Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gimme Back My Bullets (Original CD) CD Track Listing

A list by checkmate

Lynyrd Skynyrd Gimme Back My Bullets (Original CD) (1976)
1987 MCA Records, Inc.\n\nOriginally Released February 1976\nCD Edition Released ????\nRemastered Expanded Edition Released August 3, 1999\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: N/A\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nSkynyrd's Most Underrated Album, August 14, 1998\nReviewer: A music fan\nCritics seem to call this Lynyrd Skynyrd's worst album, and while it doesn't isn't as consistant as Second Helping or Street Survivors, the album is still very good. Part of the problem with this album is the horrible production by Tom Dowd. This sound is dull and muddy, making it a chore to listen to soundwise. Luckily, the music on this album is good enough to make you forget the horrible sound mix. Due to the fact that third guitarist Ed King had departed before the recording of the album, the LP has a more stripped down feel than any of Skynyrd's other albums. Highlights of the album are the beautiful ballads "All I Can Do Is Write About It" and "Every Mother's Son", and the rockers "Searching" and the title track. You can't go wrong with this album.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nAnother Great One From Lynyrd Skynyrd, September 8, 2002\nReviewer: A music fan\nThis co-second-best Lynyrd Skynyrd album is more acoustic and more reflective than their others. The title track is an anthem for anyone trying to return to a better state of existence (it kept my spirits up when I was very sick a few years ago), "Every Mother's Son" warns people not to to be too sure of their luck, "Trust" and "Cry For The Bad Man" serve as reminders that you have to beware of your so-called friends, "Double Trouble" and "Roll Gypsy Roll"are tales of life's ups and downs, "Searchin'" is about just that, and, finally, "All I Can Do Is Write About It" reminds the listener that he/she will feel/look better if we respect our planet. The only mediocre track is "I've Got The Same Old Blues",which doesn't quite fit with the others. Overall another great record from Ronnie & the boys.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nGive back my bullets...I feel naked without !, August 30, 2004\nReviewer: Burak Alkan (ISTANBUL Turkey)\nNuthin Fancy is an indicator that the band has taken wrong directions. In their Nuthin Fancy album what they did was hard rock. With Gimme Back My Bullets, they are on the right Southern Rock Trend. The Southern rock came to a choking point by the mid 70s, for, virtually, every sub-style was attempted and every fine tune created. Every Mother' Son bears resemblance to Simple Man on the debut. I love this song. Double Trouble, is a fine song as well, but more lively and vibrant. Searching is to be employed by the band in their many lyve efforts in the remaining days of the career of second non-trivial bands among the Southern rock bands. Check out the other songs to see why I have the opinion that the Southern rock genre had come to a halt. If you are a die-hard fan, yes, you get an essentially good album. But I suggest you go for the earlier efforts by these raunchy boys from Florida.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nDefinitely overlooked, May 28, 2004\nReviewer: Perbes (Madrid, Spain)\nLet me start by saying I tend to be fond of underrated albums by my favorite bands like The Who By Numbers, Led Zeppelin's Presence or Queen's second album, and Gimme Back My Bullets is another sample of it. Why this one is normally low-rated by fans of the true Lynyrd Skynyrd is beyond me. They probably blame it on the fact that the album is not as hard as the previous ones. So what? Doesn't a band deserve to evolute? \nOn this album Billy Powell's piano and organ are more present than on the others which adds variety to the music, like the acoustic guitars do as well.\n\nOkay, there's no hit singles here but then again it's not what makes a cd great. The quality is obviously present here and Ronnie's lyrics cut so deep, pointing the finger at those who were squeezing the band by forcing them to tour nonstop (the title track) or showing his fondness for traveling entertainers (Roll Gypsy Roll, by the way one of my favorite Skynyrd tunes). Ronnie's vocals and lyrics are so heartfelt and the arrangement so moving......mmm, can't play this song only once.\n\nDouble Trouble is an autobiographical lyric about the several times his rowdy behaviour while drunk had put him behind bars. The riff is great though not as much as in Cry For The Bad Man. How I love this one. Gary Rossington was not as fast guitarist as Allen Collins (We miss you man) but the solo is fantastic. Another kickass tune is the cover of I Got The Same Old Blues, the funkiest Skynyrd ever got. Cool slide solo by Gary and also a great harmonica break by Lee Freeman, at last credited. \n\nAh, I forgot another moving (Though not slow) song - Searching. That melancholic guitar intro and solo by Gary is fantastic, and the final solos by him and Allen makes you miss the classic Skynyrd sound instead of the garbage (Hurts me to be so blunt but it's the truth) the current band are doing nowadays.\n\nI also enjoy Every Mother's Son, Trust and All I Can Do Is Write About It, although not as much as the ones mentioned above.\n\nAll in all, a sadly underrated Skynyrd effort. The only complaint I have is that Ronnie's vocals are mixed so low. I'm still waiting for someone to clear this up.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nMy Favorite Skynyrd Album, May 28, 2004\nReviewer: L. Lawhead "LSquared35" (SW Illinois)\nGimme Back My Bullets is generally considered the least successful of the original Lynyrd Skynyrd albums, but it has always been my favorite. I rate it just slightly ahead of the essential "Pronounced". I remember staying up late as a teenager, to hear its midnight debut on the local radio station (WDVE, Pittsburgh), and buying it ASAP after that. \n"Bullets" is a transitional album for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Most obviously, it features a 2-guitar line-up, coming after the departure of Ed King, and a few months before Steve Gaines joined. The 2-guitar sound is a bit leaner that previous albums, but Collins and Rossington are more than capable of carrying the load! But it's also their first production with the legendary Tom Dowd replacing Al Kooper who had produced their first 3 albums. And it has the debut of the Honkettes, the female backup vocal group consisting of JoJo Billingsley, Cassie Gaines and Leslie Hawkins. \n\nGimme Back My Bullets is very much Allen Collins' record. Over the first 3 Skynyrd albums, the songwriting was spilt pretty evenly between the 3 guitarists (along with Singer Ronnie Van Zant, of course). Allen Collins co-authors 8 of 24 songs, Gary Rossington and Ed King each co-author 7. But Allen wrote many of Skynyrd's best songs, including "Freebird", "Gimme 3 Steps", "Tuesday's Gone" and "Needle & The Spoon". On "Bullets", Allen has songwriting credits (along with RVZ) on all 8 of the original songs (Rossington is also part of the team on 3 of the songs). \n\nMusically, "Bullets" didn't have any big hits, but does include several Skynyrd standards. All of the songs are great. The title track, "Double Trouble" and "Searchin" are all Skynyrd standards, along with the acoustic-ish "All I can Do Is Write About It". "Roll Gypsie Roll" is a reflective piece about life on the road, and one of my all time favorite songs. "Every Mother's Son", "Trust" and "Cry For The Bad Man" are all solid songs. There's also a cover of J.J.Cale's "Same Old Blues" that has a great, almost funky, feel. Trivia note: Lynyrd Skynyrd only did 2 covers on their first 4 studio albums, both were of J.J. Cale songs. The other was "Call Me The Breeze".\n\nIf you're a casual Skynyrd fan, start with "Pronounced", or the original band's live set "One More From The Road". But if you want to get deeper into the spirit of the band, this album can't be beat.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nMy Favorite Skynyrd album, March 7, 2003\nReviewer: A music fan\nThis is by far my most favorite Skynyrd album. It is most definitely the most underrated. I also feel that if you are a fan of the band, you should spell the band's name and the members' names correctly. In response to the person who wrote: "The wonderful Allen Collins lead guitar sound on "Gimme back my Bullets" is just A1-pure unadulterated Skynyrd too (how DID he get it?). " He didn't play the lead on the song Gimme Back my Bullets. Gary Rossington did. Anytime you hear that wailing, mournful guitar tone in a Skynyrd song, it's Gary, not Allen. Allen has a clearer, Clapton-esque sound. Try watching "Freebird, the movie" if you don't believe me. I agree that the original CD is lacking clarity in the mix. That's why I am purchasing the re-mastered CD. Oh BTW, there is NO filler on this album. Calling any of the songs on this album "mediocre" borders on blasphemy!\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nGood, but rather tired Skynyrd, May 9, 2002\nReviewer: Robin C. Smith (NY United States)\nSkynyrd lost a lot when they lost Ed King, whose lovely Stratocaster work was a great asset to the band. They also lost Bob Burns, who I have to admit I prefer as a drummer to Artimus Pyle (even if he had a dull name in comparison!) When this album came out I thought it not nearly as good as its predecessors, but being that I love the band this album will do just fine and it does have some real crackers on it. "Searching" is one of their best and "Cry for the Bad Man" has such a classic riff. The wonderful Allen Collins lead guitar sound on "Gimme back my Bullets" is just A1-pure unadulterated Skynyrd too (how DID he get it?). Live, "The Same Old Blues" was a real killer, but here it is a little perfunctory. Still, hearing the original version by JJ Cale is never the same after hearing this slide guitar laden version. Ronnie van Zandt's vocals are a little embarrassing on "Every Mother's Son" to put it mildly. He always did have a slight tendency to sing flat and they really should have re-recorded the vocals on this one. "Trust" is also a bit of a non-event. I am always a little touched by "All I Can Do is Write About It". Here Ronnie's lyrics are direct and straight from the heart. Van Zandt's lyrics will never win any awards for their intellectual quality, but they are demonstrably about something real and they are talking about a life hard lived, not some rock star ego trip. \nOn this album the band do sound a bit tired and as a result the output does not have the same verve or variety as their other albums, but it is still pretty good. Certainly anyone who likes the band will want a copy.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nGimmie Back My Bullets, April 23, 2001\nReviewer: Dave Kelley (Woodbury, Minnesota USA)\nI once read an interview with Gary Rossington and he felt Gimmie Back My Bullets was Skynrds worst effort. I would have to disagree. Sure "Pronounced,"Second Helping",Street Survivors are classic lps.I think Bullets captures the true nature of this band.u can feel Ronnie Van Zant struggling to hold on to his values during a time when the band was in flux with Ed King leaving the burnout of the road and the frustraion of dealing with "pencil pushers." This is the album I love to listen to when I'm pissed off about something and I think Ronnie and the boys were pretty ornry when they recorded it. The picture on the front cover shows how dishevled and wore out the band was from the "Torture Tours" and all the vices that occur when touring. This is a great album. I only wish they would have put the acoustic version of "All I can do is Write" on the reissue. I am thinking of having that song played at my funeral even though I'm a Yankee. Buy this disc and all the Skynyrd music you can.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nOh baby, straight to you!, April 2, 2001\nReviewer: Gavin Wilson (Thames Ditton, Surrey United Kingdom) \nAlthough there were perhaps no absolute classics on this album, never in the Skynyrd was there a clearer divide between quality and filler tracks. The same album that brought such gems as 'Gimme Back My Bullets', 'Same Old Blues', 'Cry for the Bad Man' and 'Searching' also included such mediocre tracks as 'Every Mother's Son', 'Trust' and 'Roll Gypsy Roll'.\nThis was where I joined the Skynyrd story -- it was the first LP of theirs that I bought. The CD desperately needed the remastering treatment that this edition has given it. The first generation CD, like so many, sounded worse than a home-taped copy of the LP. Here was a band who had deserted Al Kooper and deliberately chosen producer Tom Dowd because he always recorded a very clear drum sound. And yet the only time on the first-gen CD that Artimus shone from the dullness was on the cymbals at the start of 'Double Trouble'.\n\nThe band were missing third guitarist Ed King, but Collins and Rossington were highly competent guitarists themselves, and Collins in particular was a great writer of rock songs. The twin guitars of Thin Lizzy's 'Jailbreak' owe much to Collins & Rossington, in pose if not always in sound.\n\nHalf.com Album Notes (Remastered + Expanded Edition)\nLynyrd Skynyrd: Ronnie Van Zant (vocals); Allen Collins (acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars); Gary Rossington (acoustic, electric & slide guitars); Billy Powell (piano, organ, Clavinet, keyboards); Leon Wilkeson (bass, background vocals); Artimus Pyle (drums, tambourine, percussion).\n\nAdditional personnel includes: Barry Harwood (dobro, mandolin); Lee Freeman (harmonica); The Honnicutts (background vocals).\n\nProducer: Tom Dowd.\nReissue producer: Ron O'Brien.\nStudio tracks recorded at Capricorn Studios, Macon, Georgia and Record Plant, Los Angeles, California in 1975. \nLive tracks recorded at Bill Graham's Winterland, San Francisco, California on March 7, 1976. \nIncludes liner notes by Ron O'Brien.\nDigitally remastered by Doug Schwartz (Audio Mechanics, Los Angeles, California).\n\nPerhaps Lynyrd Skynyrd's most underrated album, 1976's GIMME BACK MY BULLETS was another inspired and consistent set from one of Southern rock's founding fathers. Like its predecessor, NUTHIN' FANCY, Skynyrd's fourth release didn't produce a hit single like its first couple of albums had, but there were several songs that subsequently became standards for the band. Highlights include the album-opening title track, which captures Skynyrd at their toughest, powered on by muscular guitar riffing courtesy of Gary Rossington and the late Allen Collins, as well as "Searching," the latter being included later in the year on ONE MORE FROM THE ROAD.
This rock cd contains 9 tracks and runs 35min 10sec.
Freedb: 67083c09
Buy: from Amazon.com

Categories

Latest lists

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gimme Back My Bullets (Original CD) CD Track Listing

Category

Tags

cyList

Legal