Vicious Cycle [Import]

Lynyrd Skynyrd "Vicious Cycle" is one of the best CD's released in many years. Anyone who has a taste for great musicians playing "Real Music" needs this one! It is simply "The Best of the Best"!

Having been a fan of their pre-plane crash material, I was always a little skeptical of Lynyrd Skynyrd's latest line up. Would they be able to live up to the early and mid-70's legacy? This is an important band and I wanted to make sure "Vicious Cycle" was worth the money. How can you top "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Gimme Three Steps"?
Well, a month or so ago I caught the video for "Red, White & Blue" on GAC (Great American Country), the country music video channel. I was immediately impressed. It didn't top the early material but I thought vocalist Johnny Van Zant was actually pretty good and the lyrics were patriotic in nature. I dug it right away.
That song alone got my attention ... enough to get me to pick up "Vicious Cycle." Well folks, it's an excellent album. The opening track, "That's How I Like It" is a working class rocker while "Dead Man Walkin'" takes a look at justice and the death penalty. The guitar work here really impressed me. Gary Rossington, Rickey Medlocke and Hughie Thomasson lay it on thick and heavy at times, while mellowing out on other tracks like "Life's Lessons."
Like others here, I wasn't too impressed with the remake of "Gimme Back My Bullets," featuring redneck rapper Kid Rock. It's an interesting version, but I would've left it for some future B-sides collection.

I thought that the new Skynyrd stuff would suck... but when I saw them live last year they played three songs of their new albums, and to my surprise I really liked them. They played "Pick 'em Up", "That's How I Like It", and "Red White and Blue." Of coarse i liked the old stuff better, but I figured I'd give this new stuff a try. I was hesitant to buy the album but gave in, and I'm glad that i did. Although it can't be compared to the original Skynyrd stuff, it's still really good southern rock. It's a hell of a lot better then most of the crap that's out there today, and it should have gotten more radio play. It's heavier than original skynyrd sound, and puts a new twist on southern rock. Johny's voice sounds great on it, and they still have the 3-guitar-army-sound with great solos.
The best song on the album in my opinion is "Life's Lessons", the longest song at about 6 minutes. It's a great balland and is placed perfectly as the second to last song on the album. (I don't count Kid Rock's "gimme back my bullets" as a track, that shouldn't have been included on the CD.) Most of the songs are around 5 minutes long, which gives a classic feel because you rarely see long songs these days. I think the album is one of the best of the last 15 years. It deserves to be known. If you're hesitant to give the new Skynyrd a shot, just go ahead and by this album. You'll be pleasanly surprised.