Customer Reviews

One Night Only: Live 1999

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Live albums, usually a lazy attempt to fulfill contractual obligations or fill the time between studio releases, have generally been a sloppy affair for most rock bands. Only a select few can claim the right to be "must-haves" in people's collections. In my eyes, the perfect live album achieves three things: it pumps new life and energy into an existing catalogue, it updates and refreshes the sound quality and sterility of the original studio recordings, and in the best possible cases, revitalizes interest in the members' bodies of work. Surprisingly, (considering the awkward circumstance of lacking their late founder,) Thin Lizzy's "One Night Only" does all these things beautifully. Yes, many say this not a true Thin Lizzy record without Philo. But how can you fault the earnestness and fire with which original Lizzy members John Sykes, Scott Gorham, and Darren Wharton deliver with the capable and furious backing of Marco Mendoza and Tommy Aldridge? Just last month, I caught the real thing at a small hall in the Midwest, and this album is an accurate, poignant document of what the 21st-century Lizzy is capable of. Old favorites "Jailbreak", "Rosalie", "Cowboy Song", and "Boys are Back in Town" jump out of the speakers with amazing new bite, and the oft-underlooked gems such as "Alibi", "Don't Believe a Word", and "Sun Goes Down" prove that Lizzy never had much album filler, just deftly crafted perfection. John Sykes not only does a competent Lynott impersonation, but offers a convincingly loving take on Philo's quirky vocal phrasing and "hey there, girls" throatiness. His guitar work is a delight (no disrespect to Robbo, Eric, or Gary, but Sykes was really the one who took the gunslinger gauntlet and ran with it!). If you've never heard Thin Lizzy before (other than the ubiquitous "Boys") and love well-written hard rock, this is an excellent introduction. If you are a die-hard Lizzy fanatic with serious bias against any cheap attempts at reformation, this recording should make you a believer that their music, no matter when or how it's executed, is still the best stuff around.....

I am always in search of good live albums (I prefer live to studio any day). I was never a Thin Lizzy fanatic, but I always thought they had some cool tunes, so I thought I'd give this one a chance when I read that Tommy Aldridge was the drummer and that Sykes' voice sounded just like Lynott's. This album totally ROCKS!! My only other TL album is the Live and Dangerous double-album. While that is a great album and is the "real thing", I always thought it would have been better if it was a little heavier (the drums are kinda wimpy in my opinion). Basically this album gave me what I wanted: TL classics delivered in a much heavier, grooving, head-banging style. And yes, John Sykes does an EXCELLENT job on vocals (much better Lynott impression than, say, Ripper Owens doing Rob Halford, which I rate about 6 on 10 scale). I would have to give Sykes at least a 9, it is totally impressive how much he is able to sound like Lynott. I will agree with another reviewer that Sykes' guitar playing, while awesome, sometimes does get a little overaccelerated. That is one area that is better on "Live and Dangerous". Scott Gorham's guitar on that album jumps right out at you, while on this new collection he does get a raw deal compared to Sykes. I disagree that Gorham is boring, though. He has a lot of soul in his playing, but his sound is really thin and buried on this album. (I also noticed that while he used to play a Les Paul he now plays a Strat, which quite frankly doesn't help. Sykes' Les Paul sounds 3 times as loud and clear as Gorham's muffled Fender). That, however, would be my ONLY complaint, and not enough to give it less than 5 stars.

First off, as a huge Lizzy fan I think its great that Gorham, Sykes and Wharton are touring as Thin Lizzy and playing these songs, mostly because I'm too young to have ever seen Lizzy with Phil Lynott. However, this CD is totally unnecessary--every single one of these tunes is available on Lizzy's other live albums with Phil singing, so unless you're a hardcore Lizzy fan there's NO reason to buy this when you can get the same songs with Phil and Brian Downey playing 'em live--get "Live & Dangerous" or, for the John Sykes lineup "BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert", which is awesome as well. However, having said that, this is a pretty good CD for what it is--the version of "The Sun Goes Down" is great and the playing is tight as you'd expect from Sykes and Gorham, although for some reason Gorham's guitar is mixed WAY too low. Not bad, but really don't bother unless you want to complete your collection.

On the rave recommendation of a close personal acquaintance (copyright: Rowan Atkinson) i picked up a copy of this "One night only" CD, Thin Lizzy's third official live album release after "Live and dangerous" (1978) and farewell offering "Life" (1983). Being neither an avid Thin Lizzy fan nor a great lover of live recordings (which might in fact have been helpful in regarding this item from an objective point of view), my expectations were not that high, in spite of several word of mouth endorsements. Although my take on both aspects has not changed as a result, i must admit that i quite enjoyed listening to this album. It is not the registration of a single, unique concert, as its title would perhaps indicate, but the culmination of a European tour which they absolved in 1999. For this purpose, three ex-Thin Lizzy alumni reunited and were joined by bass player Marco Mendoza and drummer Tommy Aldridge, who to the best of my knowledge have never been part of this legendary outfit's line-up. (Feel free to correct me if i'm mistaken.) Taking into account its members' obligations with other employers, i would suspect that Thin Lizzy (the next generation) is currently more of a project on the side than a newly formed band that is likely to persist for a long while.

At the risk of offending those for whom the late, great Phil Lynott is an object of worship, i must say that the man's vocal chords have not suffered profoundly from the experience of being six feet under since 1986 :-). Singer and lead guitarist John Sykes (Tygers of Pan Tang, Blue Murder, Sykes) does a wonderful impersonation job here. His voice bears such a striking resemblance to that of his rolemodel that he would be a prime candidate for any soundmix or karaoke show. The musicianship is excellent throughout the album, lending power and conviction to Thin Lizzy's all-time classic tracks as well as those songs that have passed their sell-by date in their original studio versions. There's lots of heavy guitars on offer for the discerning hard rock fanatic. (Who needs Gary Moore and Snowy White ?) Dare main man Darren Wharton's dexterous keyboard work is sublime as ever, as in his own way are Scott Gorham's understated six-string feats, while Mendoza (colleague of John Sykes in Blue Murder, where he replaced Lana Lane's Tony Franklin) holds his own on bass. The resident drum kit ends up on the wrong end of a severe beating at the capable hands of Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy Osbourne, M.A.R.S., Whitesnake). All dignitaries in other words perform above and beyond the call of mere duty. The atmosphere at times is electric, helping to make this an unusually gripping live document.

However tempting it may be to minutely compare "One night only" to its illustrious predecessors, i will refrain from doing so at great length. All i will say is that my personal preference goes out to "Life", contrary to a tendency among rock purists to consider "Live and dangerous" the superior album. Also, since "Life" was a double album, it offers a more extensive selection of songs than "One night only". Frankly i never understood the lure of "The boys are back in town", while in my humble opinion tracks like "Cowboy song", "Rosalie" and "Black rose" cannot belie that they are painfully average by today's standards, despite the fact that they benefit greatly from the harder-edged make-over they receive on this album. "What would you like to hear next ?", is a question i heard pose repeatedly. Well, if it had been up to me i would have dished out another serving of anthems like "The rocker", "Emerald", "Killer on the loose", "Mexican blood" and, especially, a larger number of songs off of their finest (and still latest) studio release, "Thunder and lightning". Such as "Holy war", "This is the one", "Baby please don't go" and its outstanding title track. But on the whole, "One night only" contains a solid arsenal of songs & plenty of variety, ranging from fierce, uptempo cuts ("Are you ready", "Cold sweat", "Suicide", "Bad reputation") to delightful, passionate ballads ("Still in love with you", their no. 1 masterpiece "The sun goes down"). Generally speaking, i feel Thin Lizzy have managed to breathe new life into most of their material, with the possible exception of those two songs from their "Thunder and lightning" album, which i'd rather hear in their virgin state, i.e. as studio tracks.

Cutting to the chase, i would have to acknowledge that this is a quality recording differing sufficiently from its two forerunners to warrant its release. It is a commendable effort deserving of large scale attention and well worth spending your hard-earned money on. Go to it !

if you had asked me ten years ago if thin lizzy should exsist after the death of philip lynott i would have screamed...HELL NO! but as the years have gone past music has gotten so bad that i almost welcomed the thought of some of the former members reforming as a tribute to his memory. i was still very cautious about purchasing this disc since i already own numerous live thin lizzy discs. i mean there are no new songs and all of these songs have been recorded live before so i thought, what's the point? i was blown away! first off, the energy of this band is amazing...you can tell that these guys love thin lizzy! second the sound quality is the best i've heard on a live recording in years... and john sykes singing is so close to philip lynott's that it's haunting! i got chills listening to him! if i had any complaints with this album it's the way they marketed it as featuring john sykes and scott gorham. every member of this band is as important as the next but whatever.... it's just a great album! i'm so sick of hearing old bands get back together and sound old and tired, these guys sound like a hungry band that could easily wipe the floor of any stage with the loser rock groups that are out there today! if you love loud hard driving rock n roll then i suggest you order this right now!

I hadn't heard John Sykes sing and play guitar live for quitesome time, and, as I hoped for, he has gotten better at both. I don'tmean this as a slight as his guitar playing and tone has always been among the best in the hard rock genre since his days with Tygers of Pan Tang and his singing has always been stylish, and he even does a great job with Whitesnake tunes when he tours as a solo artist or as Blue Murder. Tommy Aldridge (currently in Ted Nugent's touring band) is great on drums in his first appearence on a live CD in some time (since two Ozzy Live albums) and shines here, especially on the track Bad Reputation. Scott Gorham is an excellent guitarist, Marco Mendoza is a fine bass player (currently with Nugent as well) and Darren Wharton a fine keyboard player, but this is a showcase for John Sykes and for the fans of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy to celebrate the great songwriting of said band and performer. Catch this band live this year on their world tour. Hope to see you all in Las Vegas, San Diego and Albuquerque on the tour that starts in August (with Carmine Appice on drums). Let's all raise a toast of warm ale to the lawyers at all the record companies that finally let this CD and tour happen.

As a long time Lizzy fan I did my best to contain my exictement when I heard about this upcoming release. I felt if I got too exicted with the anticipation of this "new release" I couldn't help but be dissapointed when it finally did come out. Needless to say I was not dissapointed. First off Kudos to CMC International for having the balls to release a product of this nature ("reunion tour wihtout the original lead singer - not many record company's would touch that)... On to the music, as stated by an earlier review the sound is crisp and clean. I love Brian Downey but Tommy Aldrige snappy snare does add something to this music...Sykes and Gorham are fantastic (although if I had to pick something to whine about John Sykes goes alittle overboard with the whammy bar)...vocals are impeccable, John Sykes does a unbelievable job ... while you get a feel that his vocals are heavily influenced by the late lead singer he still delivered them with absolute passion, as though they were his own. Very good song listing and all the songs are performed with great excitement by the band...even after all these years! Only one complaint, why wasn't this crowd going bonkers...on one hand that is good because it doesn't disrupt the music but on the other, I don't know the crowd just did not seem into it (they didn't even howl during the "cowboy song") Overall a wonderful release, get it, get it, get it.

The proof in a band is would you go see them live. I would absolutely pay to see this band. With all the pop alternative and rap/thrash crap coming out there are not enough bands playing this type of hard rocking music.

It sounds pure and honest compared to the overly polished studio creations that are being shoveled out. Many bands go through personel changes so there's no reason to de-value this line up or believe Phil wouldn't be pleased.

just saw the guys 13 july, at pinkes,a small club here in vegas. an outstanding show! what's to be remembered is the boys aren't trying to make a fast buck by having this cd out, they're just keeping phil's memory alive thru the music. the playing and the tunes on ths disc are killer! john and scott's playing is some of the best. tommy & marco keep the killer groove. john's lead vocals are also very admirable. this is the lizzy boys having a good time and keeping an old friend's music alive

What a treat to hear members of Thin Lizzy pay tribute to the greatest rocker the world has ever known, Mr. Phil Lynott (RIP). John Sykes sounds great as always, and at times even evoked the voice of Phil himself.

This is a great set, however there are some troubles. The song list for my cd is not the same as the one listed. Unfortunately, there is no "Emerald" on this cd, but there is "Black Rose", and 13 total tracks running at 70+ minutes.

The cd is titled "Thin Lizzy featuring John Sykes and Scott Gorham". What about Darren Wharton? He always gets the shaft! He wrote several of the great later tracks by Lizzy and never gets credit or even a picture in the early years.

Also, Brian Downey is not playing drums, as he was too busy with other commitments. Instead is ex Ozzy, Whitesnake and veteran drummer Tommy Aldridge.

All in all, it is a fantastic tribute, with solid performances throughout. You must support the band if you are a fan, and hopefully generate more interest in the great 1970s rock bands. Hopefully they can do some new studio tunes at some point with Downey back in the fold.