Lynyrd Skynyrd - BOX SET
Artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Community Score: 5.75

It was only fitting that the ultimate Southern rock institution, Lynyrd Skynyrd -- certainly one of the more tragic stories in rock & roll history -- should be one of the first bands to benefit from a comprehensive box set. Following the format of the highly successful Led Zeppelin box set, this three-disc, 47-song anthology provides a... Read More

Skynyrd's First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album
Artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Community Score: 8.00

This may be the greatest unissued first album ever to surface from a major band. The story behind the 78 minutes of music on this CD, cut two years before their official debut album, could fill a chapter of a book. Cut primarily during late June and late July of 1971, with a quintet of 1972-vintage tracks added, they constitute the group's... Read More

Super Hits
Artist: Molly Hatchet

Super Hits is a budget-priced ten-track collection that actually features Molly Hatchet's three biggest hits -- "Flirtin' with Disaster," "The Rambler," "Satisfied Man" -- along with a number of album tracks like "Bounty Hunter," "Gator County," "Fall of the Peacemakers" and "Dead Giveaway." It's not quite as strong or cohesive as Greatest Hits,... Read More

Endangered Species
Artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Community Score: 9.75

Okay, it's the latter-day band with lots of replacement members, but this is a great record, and this time out there are no repertory problems. This is Skynyrd's "unplugged" album, with the band performing most of its best-known songs without amplification, on an array of instruments that includes mandolin. The songs come off very strong and... Read More

Rattlesnake Rock 'n' Roll: The Best of Blackfoot
Artist: Blackfoot
Community Score: 8.00

Southern rock's last great gasp is spelled out on this 18-track compilation. Wisely leaving off anything from the weak albums (No Reservations, Siogo, Vertical Smiles, and Rick Medlocke and Blackfoot) and cherry-picking from the rest of their output, this slims the group's best down to a nice solid chunk of heavy twin Southern-rock guitars,... Read More

The First and the Last - STATIK/TOTAL ENERGY
Artist: New Race

This album earned credibility for documenting a unique, one-off event. In 1981, ex-Radio Birdman bassist Warwick Gilbert, guitarist Deniz Tek, and vocalist Rob Younger saluted their influences by joining the Stooges' lead guitarist Ron Asheton and MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson for a six-week blitzkrieg of Australia. The notion made sense, since... Read More

Just Us
Artist: The Marshall Tucker Band

Throughout their ten years of recording and touring, the Marshall Tucker Band endured everything from grueling work/touring constraints (they released an album a year for ten years) and the loss of one of their brothers/co-founders (Tommy Caldwell passed away in 1980 due to injuries from an auto accident). This frantic pace would assure even the... Read More

Bebe le Strange
Artist: Heart
Community Score: 9.33

Heart continued to pass their message over the airwaves with the release of Bebe Le Strange and spawned two smash hits, "Silver Wheels" and the rocking "Even It Up" in the process. Unfortunately, the rest of the disc was a bit of a letdown as Heart began to suffer from that same old same old tradition, but they still sold like hotcakes. ~ James... Read More

The Best of Ozark Mountain Daredevils
Artist: Ozark Mountain Daredevils

One of two CDs of classic material by the Daredevils, 12 songs drawn from their first five A&M albums, showing the different sides of the group to very good advantage, from the hard-rocking "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" to the soaring, upbeat, mandolin- and electric-guitar-driven "Homemade Wine." Some of the material seems soft today, and it's... Read More

Greatest Hits of the Outlaws/High Tides Forever
Artist: The Outlaws

Although it has been supplanted by the CD collection Best of the Outlaws: Green Grass & High Tides, the vinyl album The Greatest Hits of the Outlaws/High Tides Forever remains a solid eight-track collection, featuring their best-known songs -- "There Goes Another Love Song," "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky, " "Hurry Sundown, " "Green Grass and High... Read More

Greatest Hits
Artist: Molly Hatchet

Nice collection of their best-known tunes. Some of Southern rock's finest moments. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide Read More

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Lynyrd Skynyrd
Artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Community Score: 7.10

Like any record company worth their salt, MCA knows a good gimmick when they see it, and when the millennium came around -- well, the 20th Century Masters -- The Millennium Collection wasn't too far behind. Supposedly, the millennium is a momentous occasion, but it's hard to feel that way when it's used as another excuse to turn out a... Read More