Bad Reputation

Thin Lizzy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001FTA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,153 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

amazon.com

That much rock & roll excess and that little sleep--it would be enough to ruffle anyone. Thus Thin Lizzy decamped to Canada to unwind from a year of incident and illness. There they produced Bad Reputation, which sounds, if not exactly laid-back, then at least damn smooth. Phil Lynott was confident enough to loosen Lizzy's atomic boogie and open his writing to jazz and folk influences, while the band, despite shifting membership, sound tighter than ever, playing with a new delicacy and thoughtfulness. Scott Gorham emerged here as a genuinely original guitarist, Tony Visconti's production sharpens the edges, and the title track, "Southbound," and "Dancing in the Moonlight" are among Lizzy's best. --Taylor Parkes

Product Description

Bad Reputation is the eighth studio album by the Irish band Thin Lizzy. Released in 1977, it featured "Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" which was a UK hit, reaching #14 in the singles chart in September 1977 Teaming up with the legendary producer Tony Visconti, Thin Lizzy managed to pull of a nifty trick of sounding leaner and tougher than they did on previous releases, creating an album that rivals Jailbreak as their best studio album. This expanded single disc has been remastered and now comes with 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks taken from a session recorded for the BBC. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thin Lizzy - Didn't know how good we had it, July 20, 2006

By 

J-Dogg (WI/IL, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Reputation (Audio CD)

Don't know what you got until it's taken from you.
What a band and what an album.
Again, you CAN'T go wrong purchasing this album.
From strength to strength.

1. Soldier Of Fortune- Typical loose and powerful Thin Lizzy. Love those guitars!

2. Bad Reputation - Listening to Scott Gorham play on Bad Reputation seals the deal.

3. Opium Trail - One of the few leads Brian Robertson plays. Solid.

4. South Bound - Incredible. One song I NEVER get tired of playing at loud levels

5. Dancing In The Moonlight - Surprisingly my least favorite track, and it's still great!

6. Killer Without A Cause - Powerful and pounding. Didn't Iron Maiden lift the riff on this one? Well, kinda : )

7. Downtown Sundown- Great tune, Slowing down the pace. Awesome bass work throughout.

8. That Woman's Gonna Break Your Heart - A slight hiccup. Not bad but not great either.

9. Dear Lord- Phil exorcising his demons. Back to form again!

A solid chuck of 70's hard rock music.
Almost 30 yrs later this album shows the power and intensity these guys had.
Go get all of Thin Lizzy';s stuff and see what quality is all about.
Get hooked now!It's not too late!

Phil Lynott RIP. I wish we still had you with us. Your music has meant so much to so many people.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT, February 11, 2002

By 

Michael Courtney "exiled01" (San Antonio, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bad Reputation (Audio CD)

Just okay! I think not, go listen to your Springsteen albums will you. This is perhaps the best package Thin Lizzy ever released! Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson cook on guitars to start and Phil Lynott has penned some of his most memorable tunes. The playing on this is as masterful as any Thin Lizzy album, but here, as with JAILBREAK, every song clicks. There is magic everywhere. C'mon even Huey Lewis on harmonica, at the time Clover had been touring some with Thin Lizzy.

OK! To pick a favorite song I would have to go with "That Woman's Gonna Break Your Heart", which is a wonderful ballad. There's the almost bluesy "Dancing in the Moonlight" and "Southbound". Then there are great rockers like "Soldier of Fortune", "Bad Reputation", and "Killer Without a Cause". Then there is "Dear Lord", which strangely enough is stupendous even though it is full of doubt and concern. A listen to this disc should provide almost everyone with a song they could like, or, maybe like me you'd hock all your Springsteen to have something this good in your collection!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dear Lord, it doesn't get any better, May 31, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Bad Reputation (Audio CD)

I can't think of another band that influenced me in my youth the way these guys did. I consider them the best rock band of all. I know Phil wrote the occasionally awful line, and at times the songs were just downright peculiar ("S & M" off "Black Rose" comes to mind), but the unique sound and look of the band set them apart, and gave them a unique, singular voice.

Here is Thin Lizzy again offering very diverse material, songs that kick you in your butt ("Bad Reputation", "Opium Trail", "Soldier of Fortune" and "Killer Without A Cause"), what could be considered religious songs ("Downtown Sundown" and "Dear Lord", songs I find incredibly heartfelt, beautiful, and at times, awkward. God bless you, Phil), and pop songs with great guitar licks ("Southbound", "That Women's Gonna Break Your Heart" and "Dancing in The Moonlight", my least favorite track on the album). Not what you would expect from what everyone was saying was a "hard rock" band.

When I consider that Thin Lizzy released the following 4 STUDIO albums consecutively...."Jailbreak" (1976), "Johnny the Fox" (1976), "Bad Reputation" (1977) and "Black Rose" (1979), and when I listen to them now, scratches and all, ....I think that Thin Lizzy is still my favorite rock band, and I wish to god I could play guitar like Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson, and be as cool as Phil Lynott. These 4 albums are rock nirvana to me.

If push came to shove, I consider "Bad Reputation" their best album. It is more Scott Gorham than Brian Robertson, and for that,I give it up to Scott Gorham. But I wish the two would have stayed together, especially when you hear them together on "That Woman's Gonna Break Your Heart".

My biggest regret was not seeing them on November 1st, 1977 at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee WI, in support of this album. I was 14 at the time, and Thin Lizzy wasn't as popular as some of the other bands back then. Nobody really wanted to go to the show with me, and when your 14 you don't really feel comfortable going alone. As such, I never got the chance to see this band live, in person. But I hear that Scott Gorham and John Sykes have their version of Thin Lizzy touring this summer (with a date in my hometown, no less. Maybe I can fly there to see them).