Zack: We have a system for picking albums that
essentially works with me picking a whole bunch of possible albums and Emily
deciding on the final batches. For some reason, she decided to double down on
the southern rock subgenre, as we will be listening to The Allman Brothers Band
At Fillmore East sometime within the next two weeks or so. I’ve already
listened to that album like a dozen times, and I’m super excited to talk about
what a perfect example of southern/jam rock it is. And I think the comparison
with Skynyrd will be interesting. But it brought me to this larger question of
where Skynyrd ranks as far as southern rock goes. The almighty Wikipedia begins
the list of influential southern rock bands with – in order – Allman Brothers,
Skynyrd, and ZZ Top. Now, at their best, ZZ Top are ridiculously cheesy, which
is what I thought about a few songs of this album (and what I think about Sweet
Home Alabama in general, but that’s a discussion for another day). But when the
Allman Brothers are at their best, what could conceivably be a short song gets
whipped up into an extended slide guitar jam session, freewheeling around in
perfectly synchronized chaos. Sounds a lot like Free Bird, doesn’t it. And
that’s what I came away with. This album was inconsistent enough that it
flipped between being reminiscent of these other two bastions of southern rock.
And I’ll stand by that assessment for every track, except Simple Man. That
song, I maintain, is damn near perfect while still being stripped down (at
least compared to Free Bird). In Simple Man, I hear a lot of influence for a
more modern southern rock-influenced band that I love, My Morning Jacket,
especially their earlier works. Simple Man is, for me, more than enough reason
to appreciate Skynyrd.
Favorite Tracks: Simple Man; Free Bird; Tuesday’s Gone
Emily: Lynyrd Skynyrd is known for a few things in my mind. One, that half of the band died in a plane crash. Two, that Sweet Home Alabama has become a Southern anthem of sorts. And three, Free Bird has become the universal sign of douchebaggery when yelled for at a concert - especially one that's completely unrelated to the genre (though it was kinda funny when a guy held a Free Bird sign from his balcony hundreds of feet away from a free Switchfoot concert we went to last summer). These don't exactly combine up to fandom in my mind, and after listening to Skynyrd's entire debut I'm still not all that into it. Southern jam rock just isn't my thing - I prefer my songs on the shorter end, minus the oft-repetitive musical interludes. Perhaps I'll like the Allman Brothers better though; we'll find that out in a few days.
Favorite Tracks: Free Bird; Tuesday's Gone; Simple Man
No comments:
Post a Comment