The band still rocks. It has hardline lyrics of common people dealing with common issues. If you cant relate to this music, then try the ballet.

When you first hear the pounding drums of "Saturday Night Special", you know you're in for a great ride. Then and Now is an excellent compilation of older Skynyrd hits (performed live) and some cuts from their latest albums. The live songs (taken from the album Lyve From Steeltown) rock just like classic Skynyrd. "Preacher Man", from Edge of Forever, is definitely one of the best post-plane crash songs, with an inspired wah-wah guitar solo from Ricky Medlocke. "Tomorrow's Goodbye" is a great ballad in the tradition of "All I Can Do Is Write About It" and "Tuesday's Gone". I do have a few complaints though. Surely it wouldn't have killed the band to include some previously unreleased material for the hardcore fans who already own these songs. Also, only one track from 1997's excellent Twenty is included here. There are plenty of other great songs on Twenty besides "Voodoo Lake", such as "O.R.R.", "Travelin' Man", and "We Ain't Much Different". They could have squeezed a few more songs on here. All in all, an excellent compilation, but a better listening experience would be had by buying the albums these tracks were taken from.

Lynyrd Skynyrd "Then and Now" is a collection of material from previously-released albums. The label, Sanctuary/CMC, has done one of these "Then and Now" cd's for virtually every artist on their roster. The releases these songs come from are a 1997 studio album called "Twenty," a 1998 double-live set called "Lyve from Steeltown" and the 1999 studio effort "Edge of forever."

The following cuts are from the live release: Saturday Night Special, That smell, Simple Man, Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird.

"Edge of forever" is represented with the following studio tracks: Workin', Preacher Man, Tomorrow's Goodbye, Gone Fishin.'

One cut from "Twenty" makes it on here: Voodoo Lake. I think it is solely for the purpose of having something to represent here.

I give this four stars for a couple reasons. People have said that this album is a cheap compilation to make a buck and that people ought to buy the original albums. For someone who is a casual fan though, this is a fairly economical set. It runs about $10, not too bad considering most of the time the two studio albums that this cd pulls music from are about $15-17. The double live album, "Lyve from Steeltown," normally retails for more than $20. And you are getting what is essentially the cream of the crop from each of these releases. The five live cuts here are arguably the best five songs in the Skynyrd catalog, so obviously, it's the very best stuff from that live album. Remember that there was a long band interview padded on to that live release, too. Sanctuary/CMC made a very good choice in their song selection off of "Lyve from Steeltown." Let's see you try pulling better live cuts off that release than Freebird or Sweet Home Alabama. Most casual fans have never heard those live, even some more serious fans may not have picked up any live material.

There is only one cut here from "Twenty," but so what? Most people consider "Edge of forever" a better album, anyway. If someone wants to hear more from "Twenty", they could pick up "Then and Now II" (which also has 'Red, white and blue' plus cuts from the 2004 live album), they could get another compilation called "Turn it up", there's a cd called "Extended Versions" (some cuts from 'Twenty', some from 'Steeltown') or they could just buy "Twenty." The song, Voodoo Lake, stands up to anything else on that album. The band performed it live for a long time after "Twenty" came out, including the original release of "Lyve from Steeltown." It's not album filler, by any means.

The songs from "Edge of forever" are arguably the best from that disc. Two of them were played on the radio. There is also a fairly nice ballad on there, too. I've said enough. As for people saying Ronnie Van Zant would be turning over in his grave, well here is the thing. Who better to replace a late lead singer than his brother? Hmmmmm, I'm waiting...........time's up!

The fact this cd only contains ten songs may be brought up, but you can't use that argument. Some of these live cuts are pretty long, making the running time over 60 minutes for ten songs. They filled this cd pretty well.

The cover art looks nice, though the back cover does not specify which songs are live, so I can see where somebody thinks they may be getting originals. The album booklet, however, does tell you precisely where each of these songs originally came from, probably in case somebody wants to go hunt down those original albums.

If you are the type of person who only might plan on buying a Lynyrd Skynyrd greatest hits cd (with music from Ronnie's era), you could also consider picking up this one, which touches fairly well upon the later-day lineups.

Granted, if you have the three source albums that make up "Then and Now", this is not necessary, unless you are a completist or like new cover art or liner notes.

This is just the next in a long line of poor post-accident Skynyrd efforts. Why do they keep on releasing new C.D.'s and touring under the name of Lynyrd Skynyrd? This band is only the remnants of Skynyrd.

You don't see the three surviving Beatles trying to tour under their name and claiming to be as good as the original. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Allen Collins must be rolling over in their graves. KEEP THE OLD MUSIC ALIVE, but stop trying to profit from the legendary status of the original band.

Without Ronnie I don't even know who they are, they're a complete different band. They should use another name, nothing like classic Skynyrd. Long live the originals, you would never know they're the same band. As Artimus Pyle says, now it is all about the money. He says Ronnie would roll over in his grave if he saw what the have done to his band, that is why Artimus left the band.