"This album was done for the love of music and for the love of those who are in Rock'n Roll Heaven".
Così recita l'appassionata dedica riportata all'interno del booklet di "1991", disco che segna il ritorno sulla scena dei Lynyrd Skynyrd, con riferimento naturalmente a Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines e Cassie Gaines, i tre membri scomparsi quattordici anni prima nella tragedia aerea di Gillsburg e ad Allen Collins, stroncato da una polmonite nel 1990.
La reunion della formazione in realtà risale al 1987 e inizialmente l'intenzione dei "nuovi" Skynyrd era quella di tornare in tour per una serie di concerti-tributo suonando esclusivamente brani di repertorio: solo in un secondo tempo si decise di tornare in studio per incidere un disco di inediti. Il proibitivo ruolo di successore del mai troppo compianto Ronnie Van Zant, come cantante e principale songwriter, viene ricoperto dal fratello del front man Johnny con risultati più che discreti, pur tenendo presente l'impossibilità per quest'ultimo di reggere il confronto con il predecessore. Il resto della band è composto quasi interamente da componenti storici del gruppo: ritroviamo con piacere Gary Rossington e Ed King alle chitarre, Leon Wilkeson al basso, Billy Powell alle tastiere e Artimus Pyle alla batteria.
La ricetta musicale dei Lynyrd Skynyrd resta pressochè invariata: viene confermata la scelta che tanto successo aveva portato in passato di ricorrere a tre chitarre, con il nuovo arrivato Randall Hall ad affiancare i due sopra citati e non smettono di rivestire un ruolo di primaria importanza le tastiere e i cori femminili, capaci in diverse occasioni di addolcire le atmosfere dei brani. Il sound rimane quindi saldamente ancorato alla tradizione del Southern Rock, nel segno della continuità con tutto ciò che era stato portato avanti dalla band fino al 1977. Nascono così episodi particolarmente riusciti come "Smokestack Lightning", energica e coinvolgente, così come "Southern Women" e "It's a Killer". Non mancano naturalmente le ballate, come nella migliore tradizione Skynyrd: "Pure & Simple" e "Mama (afraid to say goodbye)" riescono nel loro intento di emozionare l'ascoltatore, anche se certamente non ai livelli praticamente irripetibili di una "Freebird" o di una "Tuesday's gone".
Il disco in definitiva è buono, un'iniziativa particolarmente ammirevole da parte di grandi musicisti vogliosi di rimettersi in discussione con un nuovo e ambizioso progetto. Certo, manca la magia dei primi lavori dei Lynyrd Skynyrd, ma non la genuinità e la grande voglia di fare musica, sempre nel ricordo degli amici passati prima del tempo a deliziare le platee del paradiso del rock.
Elenco tracce e testi
02 Keeping The Faith (05:17)
Are you a saint then don't be a stranger
Were you sent down from Heaven to show me the way
And if you ain't then I see a danger
You better take a minute and hear what I've got to say
(chorus)
'Cause I'll keep on tryin' to put it straight to you
You better give it straight to me
'Cause most women seem to have a good time
Makin' a fool out of me
I'm keepin' my faith I've made up my mind
I've got nothin' left to lose just lay it on the line
I'm keepin' my faith yea I'll find the one
Who won't steal me blind who won't turn and run
I'm keepin' my faith I'm trustin' in you
So don't treat me like those other ones do
Ain't no gettin' 'round it tell me to my face
Do you think I'm a fool for keepin' my faith in you
I'll treat you right I'll do you better
I won't disappoint you I won't make you cry
My friends tell me if you let her
She'll empty your pockets she'll spend you dry
(repeat chorus twice)
05 I've Seen Enough (04:30)
(G. Rossington, J. Van Zant, K. Custer, R. Johnson, M. Lunn)
You got to lock your doors, keep the world out
We're closin' ourselves in
If you watch the news it'll scare you to death
To Hell and back again
The only justice here's at the wrong end of a gun
Got the criminal makin' the laws got the good men on the run
I've seen enough
We don't own anything we've got we've givin' it all away
But that don't make no sense to me you know who's gonna pay
It's the man in the factory workin' twelve hours a day
The woman workin' in the restaurant with another kid on the way
(chorus)
Isn't anything in this life sacred anymore
We can't lose what we've got it's worth fightin' for
I've seen enough, I've seen enough to make a grown man cry
A man's standin' by the road a sign in his hand
He don't want your charity he says I ain't no begger man
All I need is a chance to get back on my feet
But we just pass him by well it could be you or me
I've seen enough
I ain't the kind to just sit back and watch the world go 'round
It's not too late to change let's turn this shit around
(repeat chorus)
06 Backstreet Crawler (05:30)
(R. Hall, E. King, G. Rossington)
I snuck around the corner he had his guard down
I threw the first punch that's when he hit the ground
To survive in the street you gotta win the first round
'Cause if you want eat you gotta be the baddest one around
I'm a backstreet crawler
Daddy paid for college I earned a degree
Got a job up on Wall Street
Where I learned to make the little man bleed
That's when I got stomped like a cattle stampede
Had a nervous breakdown all my friends and family left me
(chorus)
Yeah I'm a backstreet crawler
When you see them on the concrete it's their spirit that's harder
Yeah I'm a backstreet crawler
Where your ego meets defeat and your pride can't get no smaller
Yeah I'm a backstreet crawler
Yeah I'm a backstreet crawler
(repeat)
I guess you might say it sure is a shame
I used to have everything oh how my life has changed
Yeah I'm broken and torn I've never been free
Lost everything that meant a thing to me
(repeat chorus)
11 End Of The Road (04:40)
(T. Cerney, E. King, G. Rossington, J. Van Zant)
It was a late night show in Georgia
We were on the 'ol highway
We know we've lost some friends
And family on the way
But you know we all feel better
And it makes it worth our time
To know our bus is rollin' towards
That Mason-Dixon line
(chorus)
Oh we can't seem to find the end of the road
Roots never grow on the seeds that we sow
We've still got our music and so many miles to go
You know we can't seem to find the end of the road
We know we've got a legacy that's hard to live up to
But there's still a lot of reasons
Why we play these songs for you
It's a family tradition and as long as we're around
That Freebird keeps on flyin' and it never will come down
(repeat chorus)
Oh we can't seem to find the end of the road
Roots never grow on the seeds that we sow
We can't seem to find the end of the road
No matter how far we travel it always seems to slow
We still got our music and so many miles to go
You know we can't seem to find Lord the end of the road
The end of the road
Carico i commenti... con calma
