(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)

I kept asking for them to play 'free bird' and then they did.

Come on. This is such a great album. Half of the songs are all time classics. Tuesday, 3 Steps, Simple Man, Free Bird. There's only 8 songs on the album and four of them are not just classic, but all time classics. What a great album!

I mean, "Tuesday's Gone," "Gimme Three Steps," "Simple Man," and "Free Bird" all on the same album. How you gonna argue with that? I almost gave this a 4 but I couldn't actually come up with anything wrong with the album especially given the release date. I sometimes find myself a bit put off by Van Zant's penchant for socio-political posturing but, for 1973, several of these songs are super pointed and progressive. That's worth a star.

On the one hand, this Southern fried album has a lot of great tracks that I remember from growing up and listening to it in the South. On the other hand, it's hard to ignore the rift between the band and Neil Young (though he would later come to temper that somewhat). But Neil was spot on that the band was racist and rocking the confederate flag at their shows. After everything that has happened in our country since this came out, I can honestly say, it's hate not heritage-- and that makes it hard to want to hear.

This is such a conflict. Do you reject what you know b/c the band members are racist assholes? I know that good can come from a trash heap. That people grow and growth is fucking hard. It is not linear. Once I held many of the same views. That we are toxic when we are hurting. There's maybe something really great here in this album but also it is a terrible place to stay or be stuck. I can't fully reject the South. It's in my heart so I can't fully walk away from this album. But I can't listen to it without all the extra convos that come with it. That makes it so goddamn weighty for something that is supposed to rock.

I’ve enjoyed each song I’ve heard by Lynyrd Skynyrd, but never listened to an album in full. One of my friends (who I co-host a music review show with on YouTube) went through a phase where he was very much into country rock and always encouraged me to try Skynyrd. Naturally, I ignored him because he’s an idiot. Songs I already knew: Tuesday’s Gone, Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man, Free Bird Favourites: Tuesday’s Gone, Free Bird, Things Goin’ On Much like other songs of legendary status, it’s hard to imagine a time before Free Bird. I feel this way with songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, Hey Jude, and Barbie Girl. They’re all amazing songs that feel like they’ve existed forever (hey, calm down, Barbie Girl is a banger). This album from front to back is full of amazing tracks. Free Bird is long, but keeps things different enough to never get boring. The vocals are fairly simple, but it adds a lot of charm. The general music itself isn’t too perfect like lots of modern day music. Its slight flaws in timing here and there make it feel more real and less manufactured. Overall, an amazing album. Maybe I should have listened to my friend many years ago. He is still an idiot though.

Love Tuesdays Gone thanks to Happy Gilmore. Likewise Free Bird which was the perfect soundtrack for running over prostitutes on GTA

Music to empty the bar.

Why would I need a Greatest Hits album? This exists. Only truly "weak" spot is "Poison Whiskey," but then "Freebird" comes right after that and southern rock nirvana is achieved, so it balances out.

Giving this a 4 because the first half of the album is much better than the last (save Free Bird), but this is still phenomenal, especially for a debut album. Love the blues elements and even the country twang Already Saved: Free Bird Saved After Listening: Tuesday's Gone, Simple Man

Good old Southern Boogie Woogie. Not something I'd listen to again though. However, I'm sure I'll hear Free Bird another 10,000 times in my lifetime.

Nö…

I can't tell if I've just grown out of 5 minute guitar solos or if this really just missed the mark hard for me. Felt really forgettable with no stand out moments, and I don't think any of the songs on here are ones I'd actively seek listening to again.

One of the best

Lynyrd Skynyrd's Three Guitar Army and Ronnie Van Zant's growl resonate deep in my bones. These songs feel surprisingly like home. Maybe it's because Gimme Three Steps was one of the songs that my brother's garage band rehearsed in our basement. (We did not have a garage.) My brother must've had a Greatest Hits album on 8-Track or something because several of these sound familiar but not all of them. I've never heard this whole album before, I'm sure of that. At least 3 songs mention guns but I don't think they ever get used, just held threateningly. I said "uh-oh" when they started talking about the ghetto in Things Goin' On but the rest of the words seemed ok and then the honky-tonk piano came in sounding exactly like something Paul Williams would write for the Muppets or Bugsy Malone and I was totally charmed. I prefer the upbeat songs like I Ain't the One, Gimme Three Steps, and Things Goin' On to the ballads but I cannot deny that Free Bird is a great song even if it's nine minutes long and I've heard it a million times. If I get to see the original Skynyrd line-up in the afterlife, you bet I'll ask to hear Free Bird.

2/5 Ja, es ist gute Musik, es ist nichts falsch daran. Aber ich disassoziiere aus Langeweile. Ich höre 2 Gitarren mit Vocals,Bass, Drums Wer sind die 7 Leute auf dem Cover, schwingt der Rest die Confederate flag? Freebird ist ein guter Track

The absolute peak of Southern Rock. These Skynyrd boys have it all, from rock solid bass and drums to beautiful piano and crunchy organ, not to mention their three-guitar army and killer southern vocals. The band stays mostly in the rock and blues genre, but crafts songs with surprising diversity and intentionality; no two songs sound quite the same. Even in their wildest moments, the band never gets sloppy or chaotic; all guitar solo work is carefully planned and expertly executed. Simply a joy to hear. Also, "Free Bird" is a masterpiece; How a band can get three guitarist to arpeggiate in harmony for that long is beyond me. Stand out tracks include "Tuesday's Gone", "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", "Mississippi Kid", and "Free Bird".

An amazing debut album. But honestly if free bird were the only good song on the album I would probably still have to give the album a 5 -one of the most epic guitar solos ever. But that’s not the case, as all the songs are really good and Three steps, simple man, Tuesday’s gone are all pretty great. Album cover is great, just the band hanging out. Very sad, everyone on that cover has passed. No current surviving members of the band which is very unusual. After the plane crash and loss of many in the band it was never the same, seemed more like a tribute band. An the name of the band is great!

I've mostly avoided Lynyrd Skynyrd my whole life. I'm not sure really why. The meme of Freebird might be the reason. Growing up my parent's listened mostly to classic country, outlaw country and classic rock and roll. So those were my building blocks. Later in life I learned to play the harmonica and became fascinated with the Blues. Anyway this album feels like a concentrated collection of my personal history with music.

Rock & roll de la vieja escuela.

Quintessential blues rock. If I were to show classic rock to aliens, this would probably be the top candidate. It's loud and energetic with both short hard songs and longer softer songs. And it swaps between short then long back to short and so forth to not get tiring. Now usually I'd get bored with such long songs, but if you listen to "Tuesday's Gone", the instruments vary so often throughout the song, taking turns with leads. Just start listening from the piano solo to hear what I mean. It also has a different drum sound from the other songs. "Gimme Three Steps" sounds like their later song "What's your name" but since it's not the same album it doesn't count. Each song is distinctive and inviting with catchy tunes and poppy lyrics, and the back vocals during the choruses help audience participation. With the 2nd side you can actually convince someone why it's called "blues" rock but a lot of people can get bored by it. I still think they're strong tracks. Love that old-timey piano solo in "Things goin on". Also "Mississippi Kid" gets bonus points for me just so happening to be passing through Mississippi from Memphis to New Orleans, visiting the Delta Blues Museum. "Poison Whiskey", especially the solos, does sound lazier and uninnovative than the other tracks, but I do sorta like that hard piano sound. And finally there's the most famous rock song of all time "Free Bird". I don't have much to say other than what I aready said. Great song, and the length does not hinder it. Love when it goes higher pace around 4:35. I will comment is that the ending felt anticlimatic. Overall fantastic influential album that define the era, with bangers all throughout. Despite the flaws, I still believe it deserves the 5 stars.

About as perfect an A-side as you can have... oh and then there's Freebird!

I remember the first time my dad put this album on. We were at my grandparents house one sunday while they were installing a ceiling fan in and other stuff. I was 10 at the time, and man, this album had me moving my head and hadn't heard anything like this before. Now, I was used to rock, we'd listen to CCR, Sabbath, The Beatles etc, but this southern rock was something else, man. Listening to "Gimme Three Steps" still takes me back to sitting in that wicker chair and grooving, and my little mind being blown....and subsequently kinda bored after a while with "Freebird" but still, lol. every damn song is perfect on the album, no notes!

This is one of those albums that absolutely blows my mind to find out it was the bands first album. Nearly prefect with some of the bands biggest hits. And then to end it with Free Bird may be one of the biggest mic drops in musical history. Really enjoyed this one!

An album from the Southern U.S. that embraces what it is, and because of that, it soars to excellence.

FREE BIRD!! Great classic rock album. 8.5/10

Ah, brings back so many fond memories with my mildly racist father. I don't really support the band anymore, but the nostalgia here hits oh so hard.

Tuesday's Gone is an excellent ballad. You have to be very confident with your soloing to put a guitar solo before the first verse. The solo after the first verse is also mighty fine as are the good 'ole boys' southern rock harmonies. Things Going On is quite clearly an anti-segregation song. This is interesting given that one of the band's slightly more popular songs led to allegations that Ronnie was pro Wallace. Some of the "filler"on side 2 is really quite good. The Mississippi blues song Mississippi Kid shows their prowess with the broken coke bottle and the anti-alcohol song Poison Whisky has is also an excellent jam. Free Bird is the best song in the album and the band's second best song overall - next to that tune about folks in Birmingham loving Wallace.

This album has some really nice moments on it, and despite the fact that this type of music sounds stereotypically southern now, it only became that way because of this band At the same time, the album sags in places. I've never been a huge fan of Free Bird, perhaps because I grew up in the Beavis and Butthead era when this song was already a meme. Trying to listen to it with fresh ears is hard as a result. I think that it's a pretty enough song, but not the all time great the way it tends to be portrayed by people who really like it. Fuck it, 4/5 by the skin of it's teeth. Maybe I like Free Bird after all. Or at least, I like 4/5ths of Free Bird. That song could have been shut down a full minute earlier with no negative impact

weirdly enough, free bird was my least favorite part of this. really surprisingly enjoyable as an album, good length. 8/10

Lynyrd Skynyrd were at the top of their game when they released their debut album. Excellent songwriting, perfected tone, and THE GUITARS! Oh man, this is guitar heaven. Can't call yourself a fan of rock until you've heard Skynyrd absolutely tear it up. Good album.

Gritty, raw, and delightful

The epitome of southern "hard" rock - really exemplary. Better than their follow up album, 'Most of Us Are Dead"

average

much guitar. lots of hits

Let’s for a moment do something Lynyrd Skynyrd never quite got around to doing - forget about the confederate flag. “Tuesday’s Gone” is a treat and “Simple Man” is a great tune. But the only real reason this debut album is on the list is because of its legendary closing track. Not quite enough in itself. But almost.

No

On their debut, Lehner Skinnerd manages to sound like 3 people playing while being 6 people (7 on the cover?) in the band. Impressive. While much more authentic than the southern rock coming out of Creedence Clearwater Revival (as authentic you can get by telling the stories of hardship in the south from the point of view of some white guys), songs about guns and god just doesn't do it for me. Overall, the album just feels like one long wait until 'Free Bird' finally kicks in, and although that's a legendary track, I'm not quite sure it's worth it sitting through the first 7 songs.

Free Bird is a good tune, the rest not so great

Boring

One good song. Free bird.

A Rock n Roll classic!! The first four songs are some of the best southern rock songs every produced "I Ain't the One", "Tuesday's Gone", "Gimme Three Steps"and "Simple Man"; then hhey hit it out of the ballpark with, "Free BIrd", their eighth and last track.

• 5/5 - The prototypical Southern Rock/Blues album • makes you want a cold beer on a hot night

loooooord I can't chaaaange

Fantastic front to back

A debut album with: "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", "Tuesday's Gone", and "Free Bird"? That's some kind of start! Just good music! Puts ya in a good mood.

Simpleeeeeeeeeeeeeee Kind of man

This is rock!! Turn it up, man! 5/5

Excellent.

Freezer biiiird yeaaaahhhaahahah

I've been waiting to add this to my profile. Country boys say hoooo

Notes written during listening : "Sample Man - one word, 6 letters : INSANE tuesday gone - guitar solo is unbelievable !!!! Gimme three steps - incredible Things goin' on - kinda like the piano part ! Looks like great ball of fire from Jerry LL" Awesome album from a legendary group ! Quite hard to do better after that I think !

Very good

Most bands don’t have the courage to do a 7 1/2 minute rock song in 6/8… let alone absolutely crush it. Instant 5 from me, also helps that I already love half the songs on the album

One classic after another, many of these songs were overplayed on AOR radio when I was younger but still great tunes. Kind of forget that this was a debut record and it also essentially started the southern rock genre

First of all, I disagree with how the bands name should be pronounced. Ok now on to the album…. I’m not sure there is an Album that has more big hits on it than this one. Which is odd since by default, you should say this is the greatest album of all time. Which it’s not, to me at least. I don’t have a reason why. How it makes me feel I guess. There is nothing wrong with this album as long as you accept the fact that music in this day and age sounds completely different than back then. This is pure southern classic rock. Crisp, soul felt and foot tapping. Fans of almost every genre of music can appreciate this album. If you hate it, it’s based on musical preference. There can’t possibly be any other reason. The vocals are good and don’t sound out of key or an annoying tone. The band is solid with not one instrument taking too much control over the others. The pace of the album flutters in the mid range high and low zones where it’s not too heavy and not too soft, at any point. Enjoy this damn it! Because of Free Bird, the ending to the movie “The Devils Rejects” is the best ending ever in a movie. Choice cut: Free Bird

all the classic skynyrd in one album.

Growing up half hillbilly this was part of the soundtrack to my youth. This album is littered with some of the absolute classics of the southern rock genre.

Going into this, I was like "Oh, it's the album Tuesday's Gone, Gimme Three Steps, and Free Bird are on - I don't know if I've ever listened to this as an album, so let's see if the rest of the tracks live up to that incredibly high standard." And then I proceeded to go "Ohhhh, it's *this* one!" to basically every other track. Suffice to say, this is all bangers, and while the rest of the album can't live up to Free Bird, I think when the question is "How many genre-defining masterpieces are on this album," most bands will absolutely settle for "One." Seriously, the only negative things I can say about this record are that the honky-tonk piano in Things Goin' On gives me extremely specific flashbacks to Dr Drago's Madcap Chase (you're welcome, handful of other people who grew up on that), and that Guns 'N' Roses listened to Tuesday's Gone and Free Bird, thought "Yeah, we could do that," and that's how we ended up with November Rain.

Fantastic album with a ton of classics.

Classic. Love it!

All the jams. While I fully understood that Freebird is an epic song, listening to it in this context really solidified that.

Trite as it is to say, but you don’t have classic rock without Skynyrd.

I mean it’s got free bird on it

Free Bird

Classic

Bang on

I’m not much of a country rock fan, but man, when it hits, it hits! Not a soft moment on here. Some of these songs have been played so often, and even still, just keeps a rockin.

All time greatest album

it's good, very nice production, classic

It goes from a solid 4/5 to Free Bird bringing it home to an undeniable 5/5. Anthem after anthem, from songs about classism to songs about cocaine. This is the southern rock classic

Never heard this before, though I grew up groaning over Free Bird. Really enjoyed it--what an incredible first album. Tuesday's Gone is new favorite song, and it was nice to hear Simple Man again.

Really this whole album is fantastic. I loved it as a kid. I love it now

Fantastyczne. Simple man bardzo mi się podoba, a tekst trafia prosto w moją duszę. Free bird i I aint the one też znakomite, szczególnie free bird. Dobre teksty i jeszcze lepsze instrumnety 5/5

A remarkable blues/country rock album. Simple Man and the guitar solo outro of Free Bird are particular highlights for me. Excellent in every way.

Freeebiird! I really enjoyed listening to this. Awesome.

Get that air guitar out and go rocking. With a beautiful Tuesday's Gone (covered by Metallica) and Freebird, this album has really grown on me during the weekend. Played it on vinyl, this is really a lot of fun. All banger, all mash!

Favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd album so far. Tuesday's Gone, Simple Man, Free Bird. Everything been on my playlists for long time already.

Southern Rock vom Feinsten! Klassiker!

Classic rock legends, and this is one of their best! 8 songs and 5 made it on the radio with 4 being rock radio staples to this day. Out of the chute with "I Ain't The One", then rolling into the 7 minute ballad "Tuesday's Gone", and on to my favorite Skynyrd tune, "Gimme Three Steps", followed by the revered "Simple Man", which has been covered by everyone and their mother too! The only dud is "Mississippi Kid". They wrap this album up with what's possibly the biggest classic rock song of all time in "Free Bird", yeah you can yell it, and you have a bonafide Top 1001 album that had hits, top notch musicianship, gritty vocals, was influential and still stands up 50 yrs later!

As a teenager I refused to like this band. I was into heavy metal and drooling over Van Halen, Ozzy, Zepplin, Floyd and other bigger harder bands. A girl friend of mine loved this album, she used to tell me you will love it. I was being an ass because it was "country". Little did I know this album would be in my top 200 albums for the rest of my life. The album is perfect 10 songs all around the 5 minute mark, ordered perfectly by the producer, the smooth rock vibe mixed perfectly with the country aspect makes it something not many had pulled off before them. This is an absolute masterpiece even if dislike this type of rock.

A classic album and a one of their best. It's loaded with awesome songs front to back.

So many great classics! I had never realized they came from their first album.

All time great rock album. Tuesday's Gone, Simple Man, Freebird. Legendary.

# Album Name: Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd # Artist: Leonard Skynyrd # Rating: 5/5 # Comments: Tuesdays gone. What a song. Love the guitar, vocals in this one. and THAT piano solo. Shit man. Fantastic. Gimme three steps - very catchy. Love the guitar work on this one. Some great licks and solos. For some reason, some of the vocals remind me of the theme tune to only fools and horses. no idea why. Awww simple man. What a tune!!! The guitar riff again. Absolutely top notch. The vocals on the chorus is so powerful. fucking ace solo on this bad boy. The piano in things going on makes me think of the scenes of movies in the deep south where people walk into the bar and theres a honky tonk band banging out tunes on a piano. Sounds very cowboy to me. Quite catchy, i like it. Decent tune. Although the quality of the album dipped here from the very high standard set in the previous songs. This continues until free bird kicks in. What a finale to the album. Overall a very good album for me. I'd give it a low 5 # Top Tunes: Tuesdays gone / Gimme three steps / simple man / Free bird # Would I listen to it again? Definitely.

Excelent

Excellrnt

It’s just really good blues rock. Everything good about ZZtop or Kings of Leon, even The Stones or LedZep. I’m not normally a fan of Country/Blues but these lads have nailed it.

No private session used for Spotify. "Free Bird" is a meme at this point it's under the category of songs I never need to hear again, but "Tuesday's Gone" and "Simple Man" are far from that category. Next time you at a concert and you think you are hilarious by shouting out "Free Bird" try either of those two other underplayed classics. Back to the review, southern rock personified. Classic. Genre Defining.

Some of the best southern rock of all time. Lots of classics on this album by a band that could shred with soul. It's worth talking about the fact that "Sweet Home Alabama" is a jam, but has it's controversies about whether its about racist Southern pride or just a retort to Neil Young to point out that all southerners aren't racists (see https://www.npr.org/2018/12/17/676863591/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd-southern-discomfort-american-anthem). On a purely musical level, this album is a banger though.

I know the hits, but never really did a deep dive into a full album. I expected to like a few tracks, but this is a BANGER front to back. Hard for me to throw around the term "perfect album" but this might just be that! "Lynyrd Skynyrd Smokes"

Pretty darned great.

Fantastic album. Somehow only 7 songs and 4 of them are bonafide classics and essential songs. Simple Man is personally one of my favorite songs of all time. Free Bird might be the best closer of any album

Such a great album! This got a lot of rotation back in the day when I lived in a student house. The first side is killer, but the second side does dip a little in quality. However, side B redeems itself with Freebird and so this is an easy 5 stars from me.

An album that is graced with classic hits, the most universally known is probably Freebird. I liked this album, very American both lyrically and musically. I would put it in the genre of country rock rather than hard rock, certainly where this album is concerned. A classic through and through.

I really liked this album!

This sounds like having the boys over for a cooler full of Bud Heavies on the deck while the wife is out of town

FreeBird!

Skynyrd likely isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and it could be argued that Second Helping is a better overall record, but the idea of giving an album that contains Tuesday’s Gone, Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man, and (obviously) Free Bird anything less than 5 stars is lunacy. One of the most misunderstood bands of all time, Skynyrd ushered in southern rock with cerebral, thoughtful lyrics and a bruising musicality that is often obscured by the rebel flags that were often seen at their shows. It was a band filled to the brim with talent, and their first two records are especially brilliant. Hard living and the tragic plane crash (my dad happened to be at their last concert before the crash took the lives of several members) robbed the world of sustained greatness, but for a brief moment this was one of the best musical acts in America.

This album is 5 star good before it even gets to Free Bird. 5 stars or A+ for me.