I avoided Skynyrd for a long time because of their "southern pride" image and their use of the confederate flag, etc. But I decided that music is more important than image and decided to pick up their debut album. I was not disappointed at all, this is a great album. It's a terrific set of hard rock/blues rock in the vein of early Allman Brothers Band. Here is my track by track analysis:

I Ain't The One - The album opens with a bang with this strong riff rocker. The triple lead guitars are particularly great.

Tuesday's Gone - Ahhh, what a great song! I don't know if the term "power ballad" existed in 1973, but this is definitely one. This is my favorite song by LS and one of the album's best songs. Everything is great about it from the lyrics to the guitars to the piano solo. Magnificient.

Gimme Three Steps - Another strong riff rocker, one of the album's highlights. More great guitars.

Simple Man - Best song on the album, next to Tuesday's Gone. Simple Man is slow like a ballad, but it's a really hard rocker too. Great lyrics, great music. Excellent song.

Things Goin' On - This is a honky-tonk-ish bluesy song with a good beat, but with less guitar than the other songs. Still a good song. Ronnie's twangy vocals get a little bit grating though.

Mississippi Kid - Great acoustic blues song, with a cool acoustic lick and a good Dobro part too.

Poison Whiskey - Another good riff-rock song. Not quite as strong as the rockers on the first half, but cool still.

Free Bird - Well, what needs to be said about this song? It's possibly the most popular rock song of all time next to Stairway To Heaven. Starts out like a ballad, then builds up to a climactic three-guitar attack. Classic.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is labeled a "Southern Rock" band, whatever that means, but they're really just a hard blues rock group with a bit of a southern twang. This is a great album and a good choice for anyone who likes blues-based hard rock.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is not a guitarist, dude (I'm talking to the last reviewer). It consists of three guitarists, but only two on this album, who are Allen Collins (FreeBird and I Ain't The One solos) and Gary Rossington (Tuesday's Gone and Simple Man solo's). Later the bass player on this album became their third guitarist and he is the one that plays the Sweet Home solo.

Ok, this is perhaps my favorite Cd along with Eagles Greatests Hits Volume 1, Appetite For Destruction (Guns N Roses), Eat A Peach (Allman Brothers Band), and maybe Sticky Fingers (Rolling Stones). This album in my eyes is even much superior than the greatest hits CD, and the only track I really think is better from the greatest than any on this CD is Saturday Night Special. But besides that, if you love some great guitar playing, beautiful songs, and some wonderful southern boogie, please check out this CD, you will never regret it.

For the casual Skynyrd fan, this is the CD to own. With familiar hits in Tuesday's Gone, Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man, and Freebird...you cannot go wrong. This great re-issue includes lyrics along with not-so famous songs (Mississippi Kid and Poison Whiskey). Only 8 tracks, but the emotion these great songs exude is worth every cent.

This album is a rock perfection. All of the songs sound incredibly fresh, considering that it was released in late 1973. among all other rock giants with their complex studio polishing, and Lynyrd Skynyrd was totally anonimous band (from south).
When I first heard this album (it was my first Skynyrd record), just after few listenings I made a state that this is best rock'n'roll album ever made. Ofcourse, you can't pick just one album as the all-time best, as there are a few dosens of them.

And this one is ofcourse one of them. It shows what's the rock'n'roll all about. It's not just southern rock (though influences are obvious) - it breaks throug the very essence of rock music.

The fact that this album, although their first, sounds so perfect, is because these guys heve been together for a long time before making this record, and was playing gigs around and rehearsing this songs. So they new exactly what sound are going
to lay down. And it came out perfect, indeed.

This album is all: hard rock, southern rock, blues, bluegras even folk. It is pure and honest music with simple yet efective and beautiful lirics, like in "Simlpe man" (one of personal favourites). Also we get a big dose of humour in songs like "Gimme three steps" and "Poison whiskey", delivefed with great riffs. No need to point "Freebird" as one of most requested rock song in rock history, along with Zep's "Stairway to heaven", and deservely so. I could write a whole review just about "Freebird" and its trademark Skynyrd guitars. Ofcourse, I must mention "Tuesday's gone" as not great but PERFECT ballad rock song, almoust a prototype. And is there any better way to start this album than "I ain't the one"?

So, this is as classic rock as you can get; everyone should own it.
For those who aren't familiar with Skynyrd and like rock music (in genneral) this is great place to start your Skynyrd collection. Get this and be blown away... If you won't, you obviously don't know what's rock music about.

How is it that as of today this Skynyrd masterpiece has been reviewed a measly 13 times, while Megadeth's execrable Risk cd has been reviewed 238 times? Not to pick on Megadeth - I am a big fan of theirs - but Pronouced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd is an all-time classic.

Well, maybe Lynyrd Skynyrd and their southern rock brethren are a joke to a lot of people today. Sorry, the joke is on those who've never given Skynyrd a chance - they are missing out on some of the best rock music ever made. Lynyrd Skynyrd's pre-plane crash discography holds up as well as that of any other rock band in my book. And Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd is where it all started.

Can you imagine what an effect this album must have had on the musical climate when it first hit the record stores? I can't - I was just 3 years old at the time. But they say that within no time, Lynyrd Skynyrd were so popular that they were blowing The Who off the stage on a nightly basis when they toured together.

When I reached high school, I finally heard Allen Collins, Ed King, and Gary Rossington's sweet 3-guitar onslaught and Ronnie's country-soaked voice for the first time and I was hooked. From that slippery drum intro to `I Ain't The One' to the last note of `Free Bird', this is one special album. Is there a better, more affecting ballad out there than, `Tuesday's Gone'? Can anyone beat the guitar riff and amusing lyrics to `Gimme Three Steps'? Didn't think so. This is as classic an album as they get.

I'll admit that Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd is particularly satisfying if you grew up in the American South like I did, but anyone with an appreciation of real, honest rock music is likely to love it. No other southern rock band of their time came close to matching Skynyrd, and this album is a great place to start your Skynyrd collection if you haven't started it already.

If you're already a Skynyrd fan, then do yourself a favor and pick up the best southern rock album of the past 25 years, Drive By Truckers' Southern Rock Opera. I'm not exaggerating when I say that in many ways, it is as good as anything Lynyrd Skynyrd produced. It is also by far the best rock album of 2001.

Oh yeah - and Southern Rock Opera has only 6 Amazon reviews so far. What a shame.