The Ones That Got Away - Lynyrd Skynyrd

It can't be easy carrying around the name Lynyrd Skynyrd and it would be easy for the band to rest on their laurels and become another "greatest hits" act but credit to them despite being down to one surviving original member they not only keep the flame alive but have been knocking out some good new material of late.

I really enjoyed 2009's God & Guns even if lyrically some of the songs were a bit too redneck for comfort (and at odds with the message from the likes of Saturday Night Special). I missed the fact that the follow up Last of a Dyin’ Breed came out last summer but picked it up recently and have found it to be another great slice of Southern Rock with enough of a modern edge to it to keep it fresh and not dated.

Lyrically we are still somewhere deep in redneck country and many of the songs veer from the depressing (Life's Twisted, Nothing Comes Easy) to the borderline sexist (Honey Hole?!) but that doesn't stop them being a collection of good rock songs. Probably best not to over think them I suspect...

There might not be as many stand out tracks as on God & Guns, bit the likes of One Day At A Time and the potentially cheesy but very emotional Ready To Fly show that Skynyrd should not hang up their cowboy boots quite yet...