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Gimme Back My Bullets

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Back My Bullets Audio CD

A fair review of the Lynyrd Skynyrd "Gimme Back My Bullets" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Lynyrd Skynyrd reviews here, or go back to the Lynyrd Skynyrd tabs.

Band: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Title: Gimme Back My Bullets
Rating:

Release Date: 2006-02-28
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Gimme Back My Bullets 2: Every Mother��s Son 3: Trust 4: I Got The Same Old Blues 5: Double Trouble 6: Roll Gypsy Roll 7: Searching 8: Cry For The Bad Man 9: All I Can Do Is Write About It 10: Double Trouble (Live) Recorded live November 4, 1975 Capital Theatre, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom 11: I Got The Same Old Blues (Live) Recorded live November 4, 1975 Capital Theatre, Cardiff, Wales, U.K. 12: Gimme Back My Bullets (Live) Recorded Sunday, March 7, 1976 Bill Graham's Winterland, San Francisco, California 13: Cry For The Bad Man (Live) Recorded Sunday, March 7, 1976 Bill Graham's Winterland, San Francisco, California 14: All I Can Do Is Write About It (Acoustic) Recorded November 29, 1975 Capricorn Studios, Macon, Georgia 15: Double Trouble (Alternate) Recorded September 8, 1975 16: Double Trouble 17: I Ain't The One 18: Call Me The Breeze 19: Same Old Blues 20: Every Mother's Son 21: Sweet Home Alabama 22: Free Bird 23: Free Bird

Classic, overlooked Skynyrd album plus PRICELESS vintage video!
It is true that the band was in somewhat of a rut right before Steve Gaines came aboard, and the fact that this album only features two guitarists probably has something to do with its relative unpopularity. This album from Skynyrd is often overshadowed by their two following releases, One More From The Road and Street Survivors. That plus the fact that the sound was flat, the guitars were tuned down a half step on the title track (and a little out of tune here and there), and quite frankly, there is no "centerpiece" song on this album. All the songs are great, but nothing really stands out and knocks your socks off. I tend to be most fond of "Searchin", as the live version of that track ended up on the Skynyrd box set that I bought long before any of their actual albums.

Back to the "flat" sound--this remastered version of this CD sounds MUCH better than the original CD transfer, which as Al Kooper said, sounds "flat as a pancake," despite legendary Tom Dowd assuming the role of producer for this album. Not to diss Tom Dowd, but I have to agree with Kooper on that one. However, like I said, the sound is much better on the remastered version and more in line with the bright, lively sound of the Kooper-produced first three Skynyrd albums.

Despite its flaws, however, this Skynyrd album contains plenty of classic Skynyrd cuts that still makes it an indispensable addition to your collection!

The bonus DVD REALLY makes this a must-have, as it's Ronnie and the old gang in 1975! Pfft--no brainer, can't do without that! The sound and picture are good, too. Great find from the Skynyrd archives!.

4 3/4 stars. Excellent expanded edition
And this 2006 deluxe edition adds another four bonus tracks plus a terrific seven-track DVD issue of Skynyrd's November 1975 appearance on the Old Grey Whistle Test. The 1999 expanded edition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's fourth album added two bonus tracks, a decent live edition of the title track and a great live "Cry For The Bad Man".

The original nine-track album was met with somewhat lukewarm reviews back in 1976, and wasn't a big succes commercially either. Dunno why. I have all six albums by the original Skynyrd line-up (the five studio albums and "One More From The Road"), and I would take this one over "Nuthin' Fancy" and "Street Survivors" any day. Great musicianship, and the material is almost uniformly excellent.

And this deluxe edition would pretty much have been a must-have for diehard Skynyrd fans even without the additional CD bonus tracks. The DVD features a generous handful of tight, hard-hitting performances. . . one or two may feel a little too tight, acutually, a bit more looseness and swagger wouldn't have been out of place. But it's still a great opportunity to see Skynyrd performing during their peak years. They do a terrific "I Ain't the One", a rollicking "Sweet Home Alabama", and a swinging "I Got The Same Old Blues", and fans should also delight in the wonderful acoustic "All I Can Do Is Write About It" on disc 1. Crisp and clear, and just about better than the original.
The only real minus about the DVD is the somewhat mediocre sound quality, which keeps it from being truly great. As it is, it is only really good.

All in all, this is a fine, fine purchase for Skynyrd fans. Newcomers won't want to start with a deluxe edition, of course, but you'll get here.

'A' That's Capitol 'A'mazing
Awesome! Amazing! Great from beginning to end. Limited Edition Gimme Back My Bullets. "Extra" audio tracks are great. The bonus DVD shows the Band in a near flawless performance. The "Standout" - just how UNDER-RATED a guitarist Allen Collins was. He plays ALL Leads in "Freebird" (as well as leads in other tunes) and makes it look so effortless and easy. Again, just awesome. .

Ronnie the Great

Much is available with online resources like youtube, but sometimes out of the blue comes a mother lode like this BBC release. Mr Rouse and Chase stole my thunder on this one, but its worth mentioning again that ANY visual testament to the original Skynyrd is absolutely essential. I had an Old Grey Whistle Test compilation on DVD, and it had Free Bird from this set on it.

It is without question the finest live version ever captured on video. The Free Bird movie was great because it provided much of the great Knebworth and Winterland footage. But their version of Free Bird from Oakland was a little hurried. This studio take, with just Rossington and Collins, is simply volcanic.

As is the entire set. Two of the most intense numbers on Gimme Back, and a rollicking Call Me the Breeze. Not to mention Alabama, with Collins switching over to strat.

This unadorned Skynyrd shows off the interplay between Rossington and Collins, with great rythymic clarity between Wilkeson and Pyle. Billy Powell's barrelhouse piano is consistent throughout.

But more than anything else, Ronnie Van Zant's muscular stage presence and charisma shines through and warms the set. His greatest attribute as a musician has always been his innate ability to come across not only as the personification of a man of his place and time, but also as a buddy and friend to those who never knew him. Its still uncanny and was a nostalgic reminder thirty years on when watching this performance. You can't help but be drawn to his command of the stage and his band.

I don't pay any attention to the band that calls themselves Skynyrd these days. But I cannot avert my attention from that band that called themselves Skynyrd in those days.

Fine American rock and roll. God I miss them.

.

The DVD is just killer!!
The band are in fine form playing live in a BBC TV studio circa 1975. After years of watching a so-so quality bootleg I once picked up at a record show, what a treat to see the Lynyrd Skynyrd Old Grey Whistle Test in perfect broadcast quality!! This is a must have for even the casual Skynyrd fan[that's me]. It's the entire performence[the introduction was cut out though]. Get it!!.

You can see a complete list of all Lynyrd Skynyrd discography, or go back to the Lynyrd Skynyrd tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.