Customer Reviews

Thin Lizzy

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
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Thin Lizzy is remembered today for their tough talking lyrics, loud guitar chords, hard drums and general macho reputation. So, it may come as a bit of a shock to place their first album into the player and to be greeted by a spoken word poem played over a light, mellow soundtrack. Even more surprising are the pictures in the liner notes. Not yet the brash, macho, rubber-clad warrior, Phillip Lynott looks like quite the shy, bashful young poet. (And the insane masses of hair piling on the heads of all three band-members threaten to overwhelm the photographs.)

Thin Lizzy started life as a more folksy-sounding band than the larger-than-life rockers they would eventually become by the late 70s. But this isn't your regular, throwaway hippie music. There's a real, almost dark, edge here, and also includes more than a few echoes of the harder path their music would follow in later years. Eric Bell's lead guitar is subtle but strong, pushing the songs in harsher places than Phil Lynott's lyrics were ready to go. Lynott's songwriting itself shows more maturity than one would expect from a debut album. Nice poetry here.

A few of the songs have some great catchy riffs to them, which I'm sure made them real crowd pleasers during live Thin Lizzy shows in those early days. If you turned up the distortion on the guitars in "Look What The Wind Blew In", then it would sound right at home on their later albums. But the way the songs are recorded here gives them more of a laid-back, relaxed texture. It works as music to really appreciate, rather than songs to dance to.

The CD labeled just "Thin Lizzy" is actually an amalgamation of their first album and a four-track EP entitled "New Day" they released the same year. Those four songs have been added to the end of this release, and they blend in with the original album quite well. If you didn't realize they were separate records, I'm sure you could have no difficulty believing that the album always sounded like this.

Although it took me quite a while to really get into this album, I'm always impressed (and a little surprised) on the occasions that I do place it in my CD player. This album didn't get a lot of attention at the time (though a DJ on the famed Radio Luxembourg made this his album of the year), and is often overlooked these days in favor of Lizzy's later, louder selections. But I'd certainly recommend this quiet, understated little work. Give it a try if you want to see a different side of Thin Lizzy.

This is an incredible album. For those of you expecting a heavy tone to the album, you will be disappointed. The thing I love about Thin Lizzy is how their music changed over the years and as various band members came and went. The is electric-folk pure and simple. From "Honesty is no Excuse" to "Remembering" (parts 1 & 2) each song brings its own identity and distinguishes itself from the others. Anyone who was a fan of the work Slash did with Lenny Kravitz should check out the song "Ray Gun". If you buy this album without any expectations of style, you will enjoy it. It stands on its own separate from their other albums.

Thin Lizzy never wanted to be a world famous band. Somewhere along the path of their musical journey, it just happened. They were never afraid to play fast, hard-hitting music, but before the hit singles and worldwide fame, Thin Lizzy was just an Irish rock band; a very good one, as it turned out.

This debut album sounds nothing like Thin Lizzy at the peak of their popularity. Before the twin lead guitars and rock n roll mentality, Thin Lizzy played a brand of electric folk that was second to none. The band has a more laid back feel here; Songs are given the time to tell stories and create images that have a certain resonance, the aural equivalent of old photographs that stir fond, forgotten memories for the listener.

The lyrics are some of Phil Lynott's best,moving beyond simple song lyrics to actual poetry and storytelling put to music. We as listeners are treated to viginettes of characters' lives, given glimpses of intriguing locales, invited to share in a lot of the emotions being conveyed. I would compare the simple, bittersweet lyrics of "Dublin" to some of the best poetry I've ever read. All of this conveyed by the voice of Phil Lynott; at turns passionate, longing, and more vulnerable than perhaps he has ever sounded since.

This album is not a rocker; many fans will be turned off by its electric folk, prog sound. However, this could be Lizzy's deepest, most layered work. Repeated listens will yield new favorites, new appreciation of certain lyrics' phrasing. As is the case with good wine and good women, I find this album gets better with age.

Thin Lizzy became the archetypical rock band, but they began from this point, as a three piece folk/rock band steeped in the traditions of folk music and gypsy imagery. But there was much more to them than that, and Phil Lynott's unique talents were evident from the very start. No other band had the grasp of melody or the lyrical flair that flows through such tracks as Honesty is No Excuse, Diddy Levine and Dublin. Indeed some of Lynott's lyrics are so evocative they'd pass as poetry. Musically the band was keen to experiment and diversify all the way from folk to hard rock, with plenty of panache from Eric Bell and Brian Downey. Sound production is patchy, however, and the drums often sound like they were recorded two rooms away from the microphone. Curiously, Lynott's voice sounds hoarse and over-used throughout, unlike the splendid singing voice he exhibited in later years, though this croakiness seems to add to the ambience. Amongst the weaker tracks is Ray Gun, whose lyrics seem a little half-baked, describing as they do an alien from a planet "three thousand miles away"! Old Moon Madness is less than inspiring too, though it fits in with the rest of the tracks quite comfortably. After this came Shades of a Blue Orphanage, a patchy album which nevertheless contained five or six glorious gems hidden amongst the less inspiring fodder. A couple of years later Thin Lizzy were to become a mainstream rock act, but these early albums (of which this, "Thin Lizzy", is their best) display a charismatic warmth and uniqueness that simply refuses to diminish with the passing of the years. Quite the reverse, in fact.

I think I've finally discovered THE most underrated rock band from the 70's- early Thin Lizzy. Absolutely HORRIBLE that radio stations think "The Boys are Back in Town" and "Jailbreak" are the only songs worth playing. That is just... TOO incredibly narrow-minded beyond words!

The REAL Thin Lizzy was pretty much everything besides those two songs, such as the debut album. I am honestly FLOORED right now that these guys have amazing instrumental skills, fantastic songwriting, and an ability to mix some rather unique guitar tricks with extremely catchy vocal melodies. This feels like the kind of band that can jam away and make it really exciting if they wanted to, or, they can write short, emotional songs with lots of energy, excitement, and passion.

I get the feeling these guys can do anything they want. The early albums, which are honsetly MUCH heavier than I went in expecting, are absolutely great. Heavy in an early Blue Oyster Cult kind of way. The debut album has everything from guitar riffs, to solos, to spectacular and powerful lyrics, to emotional vocals, to catchy verse melodies, to just... everything! What's even more incredible is how many of these songs have their own sound and style, similar to the White Album by the Beatles almost... okay, maybe not quite *that* diverse, but close enough. More diverse than most hard rock bands, that's for sure.

A band that just has extreme underrated talent. The lead singer may be one of the very best from the 70's. Picking a favorite song is impossible- these guys are so good at exploring different styles and coming up with solid songwriting that picking a favorite is just a VERY hard thing to do. Just know the debut album, along with the follow-up called Shades of a Blue Orphanage, are nearly flawless records. For guitar lovers, there's something here. For people who just like great songwriting, there's plenty here for you too.

This is the very first album by this group that is most best known for thier 6th album Jailbreak. The style of this album is totally different from those albums of the mid 70's but aren't superior to this early masterpiece. In this state the band isn't so refined in thier sound or production. Lynott's vocals are a bit rough but gripping; the lyrics are very poetic. The sound of Eric Bell has so much depth and style that at his greatest moments I think that he would blow Gorham and Robertson (Lizzy guitarists from the mid 70's era) out of the water. Even Downey on drums displays some wild rhythms when given the chance. With this lineup there was a good balance of folk and hard rock songs put out with genuine emotion that in a way wasn't the same in the later periods of the band. I mean in no way to underrate Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox, and Fighting but this first attempt was just as brilliant but for different reasons. This is one album that should not be overlooked.

I wont even waste time setting this up. This unfortunately overlooked album is one which transcends all of time. Not at all what I was expecting when I finally purchased this along with 'Shades'. But I was enthralled and entranced from the first second that Phil opened his mouth, the first pick of Erics guitar and the first drum beat. And that feeling didn't leave me until the last note of 'Things aint workin "oueet" down at the farm' You know what I mean... While a strikingly different sound than the Thin Lizzy that everyone knows and loves, it is a secret jewell for the real Lynott and Lizzy fans. I only wish I had discovered it long ago, but much better late than never.
As another reviewer stated..it is one of those albums that grown on you the more you listen to it. There is so much depth to almost every track that you will hear startingly different layers each time you hear a song. By the 8th time all the way through I was hearing an entirely different album from the first time around and there was something spiritual about it. You may think that sounds corny, if so, buy the album and see for yourself.

This album debuts with a Hendrix-esque Friendly Ranger. Excellent pick for the start of the album. Diddy Levine is another very odd, unusual and excellent piece, Eire is very spacey, Saga of the aging orphan is another favorite. There are perhaps one or two clinkers, but the surprising thing is how new some of the songs sound - they are contemporary, and should be examined by today's artists. Lynott had a great singing voice, the band was fine - Eric Bell was a very capable guitarist, Downey a terrific drummer. Lynott's lyrics are interesting, sometimes sad and down, but this album is a very very good debut & worth a hearing.

Interesting to hear early Thin Lizzy. It's not the straight forward hard rock they later became. It's moody, very musical and still rocks...very gothic and poetic in it's own way. I really enjoy this CD if I'm in the mood for something different.

At the dawn of the Seventies many great or soon to be great rock bands were climbing out of the woodwork, mostly from the Eastern side of the Atlantic. Although the UK has produced a lion's share of these great acts, Ireland has also sprouted her fair share. And no one shined brighter than Thin Lizzy. From humble beginnings, as a three-piece, the band would come to epitomize soulful, powerful, guitar rock and remain one of a handful of bands that have gained greater popularity since their demise then during their prime. Two boys from Dublin, schoolfriends Brian Downey and Phillip Lynott joined with Belfast-born guitarist Eric Bell to create their own brand of hard, folksy rock. Lynott would immediately take center stage as vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter and then the legend began of one of rock's greatest troubadors. Lynott's heritage and physical presence immediately made Lizzy standout but his writing and singing were the key ingredients to the aura of this fantastic band. As for their debut, released in the spring of 1971, it was typically for a group like Lizzy, not a breakout success but a glimpse of greatness to come. "Diddy Levine", "Remembering", "Eire" and "Friendly Ranger" are standout cuts. Two songs that accurately give the Lizzy novice a hint at the range of their powers are the lifting ballad "Honesty Is No Excuse" and the flash rocker "Look What the Wind Blew in". This album is not perfect but as I said it is a typical debut in many ways. As a bonus, the late 1971 EP 'New Day' makes it on to the CD release, so you can have a more complete Lizzy discography. "Dublin" is another example of the genius for storytelling the Phillip already had at 20 years old! "Old Moon Madness" is a werewolf story! (Ireland has many werewolf legends, predating both Warren Zevon and Ozzy Osbourne). Three aspring Irish musicians taking their first grand steps - the best was yet to come.