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.

Whether it be on the banks of the Mississippi River or deep in the heart of the English countryside, rock 'n' roll lives, breathes, and burns on the outskirts. Hailing from Rome, GA, at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, The Georgia Thunderbolts rise up with a scorching signature style steeped in soulful southern swagger. On, Can We Get A Witness, their full-length debut for Mascot Records, the quintet—TJ Lyle [vocals, harp, piano], Riley Couzzourt [guitar], Logan Tolbert [guitar], Zach Everett [bass, keys], and Bristol Perry [drums]—conjure a tried-and-true spirit through a fresh fire.

Raging Slab's first major-label album is pretty interesting in retrospect, in that it's both of its time and very clearly a harbinger of the future – which of course is all the more bemusing in that the band was so clearly inspired by the past more than anything else. The quintet's obsession with '70s rock trudge and stomp – perfectly evident with song titles like "Shiny Mama," "Get off My Jollies," and "San Loco" – pretty soon would get full validation in the grunge explosion and even the nü-metal fallout later. The clipped blasts of feedback on the verses of lead single "Don't Dog Me" aren't that far removed from what Ross Robinson would oversee in later years, while some of the massed harmonies at points – "Geronimo" is a great example – easily foreshadow Alice in Chains' take on it.

Creedence Clearwater Revival (often referred to as Creedence or CCR) was an American rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s which consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, his brother rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed the roots rock, swamp rock, and blues rock genres. They played in a Southern rock style, despite their San Francisco Bay Area origin, with lyrics about bayous, catfish, the Mississippi River, and other popular elements of Southern United States iconography, as well as political and socially conscious lyrics about topics including the Vietnam War…

Tejas is the fifth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in late November 1976. The title is a Caddo language word meaning 'friends', which is the origin of the name of the band's home state, Texas. On Tejas, ZZ Top countrified the bluesy posture of their previous albums, resulting in a slight detour between the madcap spirit of Fandango and the psychedelic strut of Deguello. While the album lacks any singles as strong as "Tush" or "La Grange," "Arrested for Driving While Blind" is one of ZZ's classic anthems, capturing the group's wacky humor and jaunty good-time boogie. Other highlights include the driving "Enjoy and Get It On," "Avalon Hideaway," and the fine instrumental "Asleep in the Desert."

Make no mistake, Willy & the Poor Boys is a fun record, perhaps the breeziest album CCR ever made. Apart from the eerie minor-key closer "Effigy" (one of John Fogerty's most haunting numbers), there is little of the doom that colored Green River. Fogerty's rage remains, blazing to the forefront on "Fortunate Son," a working-class protest song that cuts harder than any of the explicit Vietnam protest songs of the era, which is one of the reasons that it hasn't aged where its peers have. Also, there's that unbridled vocal from Fogerty and the ferocious playing on CCR, which both sound fresh as they did upon release.

On January 10, 2014, a star-studded tribute concert to Gregg Allman directed by Don Was was held at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. All My Friends showcases this show in double-CD/single-DVD and, in light of the subsequent announcement that the Allman Brothers Band would retire at the end of 2014 in the wake of the twin departures of Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, it gains a certain sense of poignancy…

ZZ Top returned after an extended layoff in late 1979 with Degüello, their best album since 1973's Tres Hombres. During their time off, ZZ Top didn't change much – hell, their sound never really changed during their entire career – but it did harden, in a way. The grooves became harder, sleeker, and their off-kilter sensibility and humor began to dominate, as "Cheap Sunglasses" and "Fool for Your Stockings" illustrate. Ironically, this, their wildest album lyrically, doesn't have the unhinged rawness of their early blooze rockers, but the streamlined production makes it feel sleazier all the same, since its slickness lets the perversity slide forth. And, forget not, the trio is in fine shape here, knocking out a great set of rockers and sounding stylish all the time. Undoubtedly one of their strong suits.

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.