God & Guns is the thirteenth studio album by the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on September 29, 2009.
The single "Still Unbroken" was released on July 27, 2009 followed by another track, "Simple Life", on August 4, 2009. "Still Unbroken" was written after the death of original bassist Leon Wilkeson in 2001.[3] It was the theme song of WWE’s Breaking Point PPV event and is featured on WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010.
"God & Guns" was the last Lynyrd Skynyrd album to feature the band's longtime keyboardist Billy Powell, who died in January 2009. Ean Evans, who had replaced Leon Wilkeson on bass, also died before this album came out. The late Hughie Thomasson (Dec. 2007) had contributed to the writing of many songs, but recording did not begin until 2008 and he does not play on the album. This album is the first with guitarist Mark Matejka. The album features guitar work from John 5.[4]
Although neither was present on the album, the CD booklet contains a picture of the group with the two new members: Peter Keys on keyboards and Robert Kearns on bass.
The album's title comes from its eighth track, "God & Guns", written by Mark Stephen Jones, Travis Meadows and Bud Tower, which was later covered by Hank Williams Jr. for his 2016 album It's About Time. The lyrical shift from "Saturday Night Special" to "God & Guns" has been taken into account by band member Johnny Van Zant, who explained how the song was not a direct contradiction to "Saturday Night Special."[5]
God & Guns peaked at #18 on the U.S. Billboard pop charts, the band's highest-charting studio album since 1977's Street Survivors.[6] As of 2012, the album has sold 182,000 copies in the United States.[7]
Critical reception
Robert Christgau gave the album a C+ grade, stating: "'You can take your change on down the road/And leave me here with mine,' Johnny Van Zant begins one of the two songs that take up the title theme after has run through the pleasures of home, the perfidy of woman, and the mixed blessings of the music business for the umpteenth time. Like the wary younger sibling he's always been, Johnny will always hold onto a quarter and settle for what he knows, or thinks he does. Really, he ought to have some inkling that nobody worthy of his trepidation wants to ban hunting, burn the Bible, or slam old Uncle Sam, although actually that no smoking sign means exactly what it says. On the other hand, 'Unwrite That Song' would make a nice B side for Darius Rucker."[8]
