Yet another
Lynyrd Skynyrd compilation -- as if there weren't already plenty -- not that there are that many available anymore, since CDs go out of print so quickly now.
Gold is a bit different, though, in its bid to become a definitive double-disc overview. First of all there is the sound. Everything here has been remastered in 24-bit digital, so it's wonderful. Next, of course, is the track listing. "Free Bird" has a version on each disc. On disc one, the original studio version appears; on disc two, at the very end, is the extended live version issued on
One More from the Road. The live version of "Gimme Back My Bullets" that's here was issued only on a white-label promo. OK, everything the somewhat-more-than-casual
Skynyrd fan would want is here, from "Sweet Home Alabama," their first hit, to the still-startling read of
J.J. Cale's "Call Me the Breeze," to the original recorded version of "Comin' Home," which was originally issued on The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd. "Workin' for the MCA," is here, as is "Saturday Night Special," "Swamp Music," "What's Your Name," the live version of "Whiskey Rock-A-Roller" from
One More from the Road, there's the really killer demo of "Four Walls of Raiford" that was only released on the box set, so more casual listeners will get a chance to hear this wonderful cut. But then the rest of the hits are here too: "Tuesday's Gone," "That Smell," "You Got That Right," and more. Bottom dollar is this: as a two-disc
Skynyrd comp, this will be the one to beat; it's solid top to bottom with a few goodies thrown in for measure. ~ Thom Jurek