On August 21, 1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd took the stage at Knebworth Park in England as part of a daylong festival. With Ronnie Van Zant on vocals and the Rossington/Collins/Gaines triple guitar attack, Lynyrd Skynyrd delivered an electric performance in front of a crowd estimated between 150,000 and 200,000, which has gone down as one of the band's greatest performances…

Universal Music are to release a five-CD super deluxe edition of the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s film Almost Famous (released in 2000). The semi autobiographical comedy drama follows the exploits of a young Rolling Stone journalist as he tours with the (fictional) band Stillwater. It was well-received at the time and won plenty of awards including a Best Original Screenplay Ocscar for Crowe.

So named because this consists of Skynyrd's earliest recordings and was released after the tragic plane crash, thereby seeming to close the door on the band's career, Skynyrd's First and… Last is more than a simple historic curiosity, but not too much more. This music is more notable for being interesting - in how it's possible to hear Ronnie VanZant coming into his own as a writer, or hearing future Blackfoot leader Ricky Medlocke's early songs - than it is for being good, which it certainly is. Taken on its own, separated from the rest of the group's catalog, this would likely be seen as a great forgotten hard rock album from an obscure Southern outfit, but since Skynyrd went on to greater things, this winds up as a footnote - enjoyable, yes, but not quite necessary.

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 (who, after all, discovered them), the group turned out a record that replicated all the strengths of the original, but was a little tighter and a little more professional. It also revealed that the band, under the direction of songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, was developing a truly original voice. Of course, the band had already developed their own musical voice, but it was enhanced considerably by Van Zant's writing, which was at turns plainly poetic, surprisingly clever, and always revealing. Though Second Helping isn't as hard a rock record as Pronounced, it's the songs that make the record…

Sometimes, expanded Deluxe Editions don't seem to have much of a purpose outside of marketing: the second disc will contain a clearinghouse of B-sides and remixes or a live show, not adding much to the story of the original album. That's not the case with the Deluxe Edition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's final album, Street Survivors – it's a Deluxe Edition that fills out the final chapter of the original band's career by presenting the complete original version of the album, recorded with legendary producer Tom Dowd at Criteria Studios but scrapped when the group's live sound engineer Kevin Elson argued that these versions sounded lifeless.

Street Survivors appeared in stores just days before Lynyrd Skynyrd's touring plane crashed, tragically killing many members of the band, including lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant. Consequently, it's hard to see Street Survivors outside of the tragedy, especially since the best-known song here, "That Smell," reeks of death and foreboding. If the band had lived, however, Street Survivors would have been seen as an unqualified triumph, a record that firmly re-established Skynyrd's status as the great Southern rock band. As it stands, it's a triumph tinged with a hint of sadness, sadness that's projected onto it from listeners aware of what happened to the band after recording. Viewed as merely a record, it's a hell of an album. The band springs back to life with the addition of guitarist Steve Gaines, and Van Zant used the time off the road to write a strong set of songs, highlighted by "That Smell," "You Got That Right," and the relentless boogie "I Know a Little." It's tighter than any record since Second Helping and as raw as Nuthin' Fancy.

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 (who, after all, discovered them), the group turned out a record that replicated all the strengths of the original, but was a little tighter and a little more professional. It also revealed that the band, under the direction of songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, was developing a truly original voice. Of course, the band had already developed their own musical voice, but it was enhanced considerably by Van Zant's writing, which was at turns plainly poetic, surprisingly clever, and always revealing. Though Second Helping isn't as hard a rock record as Pronounced, it's the songs that make the record.

Gold & Platinum was compiled by Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, the two surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, after the band's tragic plane crash of 1977. Though many years have elapsed since its 1979 release, the double-record set remains the best, most concise compilation of the groundbreaking Southern rock band. Over the course of two albums, all of Skynyrd's hits – "Sweet Home Alabama," "Free Bird," "Saturday Night Special," "What's Your Name," "You Got That Right" – are featured, as well as essential album tracks like "That Smell," "Down South Jukin'," "Gimme Three Steps," "I Know a Little," and "Tuesday's Gone." Some great songs like "Workin' for MCA" are missing, and the four-disc box set may be more comprehensive, but it's hard to imagine a better, more concise greatest-hits collection than Gold & Platinum.

Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 is the sixth studio album by American Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was the band's first new studio album since 1977's Street Survivors and the first following a 1977 plane crash that claimed the lives of three members of the band. Lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and lead guitarist Steve Gaines perished in a 1977 plane crash in Mississippi, and Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 is the first album to feature their replacements, vocalist Johnny Van Zant and guitarist Randall Hall. It also marks the return of original guitarist Ed King, who parted ways with the band while touring in support of Nuthin' Fancy in 1975. It was also the final Lynyrd Skynyrd album to feature drummer Artimus Pyle, who survived the crash. Guitarist and founding member Allen Collins also survived the 1977 plane crash but died in 1990 from chronic pneumonia.