Good ol' southern-fried rock... I'm assuming. It is a Lynyrd Skynyrd album, although it is their first, so who knows. Maybe they were a different band in 1973? Ah, who am I kiddin'?
"I Ain't The One" features a pretty sweet psychedelic blues touch throughout. In the background of most of the song is a tambourine hit played backwards, along with a hammond organ that appears in the refrain section. It's a subtle addition to a standard Lynyrd Skynyrd rocker that combined with the time this album was released almost makes it transitory. In a way, Lynyrd Skynyrd seems to be saying, "Psychedelic rock was great, but it's time for something different." I don't think Lynyrd Skynyrd was instrumental in bringing southern-fried rock to the forefront in the mid 70s- as in, I'm not sure a lot of people heard "I Ain't The One" and went, "Whoa... what is this?"But they were certainly a big influence and remain that to this day.
Jeez, it sure didn't take Lynyrd Skynyrd long to get really cheesy. "Tuesday's Gone" is like the slow-dance part of "Free Bird" stretched out to a full-length song, only fifty times sappier. I imagine Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote this envisioning playing it as an encore at every show while people stood swaying back and forth, singing along with the chorus and holding their lighters up high. At least the band knows how to effectively play mellotron. But why is it so sad that Tuesday is over? It's just another day in the week. There's not even anything good on TV on a Tuesday.
I've heard "Gimme Three Steps" maybe a billion times and this is the first time I've realized the opening lyric is, "I was cuttin' a rug..." That's 70s slang for dancing, right? That's hilarious, because everything in the 70s was about shag carpets and whatnot, in my imagination anyway. Anyhoo, damn good song, though the version I heard on rdio.com was really crunchy compared to the first 2 songs on the album.
Closing out side 1 is perhaps the greatest 3-power-chord song in the history of 3-power-chord songs "Simple Man". You may have heard it in a beer commercial a few years back, or maybe it was a car commercial. If you're going to make a 3-chord song, just make sure you're in a good band, at least as good a band as Lynyrd Skynyrd. That's not too much to ask.
A couple lame 12-bar blues numbers and one shambling rocker later and it's time for the grand finale. You know which song it is, and if you don't, well I'm not sure I want to tell you. Though I kinda have to if I'm gonna rant about it. It's one of those songs that everyone seems to love but I feel is so overrated. It's not a bad song, it's just really mediocre and such a faux-epic. But when it's midnight and everyone on the dance floor hears those decending organ notes they're all like, "WOOOOOO YEEEEAAAAHHHH! LET'S SLOW DANCE THEN ROCK OUR FACES OFF!!!" And that closing guitar solo just noodles on and on. Ugh... I don't want to talk about it anymore.
Decent album. Better side 1 than side 2, but it does feature 3 of Lynyrd Skynyrd's biggest hits and the band is fairly talented. Though if you need to use such a douchey album title like this one, maybe you should consider instead spelling your band name like normal human beings. 3 stars.
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