It's funny that this write-up calls the Atlanta Rhythm Section "the radio friendly version of Lynyrd Skynyrd" because one of the ARS's real rockers, "Large Time," name-checks Skynyrd right in the song, talking about how they "played Macon, Georgia, with Lynyrd Skynyrd/It was a rock 'n' roll hoedown."T hat's about as close as these guys get, though. Very tasteful, very accomplished, ARS was the Dixie version of Toto, a bunch of studio musicians who trotted out their own songs after hours when they'd finished playing on other people's songs. The licks and beats and melodies are polished and professional, but apart from a little regional flavor ["Doravill e"] they didn't have anything to say, as hits like "So into You" and "Imaginary Lover" recycled jive '70s clichǸ.This isn't to say that the ARS couldn't produce passable songs, and unlike Toto's offerings, most of them don't trigger the gag reflex. Actually, the band's roots lie in the 1960s pop act Classics IV, with "Spooky&qu ot; being the hit (later redone as the ARS). A Rock 'n' Roll Alternative wasn't really that, but it did have "So into You" on it along with "Sky High," "Georgia Rhythm," and a crunchy cover of "Outside Woman Blues" that owed a lot to Cream's version and that showed that, when prompted, this band did have substantial firepower. They flashed that again on the follow-up album Champagne Jam, which featured, along with "Imaginary Lover," "Large Time," the tasty title song, and the closing "Evileen,& quot; the one about the bad woman with the good-lovin' ways.None of it, however, will make you forget Skynyrd, let alone the Allman Brothers, which should put paid to any thought that these guys are worthy of the Hall. Check out "Large Time," though