Lynyrd Skynyrd Second Helping (Analogue Productions) 180g LP

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Get ready for some Southern hospitality, courtesy of Analogue Productions, Quality Record Pressings and one of the hardest-rocking bands to ever grace a stage! With a catalog of over 60 albums and sales beyond 30 million, Lynyrd Skynyrd remains a cultural icon that appeals to all generations.

Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote the book on Southern rock with their first album, so it only made sense that they followed it for their second album, aptly titled Second Helping. Sticking with producer Al Kooper, the group turned out a record that replicated all the strengths of the original, but was a little tighter and a little more professional. But it also revealed that the band, under the direction of songwriter Ronnie VanZant, was developing a truly original voice. Of course, the band had already developed their own musical voice, but it was enhanced considerably by VanZant's writing, which was at turns plainly poetic, surprisingly clever, and always revealing.

This 1974 album produced the group's biggest hit single, "Sweet Home Alabama". The single reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974 while the album reached #12 on the Billboard Album charts. Selections also include "Don't Ask Me No Questions" and "The Battle of Curtis Loew".

180-gram vinyl, mastering by Kevin Gray, lacquer plating by QRP's Gary Salstrom, heavy, tip-on gatefold jacket. None better.

Though Second Helping isn't as hard a rock record as Pronounced, it's the songs that make the record. 'Sweet Home Alabama' became ubiquitous, yet it's rivaled by such terrific songs as the snide, punkish 'Workin' for MCA,' the Southern groove 'Don't Ask Me No Questions,' the affecting 'The Ballad of Curtis Loew,' and 'The Needle and the Spoon,' a drug tale as affecting as their rival Neil Young's 'Needle and the Damage Done,' but much harder rocking. This is the part of Skynyrd that most people forget - they were a great band, but they were indelible because that was married to great writing. And nowhere was that more evident than on Second Helping.

Van Zant sang this pissed-off answer to Neil Young's 'Southern Man,' and even Young loved it. 'I'd rather play 'Sweet Home Alabama' than 'Southern Man' anytime,' Young said. The admiration was mutual; Van Zant wore a Young T-shirt on the cover of Skynyrd's final album, Street Survivors, and according to legend, he is buried in the shirt.

Musically, this nestles alongside Little Feat and The Allman Brothers Band - deservedly high praise.