Thin Lizzy Albums (16)
'Live One Night Only'
Release Date 3/2/2001
Tracks 13
Label CMC International
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Boys Are Back in Town: Live in Australia'
Release Date 12/7/1999
Tracks 8
Label Crown Japan
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
For this album Thin Lizzy went all out and recorded what is arguably the heaviest album in their career, partially due to the intricate guitar work of John Sykes (who would later work with Whitesnake and form his own group called Blue Murder). Phil Lynott's voice is in top form on the album, which contains "Holy Wars," "Cold Sweat," and "Baby Please Don't Go." ~ John Book, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
After the release of Renegade, Thin Lizzy's popularity dwindled considerably, but this 1982 album did fare well among other releases by Judas Priest and the Scorpions. It features "Angel of Death," "Hollywood," and the popular title track. ~ John Book, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The band enter the '80s in high fashion with a well-produced and performed album, featuring the hit "Killer on the Loose." Snowy White replaced Gary Moore for this release. ~ John Book, All Music Guide
'Black Rose: A Rock Legend'
Release Date 1/1/1979
Tracks 9
Label Metal Blade
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Black Rose: A Rock Legend would prove to be Thin Lizzy's last true classic album (and last produced by Tony Visconti). Guitarist Brian Robertson was replaced by Gary Moore prior to the album's recording. Moore had already been a member of the band in the early '70s and served as a tour fill-in for Robertson in 1977, and he fits in perfectly with Lizzy's heavy, dual-guitar attack. Black Rose also turned out to be the band's most musically varied, accomplished, and successful studio album, reaching number two on the U.K. album chart upon release. Lizzy leader Phil Lynott is again equipped with a fine set of originals, which the rest of the band shines on -- the percussion-driven opener "Do Anything You Want To," the pop hit "Waiting for an Alibi," and a gentle song for Lynott's newly born daughter, "Sarah." Not all the material is as upbeat, such as the funky "S&M," as well two grim tales of street life and substance abuse -- "Toughest Street in Town" and "Got to Give It Up" (the latter sadly prophetic for Lynott). Black Rose closes with the epic seven-minute title track, which includes an amazing, complex guitar solo by Moore that incorporates Celtic themes against a hard rock accompaniment. Black Rose: A Rock Legend is one of the '70s lost rock classics. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
'Live and Dangerous'
Release Date 1/1/1978
Tracks 17
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Released in 1978, just as the hot streak starting with 1975's Fighting and running through 1977's Bad Reputation came to an end, Live and Dangerous was a glorious way to celebrate Thin Lizzy's glory days and one of the best double live LPs of the 70s. Of course, this, like a lot of double-lives of that decade -- Kiss' Alive! immediately springs to mind -- isn't strictly live; it was overdubbed and colored in the studio (the very presence of studio whiz Tony Visconti as producer should have been an indication that some corrective steering may have been afoot). But even if there was some tweaking in the studio, Live and Dangerous feels live, containing more energy and power than the original LPs, which were already dynamic in their own right. It's this energy, combined with the expert song selection, that makes Live and Dangerous a true live classic. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
If Thin Lizzy got a bit too grand and florid on Johnny the Fox, they quickly corrected themselves on its 1977 follow-up, Bad Reputation. Teaming up with the legendary producer Tony Visconti, Thin Lizzy managed to pull of a nifty trick of sounding leaner, tougher than they did on Johnny, yet they also had a broader sonic palette. Much of this is due, of course, to Visconti, who always had a flair for subtle dramatics that never called attention to themselves and he puts this to use in dramatic effect here, to the extent that Lizzy sounds stripped down to their bare bones, even when they have horns pushing them forward on "Dancing in the Moonlight" or when overdubbed vocals pile up on the title track. Of course, they were stripped down to a trio on this record, lacking guitarist Brian Robertson, but Scott Gorham's double duty makes his absence unnoticeable. Plus, this is pure visceral rock & roll, the hardest and heaviest that Thin Lizzy ever made, living up to the promise of the title track. And, as always, a lot of this has to do with Phil Lynott's writing, which is in top form whether he's romanticizing "Soldiers of Fortune" or heading down the "Opium Trail." It adds up to an album that rivals Jailbreak as their best studio album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Thin Lizzy found their trademark twin-guitar sound on 1975's Fighting, but it was on its 1976 successor, Jailbreak, where the band truly took flight. Unlike the leap between Night Life and Fighting, there is not a great distance between Jailbreak and its predecessor. If anything, the album was more of a culmination of everything that came before, as Phil Lynott hit a peak as a songwriter just as guitarists Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson pioneered an intertwined, dual-lead guitar interplay that was one of the most distinctive sounds of '70s rock, and one of the most influential. Lynott no longer let Gorham and Robertson contribute individual songs -- they co-wrote, but had no individual credits -- which helps tighten up the album, giving it a cohesive personality, namely Lynott's rough rebel with a heart of a poet. Lynott loves turning the commonplace into legend -- or bringing myth into the modern world, as he does on "Cowboy Song" or, to a lesser extent, "Romeo and the Lonely Girl" -- and this myth-making is married to an exceptional eye for details; when the boys are back in town, they don't just come back to a local bar, they're down at Dino's, picking up girls and driving the old men crazy. This gives his lovingly florid songs, crammed with specifics and overflowing with life, a universality that's hammered home by the vicious, primal, and precise attack of the band. Thin Lizzy is tough as rhino skin and as brutal as bandits, but it's leavened by Lynott's light touch as a singer, which is almost seductive in its croon. This gives Jailbreak a dimension of richness that sustains, but there's such kinetic energy to the band that it still sounds immediate no matter how many times it's played. Either one would make it a classic, but both qualities in one record makes it a truly exceptional album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
