When Thin Lizzy Reigned Supreme
The lineup:(in this case the most famous Irish superstar lineup)
Phil Lynott - bass, lead vocals
Brian Robertson - guitar
Scott Gorham - guitar(the lone American, in an all Irish band)
Brian Downey - drums
When they ruled the world: Actually it's when did they not rule the world. Thin Lizzy is most famous for being the band that made dual lead guitarists badass. I realize that Boys are Back in town may be slightly cliche, but that great song only scratches the surface of one of Ireland's finest bands. Of course I always respect and support the Black rockers and Lynott was one of the best.
Starting their career with a rock out version of the traditional Irish tune Whiskey In The Jar and The Rocker, Thin Lizzy was different than all of the other so called arena rockers. Here's why.
1. Soulful singing and lyrics about romance,working class, fighting/toughness.
2. Absurdly great riffs and leads played in unison by the two guitarists.
3. The kind of power the Fonz wanted and didn't get when he jumped the shark.
They built on these three things from album one, which featured the GREAT singles mentioned above, till they recorded their first great album Fighting.(which contains the fantastical song of the same name.) They quickly followed with their most famous albums, Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox, and Bad Repuatation.(Jailbreak contains classics as Jailbreak, Boys Are Back In Town, and Cowboy Song. Johnny The Fox has tunes like Johnny and Don't Believe A Word. Bad Reputation has the hard ass track of the same name.) Anyway, they all have brilliant soloing by Gorham and Robertson after just killing some melodies and riffs that will never leave you, technically impressive drumming by Downey, and one of the funkiest rock out vocalist and bassists in Lynott. I'd describe them more, but the albums really are pretty similar in execution, yet never EVER boring. They have to be heard to believed and YOU WILL ROCK OUT.
Albums you need: Jailbreak, Johnny The Fox, Live and Dangerous. But to be quite honest, Dedication: the Greatest Hits is a MUST have for EVERYONE.
So what did it mean:
The two lead sound is so synonymous with Lizzy, that no one else has been able to pull it off since.
In fact, after Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, I'm willing to say that there isn't a better heavy rock and roll band than Thin Lizzy. And that's high praise, they don't get nearly enough. They really were that good. When the shit comes on at a bar everybody rocks out and even when you hear their shit on an ad, it still sounds brilliant.
So what happened: What didn't happen to Thin Lizzy? is a better one.
Those three reasons you read above for one thing. They did all of those things for like six albums, and you know what after six albums of songs that lyrically were pretty similar, had riffs that just weren't as good, and power that sounded played in comparison to punk it got pretty tiresome. And trust me when Thin Lizzy get the occasional synth in their tunes it totally sucks.
Lineup changes. Losing Robbo Robertson due to an injury/being pissed off (On a side as great as Robbo was in Thin Lizzy, his playing/kinda non tough persona almost killed Motorhead dead in it's tracks in the mid 80's). Gary Moore, the future Irish metal star, joined, played great, quit after like one album.
Drugs, Drugs, more Drugs. They were a big part of the band, the sound, the breakup and then they sadly took Phil Lynott's life in 1986.
Availability: All their shit is still in print, lucky for all you people out there.
Videos
Whiskey In The Jar
Wild One( I just wanted to get at least one real live clip)
Jailbreak
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