Search - All Collin :: Here, There&Back

Bona fide Southern Rock

L. Lawhead | SW Illinois | 06/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Allen Collins Band was an offshoot of Rossington Collins Band, which was an offshoot of the original southern rock masters Lynyrd Skynyrd. RCB had all of the surviving members of Skynyrd, except Artimus Pyle (drums). ACB has 5/7 of RCB, replacing Gary Rossington (guitar) and Dale Krantz Rossington (vocals) with Randall Hall and Jimmy Dougherty, respectively. Allen Collins (after becoming paralyzed) suggested Randall Hall as his replacent in the "post-crash" Skynyrd. Bottom line, these guys have the "bona fides", they certainly know what they're doing.I really enjoy this album a lot. All of the songs are solid, with great sound. The songs of the songs are mostly mid-tempo, with a couple of slower pieces. There's not really any "kick A**" songs, no "Freebird", no bar-fighting music. There's not really any "blistering guitar", but there is a lot of guitar, and plenty of licks and fills. The songs stick in your head, and the lyrics are an improvement over some of the RCB songs. Think of Skynyrd's 4th album: "Gimmie Back My Bullets". If you like that, you'll like this. Billy Powell's piano is particularly evident, he remains one of the signatures of the Skynyrd sound, and it's various offshoots. Allen Collins co-wrote 4 of the 8 songs here, including the standouts "One Known Soldier" and "Chapter One". This is more than any of the Skynyrd albums, except "Gimmie Back My Bullets". Jimmy Dougherty is fine as a singer, if not outstanding. He's not as "gruff" as either Ronnie Van Zant (Skynyrd) or Dale Krantz (Rossington Collins Band). His style fits the songs though.Long after it's release, "Here There and Back" remains one of my favorite southern rock albums. Yet I never heard anything about it when it came out. I just happened across it in a record store several months after it's release, and snapped it up because of the Skynyrd lineage. It remaines one of the great discoveries in my collection. If it had recieved any publicity at all, it would probably have been much better known. Good songs, good playing!"

Excellent Southern Rock

lefloater | 10/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The previous review by D R Toner tries to butcher the great efforts that were made on this CD. Maybe he should work more on trying not to butcher the english language, ie: spelling, and grammar! This CD happens to be an excellent combination of vocals, crystal clear guitar and drums. One can readily hear the influence of Lynyrd Skynyrd thanks to Al Collins. And, yes, I too have been to several of Skynyrd's concerts, and this CD just illustrates the influence that they had through Al Collins.

If you want to hear some great music, you can't go wrong with this CD."

Not a bad album

Gregory Masciola | Carol Stream, IL USA | 11/24/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"All in all, this album was OK. If you want to know how good it is compared to the Rossington Collins Band, it's not as good as their first album, Anytime Anyplace Anywhere, but better than their second one. A few of the songs that stand out on this album are "Time After Time" and "This Ride's On Me". The rest are OK, but there's kind of an emptiness to them. They don't have much soul."