system and crank it up. But alas, all that may be left is a good bunch of Rice Krispies from vinyl these days? At least with the way we used to treat our records in the 1970's!


You Can Find Better   November 1, 2000
VoodooLord7 (Oklahoma, USA)
24 out of 28 found this review helpful

Obviously, since this does indeed have many of Skynyrd's best songs on it, it is going to be a good album. However, it is not the best Skynyrd "best of" album that you can find. It could've been a lot better. For instance, Tuesday's Gone, my all-time favorite LS track isn't on this disc at all! Neither is the studio version of Freebird! To have a Skynyrd disc that is missing those two songs and to call it "All Time Greatest Hits" is blasphemy! Get The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd instead.


One of the Best CD's in My Collection   June 26, 2002
rzaster
24 out of 32 found this review helpful

Lynyrd Skynyrd is a southern rock group that is not only one of the best in this sub-genre of rock, but one of the best rock groups of all time. People can relate with every song on this CD as they are about humans and are simply beautiful. There are not many CD's that I own that are so great. This CD is comprised of 14 of Lynyrd Skynyrd's greatest hits and this CD is a great example of how all band compilations should be put together.

Every rock fan has heard of the first track, "Sweet Home Alabama." This song is very upbeat and will be sure to entertain.

"Gimme Three Steps" is another upbeat song that is fun to listen to. When you listen to this song you will want to get up and start dancing as this is such a feel good song.

Track three, "Simple Man," is one of Skynyrd's most beautiful songs. This is a narrative about an everyday man, just as the title implies.

When you listen to "Saturday Night Special" you'll really be rocking along and singing the words. This is a song with lots of instrumentals; great for a fan of more than just lyrics.

"Swamp Music" is a very fun song that everyboddy will enjoy.

The sixth song is "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe," a song that relays a story of Southern America.

You'll be up and singing all of the lyrics to "Call me the Breeze," another upbeat song by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

"Comin' Home" is yet another one of the great band's classics.

"Gimme Back My Bullets" is an awesome song that will leave you wanting to hear more of the excellent instrumentals.

The tenth song on this compact disc is "What's Your Name," is a popular song by the band that will be enjoyed by all ages.

Tracks eleven and twelve, titled "You Got that Right" and "All I Can Do is Write About it" are very entertaining but are not among my favorites on the CD.

"That Smell" is definitely one of my favorites on the CD and will be enjoyed.

The last song, which is a live recording, is "Free Bird," my favorite song on the CD. Everyone knows this song and it is one of the most beautiful songs that were ever recorded.

"The All Time Greatest Hits of Lynyrd Skynyrd" is one of the best CD's that I own and should be in every rock fan's collection. I just had one minor qualm with the CD, though. I was disappointed that "Tuesday's Gone," one of the band's very best, was not on the CD. That's okay, though, as there are other CD's with the song on it. Every song on this CD will be enjoyed immensely as the songs are great and the instrumentals are absolutely superb. The recordings of the tracks are wonderful as well. This is a CD that I will listen to over and over again.

Happy Listening!


Frankly, I could do without another Greatest Hits Collection   April 5, 2000
12 out of 18 found this review helpful

I'm sorry, I'm a big fan of Skynyrd, but this is not the compilation for you. There is so much missing from here. It's nice as an introduction to Skynyrd, maybe the parents out there are reading this, and if your kid would like to get into Skynyrd, hey buy all means. But for those of you who know Skynyrd's music, this isn't really high on the "To buy" list.