I hate Shinedown. No, I loathe Shinedown. They anger every single creative fiber of my body and make bashing my head in with a rusty hammer seem a reasonable solution. They are hacks, in the truest sense of the word hack.
Lynyrd Skynyrd wins this, and it's not even close. It's a travesty these two should even be compared in my mind. Skynyrd is so much better than Shinedown, it's just scary. They're on the exact opposite side of the quality music spectrum.
Simple Man is one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever written, and probably my favorite Skynyrd song (Tuesday's Gone is a close contender for that honor). I'll take the emotion in Ronnie Van Zant's voice over Shinedown's entire discography multiplied by a thousand thank you very much.
I cannot describe how very much Lynyrd Skynyrd's version destroys Shinedown's cover. Simply destroys it beyond belief.
Skynyrd. All the fucking way.
