I've always wondered as to why after so many years,that all of a sudden,a band called Lynyrd Skynyrd had started to tour and record when the three key members were killed in a plane wreck in 1977.The answer is simple:FAN DEMAND.As I've seen the new Skynyrd twice now,I could see that THIS band was,in fact Lynyrd Skynyrd in spirit,name and force.The name was just TOO big to stay at rest.Two members that've joined up,former Blackfoot guitarist Rick Medlock and former Outlaws guitarist Hugh Thomasson certainly do breathe new life into Skynyrd.Some of the better tracks here are "Bring It On","Home Is Where The Heart Is","Never Too Late" and the newly done version of "Travelin' Man" where the vocals by both Ronnie and Johnny Van Zant are mixed in.Long live southern rock!!

OK, some may argue that it's not REALLY Skynyrd, without Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Allen Collins. And there's some merit to that. There's a distinct break between the original Skynyrd and the post "1991" recordings. BUT, this is a very solid effort in its own right. Gary Rossington, Leon Wilkerson and Billy Powel provide the Skynyrd base, and Rickey Medlock (Blackfoot) and Hughie Thomasson (Outlaws) pile on the licks. All these guys can play, and Johnny Van Zant does a fine job singing. If you like guitar driven rock that doesn't try to bash your head in, this is a great disc. Don't buy it just for the Lynyrd Skynyrd name.

When I first heard this record, the name Lynyrd Skynyrd was only slightly familiar, and I had never heard any of their music before. I loved it the first time I heard it, and was quite melancholy when my room-mate, whose disk it was, moved away and left me once again Skynyrdless. Finnaly, I went looking for it around town, but could only find Thyrty, a box set of two disks. I only listen to disk two, which is very good, but I still miss Twenty.

In short, this is a wonderful CD, and my favorite rock album. Buy it! (For me.)

TWENTY is Skynyrd's first great studio album since the crash. The opener, "We Ain't Much Different", "Never Too Late", "O.R.R.", and "None Of Us Are Free" are powerful, socially-concious appeals for peace, unity, and change, "Home Is Where The Heart Is" is a travelling song, and "Bring It On", "Talked Myself Right Into It", and "Berniece" provide pure-blood barroom rock & roll. "Voodoo Lake" portentously describes a rural witch. The other tracks aren't particularly noteworthy, but the ones mentioned above more than make up for them.

Although there are 3 members from the REAL Skynyrd in this "new group", it just doesn't have that signature Skynyrd sound. The only reasons to buy this CD is for "Travelin' Man", in which (due to today's recording technology) Johnny Van Zandt gets to sing with his late brother Ronnie, which I found very moving. The only other song that even comes close to being worthy to bear the Skynyrd name is "Bring It On".