When it comes to southern rock a man can have no better credentials than being a member of the Van Zant family. Of course the most noted member of the clan was and will always be Ronnie, erstwhile front man with market leaders Lynyrd Skynyrd, and, encouraged by their big bro's uncompromising talent, younger siblings Donnie and Johnny were soon to hitch their wagon to the burgeoning southern music scene; the former as frontman with .38 Special and Johnny with his own unit called simply the Johnny Van Zant Band. Signed to Polydor Records in 1980 Johnny was quick to team up with legendary producer and original Skynyrd A&R man Al Kooper to cut this blistering debut album. Drawing from his southern roots and Skynyrd's fiery guitar fuelled legacy the music is a hot burrito of fuel injected riffing (aided and abetted by twin lead guitarists Robbie Gay and Eric Lundgren) and the kind of down home back porch rocking that brings to mind the best work of Skynyrd, .38 Special, Marshall Tucker and the Allman Brothers Band. Look out for 'Standing In The Darkness' a poignant and touching tribute originally written as a poem for late brother Ronnie, surely one of the finest closing tracks on any southern rock album.