Hey folk,

Recently, it was the 32nd anniversary of Phil Lynott's death and being only familiar with the hits and a few odd live songs handed down by my dad, I decided to check out as much of Thin Lizzy's work as I could. All I can say is if you're stuck listening to "Jailbreak" and "The Boys Are Back in Town" all your life, you're missing out. While I've yet to dive into their first three records or their last two, I can safely say TL have earned themselves a spot as one of my favorite bands. Their guitar tone is spectacular and Phil's lyrics are superb. Unlike a lot of "smart" lyrics, they don't come off as clumsy or pretentious, they flow perfectly with the music. Phil mastered wordplay and subtlety - to my ears even better than folk legends like Dylan or Neil Young. Guy was a real poet.

What do you guys make of them? How is their later work? Are Lynott's solo efforts and Grand Slam albums worth the time?

At one time, I considered the riff for "Cold Sweat" to be THE most epic metal riff ever composed. This track is on one of their later albums, I think 1982's "Thunder and Lightning." And even to this day, maybe its not the most epic metal riff ever, but it's certainly up there, at least as far as albums from that particular time period. Other than that, you know it's weird, I never really considered Thin Lizzy to be a pure metal band at all, but they clearly had some great stuff, both metal and otherwise, and you can't ignore how great a band they really were.

Yeah, they aren't really a "metal" band, at least from what I've heard so far. Black Rose, which I've been told is their heaviest album certainly isn't metal. It doesn't matter too much though. I'll have to check Cold Sweat out. Sounds great. Lizzy have always had great riffs, metal or not.

Metal or not (I vote not, although I have no real issue with them being on the archives. They are pioneers and deserving ) they are one of the greatest. That run of five records from Fighting->Black Rose is fucking insane. The only Thin Lizzy record I've never been able to get into in all the years and years I've been listening to them is "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage".

I did initially never check them out because of my hatred for "The Boys Are Back In Town", but Thunder And Lightning is pretty fuckin rad.

His first solo album is a must have, no doubt. The second is all pop, and maybe not really his style, but fantastic songs non the less.

'Thunder and Lightning' could MAYBE be considered a metal album. And it happens to be one of my faves from them. Don't have all their stuff, but the albums I have are great. Even 'Renegade' has some cool songs.

And they had a great influence on Iron Maiden. Can't deny that.

Thin Lizzy are my favorite classic rock band with Black Rose being one of my favorite albums in general. No weak songs, epic title track, masterful Gary Moore's guitar playing, it's got everything.

Thin Lizzy is a band that I would probably consider one of my favourites of all time, if not my favourite, even though I've passed the point of listening to them obsessively. I'll forever tie them to an old girlfriend of mine, being young, moving out for the first time, etc I'd probably say that Bad Reputation is my favourite album, but you really can't lose if you choose anything from Fighting all the way to Black Rose, although I still love some of the later stuff from Chinatown, Renegade (the title track is one of their best songs) and of course Thunder and Lightning.

Phil sure knew how to spin a yarn, and of course the music itself spanned quite a diverse offering of melodic rock, heartfelt ballads, funky rock and roll, blues rock, epic protometal, etc. I mean even if you get into them for the pre Maiden harmonized lead guitars, there's so much more here to appreciate. I still listen to them at least a couple times a year.

I'd love it if a mod could clear up which album got them on the archives. Thin Lizzy have certainly been a big influence on many metal bands on metal, from Brocas Helm to Iron Maiden (as someone has already said). I think they may have also had an impact on Judas Priest in some regard. The way Priest used their guitars certainly changed at around the same point as Lizzy got big. Anyone else agree?



I'll check them both out then. Phil could bang rocks together for half an hour and I'd give it a shot. I'm sure he'd find a way to make it good at least.



Moore's guitar playing on Black Rose is fucking astonishing. Intricate leads and rhythms. Shame he only stuck around for one album really.



I'd +1 all that.

Bad Reputation is very diverse but amazing. You've got bits of funk and rock mixed with Lizzy's signature sound. It's pretty much a flawless album. I can't decide if I like it or Black Rose better, at least so far. I've given both a few spins each so far.

Thunder and Lightning

I actually prefer their mid-early albums over the later stuff - "Vagabonds" in particular. Though it is a mixed bag you just can't beat the title track or the bassline of "Gonna Creep Up On You." Also dig the album "Nightlife" - it has a great scuzzy 70's late night smoove-feel. And of course "Fighting" has the incredible slow numbers "Wild One" and the heartbreaking "Spirit Slips Away."

'S&M' and 'Sarah' are both weak to my ears. That said, the rest of the album is fucking stunning. I always thought Scott played better than Moore for the most part, mind.

Oh, Thunder... is a metal album, I'd say. To quote Vivian Basterd it's "very metal" for its time.

Thanks man. I'll check it out today.



From the scant tracks I've heard from that era, it doesn't look like a bad album but it's far removed from the Lizzy sound I know. The lack of guitar harmonies upsets me.



S&M is killer man, shame you don't like it. The whole album has great baselines but S&M's takes the cake for me.

what i find interesting about Phil's solo album is that it seems like its just a collection of random songs he wrote over the years that never just got released.

I love Thin Lizzy...from Nightlife through Thunder And Lightning the stuff is just stellar.

Don't discount the early stuff. It's clever power-trio stuff like Jimi Hendrix Experience, but but more rooted in reality. The second album is a bit odd, but the self-titled and Vagabonds are great. Eric Bell was a very good guitarist, shame he got fed up with the business. Listen to The Rocker (studio, not just L&D) for an insane solo that just goes on and on and never lets up, and one of my favourite solos (after that very rare thing, a Lynott bass solo), in The Hero and the Madman.

I would say actually, after that, Lizzy progressed more and more toward a pure heavy metal sound with each album. Chinatown and Renegade are arguable as messing that simple analysis up, but they have heavy monuments (Angel of Death!) and the guitars are buzzy with lots of ovedrive. But Thunder and Lightning just shreds. And Scott Gorham keeps up with John Sykes: brilliant solo in The Sun Goes Down (also thanks to the late Chris Tsangrides).

Thin Lizzy are about the coolest fucking band to ever exist. Every album is worthwhile, though Shades... and Renegade get the least attention from me. Who knows what would have happened in heavy music if Lizzy and Wishbone Ash never existed?

Nightlife I think is definitely underrated, one of my favourite Thin Lizzy albums. It's literally incredible front to back.

Thin Lizzy is the one band stupid snobby critics say are underrated that actually IS underrated. Thunder & Lightning is essential to any metal fans collection. Jailbreak through Black Rose for any rock fans collection. Matter of fact, all of those albums are essential for anyones collection.

Gonna give a shout-out to Philomena for great harmony leads, solo, and Phil doing his best Oirish accent for his mam (who is still alive, tragically outliving her son).

8 years ago I got into Thin Lizzy huge. Went up and down their discography deep. Favorites are Thunder and Lightning and Black Rose. Fighting, Jailbreak, Live & Dangerous, and Vagabonds are also great. I even think Lynott's solo albums, while not anything like Lizzy's style, are still fun, off-beat listens.

Now here's another question since I believe the vast majority here will praise the band's classic era. Does anyone think the post-Lynott eras of the band have any worth to them? Seems to be just keeping the name alive for money. This band has so many compilations and even now there's a live incarnation that's basically a couple holdover members during the 80s (Gorham's always been attached for the reformed live bands). Still feels like a cover band more than anything.

Nightlife is fantastic. Philomena is a stand-out for me, as well as She Knows & Sha-La-La.

I saw them live fronted by John Sykes in 2003. He's a great singer, and since he was up there with Scott Gorham it seemed like a fine tribute to Phil. Why shouldn't they keep the songs alive?
They've not written any new material under the name. If they got a black guy to play bass and sing lead, then it would a shameless cover band. I think they're a lot more authentic than what May and Taylor pull with their "Queen +" stuff.
It's surprising Sykes left, and they have a new singer/guitarist Ricky Warwick, along with keyboardist Darren Wharton. They did have Downey back but apparently now they have Scott Travis, who I love but Downey is a very creative drummer so I'd love to see how he shapes up to taking on his parts.

Should also say that people talk about Lizzy's twin lead harmonies as massively influential, but listen carefully to the twin rhythms on something like the Jailbreak album. They do some really clever, subtle things with different voicings that really I don't think any of the "twin guitar" metal bands who followed them really do anywhere near as well.

Agree with all of this. I also love the little instrumental Banshee. The climax at the end of Showdown, God, it's all so good!

Yeah... no. Call it blasphemy if you want but I went through Thin Lizzy's entire discography and I simply could not wait for it to fucking be over. It was so damn boring and now that I've given the band one chance I don't plan to ever revisit any of their records. They're not underrated, they're just not that good to hook most of the people.

To be honest, I haven't heard many of their albums in full yet, but I'm familiar with tons of their songs from that classic run of albums, Nightlife (1974) on through to Chinatown (1980). Also, some early songs with the original lineup; ex. "The Rocker," and "Whiskey in the Jar," and a small portion from the last two albums, Renegade, and Thunder and Lightning, that I've heard in passing. Live and Dangerous is of course, one of the greatest live rock albums of all time. Jailbreak, in particular, is just a perfect album to me. Not entirely sure why they're on the archives, (though I guess the consensus is that last album qualifies them) but I don't mind it really. If I had my way, there'd be tons of hard rock bands from the 70s on here as well. But anyway, Thin Lizzy rules. Just outright amazing songs and musicianship. Phil Lynott was such an incredible poet and lyricist, an outlaw romantic, and a mean bass player too. I'd love to get all of their albums on vinyl at some point.

Well of course you'll get bored if you sit through Shades of a Blue Orphanage to understand why people think Thin Lizzy are so important in rock and metal. Why force your way through a whole discography? Just listen to Jailbreak and Thunder and Lightning and if you don't like those, just listen to someone else. You don't have to like everything.

Because this is M-A, here we do things scientifically. Metal is serious business, no "feelings" or "I like what I like" here!

I "forced" myself through an entire discography because I had heard nothing by them before and I wanted to know if there was anything that I might like. I don't care about overall review scores or popularity of the albums so the only way left for me was to listen to the whole thing.

Also, Opus - you did not quote the reply correctly and lmao at your attempt of being ironic.

I'm gonna admit, it took me a bit before TL really clicked with me. I always heard about how amazing the harmonized leads are, and my favourite songs when I first checked them out where there ones that really played that up, like For Those Who Love to Live, or their harder edged stuff like Suicide or Ballad of A Hard Man. But really this is just one piece of the puzzle. Personally, if I had to pick a song as my absolute favourite, I might have to say Fight or Fall or maybe Old Flame. Lynott just had a knack for writing lyrics that were accessible and completely unpretentious without being corny, lyrics that really got you into the story it was trying to tell and were emotionally impactful. Anyway, Lich, if you were ever curious to try again, you might wanna pick an album and just kinda get to know it, personally for me it was Fighting. Once I got into that one, the rest were a revelation.

Well, I guess I might try it someday. Thanks for the suggestion.

Fighting is amazingly good. I second this.

I think Nightlife was my first Thin Lizzy album. Not a good start. It's decent but not what you'd consider a proper entry if you want to get into the band.

Fighting was the one I listened to after it and that click with me. "Suicide", "Fighting My Way Back", and "Ballad of a Hard Man" are some good shit. That's the one that made me know what I was going to be in for with this band's albums.

Even I haven't done that with bands I love. I still haven't listened to Shades of a Blue Orphanage and have no intention to.

Guys, please stop it. I think the band sucks and it's not the fault of one single album. I don't even remember how that album sounds like but it can't be worse than Liturgy's The Ark Work so I don't think it was that much of a challenge to sit through it.

If you hate the band so much, why are you even here? More importantly, why are you still replying to the thread?

Also yeah, Liturgy are hot garbage. Weird to bring them up here though.