Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live From Freedom Hall

Yay, just what the world needed, another live greatest classics hits release by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Look, I love Skynyrd, have for decades, but I am getting tired of people keeping Skynyrd stuck in a box from the 70's.

With the exception of three songs ("Travelin' Man" from 1997's album Twenty, "Workin'" from 1999's Edge of Forever release, and "Red, White and Blue" from 2003's "Vicious Cycle) this is 12 songs from the early days of typical classic they always play. I love the classics, but how many live albums of them do we need?
This band has put out album after album of great songs since their 1991 reunion. They have a large modern catalog of songs, which in my opinion are as good, and in many cases better, than the classics. When will the world move on and let the new band spread it's wings and fly? Sure, they need to play a few of the true classics in concert every time, but 12 out of 15 songs? I personally don't think so. The total track list for this release is as follows:

Travelin' Man
Workin'
What's Your name
That Smell
Simple Man
Down South Jukin'
The Needle and the Spoon
The Ballad of Curtis Loew
Gimme Back My Bullets
Tuesday's Gone
Call me the Breeze
Sweet Home Alabama
Free Bird

I would love to see a new live album with the reverse track listing....give me 12 new tracks and three classics. And radio stations don't help any. When was the last time you heard a new Skynyrd track on the radio?

Now, the thing that does make this release a little more special, is it is from one of the last recorded shows before the passing of long time keys player Billy Powell and bass player Ean Evans, both of whom passed in the early months of 2009, as well as this being filmed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the plain crash. So, this release is special in that matter, and the whole band still have the chops and work it hard as usual. You can pick this up in at least three formats: CD only, DVD only, or a CD/DVD combo set (which is what I grabbed).

I just wish the band would be recognized for the amazing music career they have had for the past 20 years, instead of forcing them to live in the past. I LOVE NEW SKYNYRD!