Customer Reviews

Dedication the Very Best of

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This is a good selection of Thin Lizzy songs for any newcomer. If, however, you are a Thin Lizzy fan you realize there is a lot of great music that did not make this disc. Thin Lizzy, despite enjoying broad popularity is still more of a cult band. This could easily have been a two disc set, but this represents more of what someone must believe to be the bands "hits". If you would like a sampling of the band this is a fair place to start, but better yet I would advise you to try BAD REPUTATION, JAILBREAK, THUNDER & LIGHTNING, CHINA TOWN, or RENEGADE.

There are tracks from the guitarist that played with the band during the Decca and Mercury years here, from Eric Bell, Gorham & Robertson, and then sadly enough dropping off the Warner Bros. releases, which featured Snowy White, Gary Moore, Midge Ure, and John Sykes. The fact that the WB songs aren't here, save "Chinatown", is what makes this a weak collection. The songs that are here are good, but the band has so much more killer material that just isn't here.

So, if you have to have everything, this is a must. If you want to sample Thin Lizzy, this is a good start. If you are looking for a more definitive Thin Lizzy disc, please try one of the afore mentioned discs. Be careful, though, it is easy to become addicted to the lyrics, singing, and twin lead guitars that Thin Lizzy offers.

Thin Lizzy went through several changes in their style through the years. Unfortunately, the Eric Bell years are only represented by Whiskey in the Jar and The Rocker on this collection. Both are great songs and deserve to be on their greatest hits but there are many more songs from their first three albums that belong also. The two songs that are the most out of place are "Showdown" and "Still in Love With You". They are good songs however they are the slowest of the collection. For those only familiar with Thin Lizzy from "The Boys are Back in Town" and "Jailbreak", there are plenty of selections showcasing the twin guitar sound that made Gorham and Robertson famous. If you enjoy that sound you will love "Fighting My Way Back", "Bad Reputation", "Waiting for an Alibi" and "Don't Believe a Word". I would not want to be the one to decide what songs made it on a Thin Lizzy greatest hits collection because I could never narrow it down to just one CD. The one thing I would add is at least one or two live cuts. Thin Lizzy was a great live act(from what I have heard-I was too young to see them) and many great live tracks can be found on other collections and on their two live albums. For those who are Thin Lizzy fans and have some of their albums, the British version of "Dedication" contains some nice surprises and offers up a different selection.

This video captures the essence of one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. It features vintage Lizzy tracks like "The Rocker" and rocks through all the hits, including "Boys are Back in Town", "Bad Reputation", and several others. Great footage of Scott Durham and Eric Bell's dualing guitar stage antics, and of course, Phil Lynott's tough, charismatic stage persona. A must for anyone who likes real rock and roll. END

While looking through the reviews, I noticed that all of the reviews were written by americans and most were not complimentary. You dont seem to realise that Thin Lizzy were pioneers and their music was conceived when our country was in the deepest of deppressions. So picture this, you are living in a small island, an island with a tiny income, an island with a backward industrial system, an island with massive unemployment and an island with outward emmigration so high that the population of ireland had not grewsince before the great famine! (Phil Lynott was actually born when his mother was in england looking for work).And then Thin Lizzy emerge, a group of extremly talented musicians, fronted by the showman and patriot, Phil Lynott. This does not happen often, when these individuals meet and produce music of the caliber contained in dedication. Thin Lizzy were the light at the end of the tunnel for several million Irish. And in further defence of the group, I recall that someone accused Thin Lizzy of being Folk Rock... But that is exactly what they are musicians for the folks, musicians for the people, musicians for the Irish. And so I draw my review to a conclusion, that my review is an imposter, it really is a patriotic message for people to understand that Thin Lizzy were much more than musicians.

This video is a mass collection of Thin Lizzy videos. It stars in the Eric Bell era with "Rocker" and "Wiskey in a Jar", travels through the Gorham Robertson era with "The Boys are back in Town", "Jailbreak", "Don't Believe a Word", "Bad Reputation", "Dancing in the Moonlight", and "Rosalie(live)". Then it is off to the Gorham Moore days with "Waiting for an Alabi", "Do Anything You Want", and "Sarah". Lastly the Gorham White team on "Chinatown" and "Killer on the Loose". Lynott joins Moore's solo cut "Out in the Fields", and lastly a collection of video clips to the Gogham and Downey remake of the Late Philip Lynott's "Dedication". The Last days of the band with Gorham and Sykes have no video footage. Most of the videos have a relaxed atmosphere with Goham taking over the vocals at the end of "Sarah" as a joke on studio videos. The drum guitar footage betwwen Gorham and Downey is great on "Chinatown" and Gary Moore cuts it up (pure speed) on the solo for "Out in the Fields" with camera angles down and up the neck of his guitar.

The video has surprisingly high quality footage -- perhaps they made the video from film stock. It has a great selection of Lizzy tracks, all of the UK singles that I could recall and probably some album tracks. Caveat: While I love Lizzy and find this tape a nostalgic trip back to my teens, for those encountering Thin Lizzy for the first time, the footage is going to look pretty dated. Several sections look like they come from the BBC's Top of the Pops TV program -- which means mimed performances, and lame audience dancing (worth seeing though for a laugh though :^D ). Having seen Thin Lizzy live, this tape does not come near capturing the energy and pure magic of their stage performance -- but it is still very good. The sound quality was not great in a couple of places (probably due to the old media that was used?). That said, if you already like Thin Lizzy this really is quite wonderful. One scary note: when I was young Phil (...what a terrible shame he is no longer with us :( ) looked so mature and hip, now I look at this footage and think, wow he was still so young (but he was real cool!). Great to see and hear Brian Robertson (playing a strat. and an old metal Kramer in some shots!) -- boy did he look young (only 17 when he joined the band you know). Scott (layed back Californian dude) and Gary Moore (high energy) also put on great performances too. Not forgetting "the man at the back -- Brian Downey on drums!" -- the bleached hair streak in the early footage was an odd moment! The footage includes the original video for Sarah and Waiting For An Alibi that were shown on Top of the Pops (rather than mimed live performances) -- those were the days....

This was my first Thin Lizzy CD and it introduced me to a bunch of loud, fun, rock'n'roll tunes. This, as with any other "greatest hits" collection, can be faulted for not including this or that, but as an initiation to the band (which is what this should primarily be looked upon as) this certainly fits the bill. This compilation may not encapsulate every musical styling that the band produced over the years, but it does capture the sense of fun and contains some musically strong selections.

The songs on here are a linear look at Thin Lizzy's progression over the years. While their eponymous first album is not represented, we can still see them turning from a hard bluesy/folk combo to a guitar-lead sound with very strong metal influences. The testosterone and macho posturing are there from the beginning though, and they greatly contribute to the overall fun. This is music to listen to in the car with all the windows rolled down. Power-chords, strong bass-lines, and lyrics to shout along to. What more does good rock'n'roll need?

Thin Lizzy underwent many lineup changes over the years. The liner notes show six different sets of musicians created the music here, the only two constants being drummer Brian Downey, and, of course, singer, song-writer, bass-player, guitarist, keyboard-player and black Irishman, the late, great Phil Lynott. It's Lynott's musical presence that held the band together through massive personal changes.

Lynott's lyrics bounced between surprising sensitivity all the way to complete over-the-top masculinity. We go from "Still In Love With You", a nice bluesy song with heartfelt lyrics about lost love, over to "Fighting My Way Back" which is (unsurprisingly) a song about how much fun kicking up can be. Other topics that the lyrics touch on include busting out of jail, the lure of being a cowboy, and a wild woman who's one step ahead of the singer. There's also a cover of a Bob Seger song, and a reworking of a Traditional Irish folk song. For a band that often seems to be remembered for only one song, Thin Lizzy covered a lot of musical ground.

DEDICATION is a great place to start. It's where I started, and since then I've been slowly collecting more of Thin Lizzy's back-catalog. Re-listening to this album before and during the writing of this review reminded me that I really need to dig out some of my other Thin Lizzy CDs for a listen. I can't wait.

I would say that this compilation is a teaser or an appetizer. With many bands and artists there will be enough with a "best of" album but that's not the case with the great Thin Lizzy - the world's most underrated rock band. Most of the hits are included like "The boys are back in town", "Waiting for an alibi", and "Don't believe a word". One cd is way too little or short to really capture the greatness of Thin Lizzy, and the fact that "Dedication" have the ambition to cover the band's whole career makes it obvious that some songs shouldn't be included, and many more are sadly excluded due to time space. The main reason to get "Dedication" is for that particular song (previously unreleased) and for those who really like Thin Lizzy there's no other way than getting all their work from 1975 to 1983.

In my opinion the early years (1971-1974) were categorized by a lack of musical direction, and it wasn't until the release of "Fighting" in 1975, Thin Lizzy found their classic sound. Before that, the band had obvious problems finding their identity and even `tho I know that some people love the early Thin Lizzy you should be aware that it sounds almost like a different band.

Thin Lizzy put together some great songs. They are remembered for Phil and his poetry as well as the great lead guitar work. They also had one of the best drummers in rock music and some of the best rhythm guitar around. Beside having such great musicians, they jelled together so well to define the Lizzy sound. I find their music to be quite magical.
The album starts with Eric Bell on 2 songs, and he really rips it up on "The Rocker". 12 songs cover the period when the guitar duet of Brian 'Robbo' Robertson and Scott Gorham defined the Thin Lizzy twin lead guitar sound. Gary Moore is Featured on 2 songs and Snowy White on 1. Lastly Scott Gorham and Brian Downey finished the track 'Dedication' previosly recorded by Phil when he was with Grand Slam.
The album leaves holes. No songs from "Thunder and Lightning" with John Sykes (The last of the Thin Lizzy guitar masters), or "Renegade" nor the first two albums. This album covers a good layout of songs with the limited time. I once recorded my own "Thin Lizzy - Greatest Hits". My version was 4 hours 30 minutes. If you are new to Thin Lizzy, this album may help you find times in Thin Lizzy history in which you may want to buy the full studio albums.

Dedication, this sums up Thin Lizzy's career. Through poverty stricken Ireland in the 1970's, through a laundry list of line-up changes, Lizzy rocked through thick and thin. This greatest hits album is a window into this underappreciated rock-n-roll heavy weight. It maps many of the band's diverse facets through the turbulent `70s and into the `80s, from their earlier purportedly "softer" sound to their more well known tough and rough hard rock. Some people complain that it covers too much ground and missed other great songs, but in all honesty that is what is so great about Lizzy and this album-the diversity. Seeing as Lizzy is one of the greatest rock bands of all time one can't expect for every great song to be on one album.
Where to start? Well, first "The Rocker" is classic Lizzy with Lynott's empowering vocals and the ripping duel guitars interwoven. Lynott speaks from the heart when he boldly proclaims "I'm a ROCKER!" "Still In Love With You" sheds light on a more sensitive side to Thin Lizzy with Lynott's soothing groovy bass line, soulful vocals, and the intricately interwoven signature guitars. On the drums Brian Downey funked it up with a high hat groove under one of the solos. Their most popular cut, "The Boys Are Back in Town," offers images of crazy summer parties and showcases-as usual-the guitars. A personal favorite, "The Cowboy Song" exudes a bluesy southern rock vibe reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd, solos and all. "Dancing in the Moonlight" illustrates yet another classic Lizzy characteristic, sass. This groovy jam features an airy tenor sax and a wah-leaden guitar with a steady walking bass underneath it all. "Dedication" caps the album off with a bang. A previously unreleased and notably heavy cut screams Lizzy. The pumping drums and firey-fingured guitar licks drive the CD to completion and Lynott's lyrics give a grand sense of closure as an ode to all fans who appreciate Lizzy's dedication to classic and heavy rock, in terms of metal and in terms of musical proficiency. I highly recommend this album to any and everyone who is "dying for dedication." Of course this is just a small sampling of this band but it is a fantastic introduction.