Thin Lizzy - At the BBC

 

This holiday season there are some very cool presents for the heavy rock fan in your life (i.e. yourself, your dad, older brother, the dude you buy weeed from behind the gas station). Deep Purple has a killer looking 2LP/2CD collection of all their BBC sessions and there's a box set of all the good Whitesnake albums (meaning the ones up to 1982). But number one on everyone's wish list should be this monster 6CD/1DVD Thin Lizzy box set of all their BBC recordings. Jeezus, these guys were busy! Thin Lizzy was pumping out albums on a regular basis and touring constantly but still managed to do all of these killer radio sessions and concert broadcasts.

Thin Lizzy did a total of eighteen sessions for the BBC between 1971 and 1977 and all of them except four are represented here. Given the BBC's tendency to erase tapes from the library it's a miracle we have 3 very full CD's of primo performances in excellent fidelity. Disc one is with the early trio version of the band with Eric Bell on guitar. This is an era I'm the least familiar with so it's great to finally get acquainted with songs other than "The Rocker" and "Whiskey In The Jar." This line up was clearly Hendrix inspired but also trying to find their way. The playing is top notch and the songs are good but it's easy to see the band still had a ways to go before becoming the powerhouse unit we all know and love. Disc two is killer because about half of it is still the trio but with Gary Moore as the guitarist. I'd always wanted to hear more from this line up and now I finally have it. Too bad they never did a full album together in 1974 but the 12 songs here are the closest we'll ever get until we join Gary and mainman Phil Lynott upstairs. Gary smokes on a raunchy sounding "Little Darling" and the VD inspired "Sitamoia." There are very funky versions of "Showdown" and "It's Only Money" that hint at what Thin Lizzy would later do on "Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed."

The second half of disc two and all of disc three is the classic line up with Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson on twin lead guitars. Phil was tired of guitarists quitting the band leaving him as a duo with drummer Brian Downey. It's fun to compare their version of "It's Only Money" from just a few months after Gary's version and hear how it changed. It took awhile for this group to find their niche but when they did, they were totally unstoppable. I don't care how many times you've heard "Rosalie," "Emerald," "Warriors," "Killer Without A Cause" and all the other classics before, having different KICK ASS performances of them is totally mandatory. The arrangements are the same as the records but the takes are more raw and a bit faster.

Speaking of fast and raw, the other three CD's are all live recordings. It's well known that I love live albums and this is definitely my favorite half of this great box set. There's a show with Eric Bell from 1973 that opens with an excellent version of "The Rocker" and a Jimidelic "Gonna Creep Up On You." Brian Downey really pounds his drums hard and young Phil's voice is spectacular. A 1974 concert with Gorham/Robertson finds the band playing with even more confidence and laying down a heartfelt "Still In Love With You." The solos on "Showdown" are very funky. By 1981 Brian Robertson had been replaced by Snowy White and disc five contains a full hour from Hammersmith Odeon in London. The albums this line up made are kind of a mixed bag but they were still a potent live band. Heavy versions of current songs like "Angel Of Death," "The Pressure Will Blow" and "Killer On The Loose" mix well with the older classics. Disc six from 1983 captures the line up with John Sykes replacing Snowy White. Sykes definitely gave the band a heavier sound and he plays great. Sometimes he plays a bit too much and his use of pinch harmonics can be a bit annoying but that's a minor complaint. The addition of keyboards to the band was never really a plus in my book, either, but there's really no reason to complain about any live Thin Lizzy, is there?

The DVD contains the same "Live And Dangerous" show you've owned for years as well as the 1983 show that came as a bonus on the original DVD. There are appearances on Top Of The Pops from 1973 through 1981 that's the band lip synching to their current hits. It's cool but nothing you're going to watch too often. The footage of Gary Moore & Friends from 1979, however, you'll watch all the time. You've probably been drooling over it on youtube for a few years now but now you can enjoy it in better quality. Gary Moore, Cozy Powell, Scott Gorham and Phil Lynott make an incredible team. Too bad they didn't do more together.

Anyway, 2011 has been a pretty crappy year but you've been good. Do yourself a favor and end the year with a bang and treat yourself to this. You won't regret it. Special thanks to Joerg in Germany for hooking me up with a cheaper copy due to the shitty US economy and favorable exchange rate for Europeans. Cheers!

--Woody

Thin Lizzy - Live in London 2011

To me, it was inconceivable.

Thin Lizzy without Phil Lynott could be a lot of things, but Thin Lizzy wasn't one of em.  A cover band.  A tribute, perhaps.  but not Thin Lizzy.  Not the real thing.

Well, Phil can never be replaced.  He remains one of the most galvanizing, mercurial figures in rock history.  But the new version of Thin Lizzy playing his music are good.  Damn good.

Twenty five years have passed since Phil's untimely death.  The world has changed, but the amazing body of work that is Thin Lizzy still retains all of its vibrancy and influence. A new lineup has formed to take Lizzy's music to a whole new generation of music fans. Led by alumni Scott Gorham, Brian Downey and Darren Wharton (all of whom played in Thin Lizzy with Phil Lynott) the stellar lineup is completed by Def Leppard's Viv Campbell (guitar), Bassist Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake, Ted Nugent) and The Almighty's Ricky Warwick on vocals and guitar.

So where to start?  With Scott Gorham and Viv Campbell on guitar you knew the axe work was gonna be just fine.  Acutally, it's better than that.  It's as awesome as Lizzy ever were.  Gorham, of course, has the Lizzy touch, and Campbell brings that melodic harmony guitar work in seamlessly.  In truth, he would've fit in just fine with the band back in the day, his playing is that good.  Drums are solid with the original Downey pounding the skins, and Mendoza does an admirable job on bass.  Darren Wharton is another Lizzy alum playing just fine.  So without a doubt, musically, this version of Thin Lizzy sounds as good and tight as any version of the band.  Those trademark guitars just sing like angelic harmonies aimed right at the heart.

So really, the question is the front man.  Who could do it?  Who has the balls and the proper charisma to take the place of Phil on stage.  Talk about being set up to fail!  Well, let me tell you, the Lizzy boys couldn't have found a better man than Ricky Warwick.  Nothing in his resume of the Almighty or New Model Army prepared me for what I heard.

First off, Ricky doesn't try to ape Phil.  But his phrasing is about as dead-on perfect as you could ask for.  His throaty deep tenor sound enough like Phil that if you didn't know who it was, at times you could be fooled.  But it's done right.  It feels natural, not like Ricky is trying to be Phil or even sound like Phil.  It just sounds like the way the songs are supposed to be sung.  And this is critical.  Any firestorm directed at the band would be aimed right at Ricky, and damn if the man doesn't have the cajones to pull it off.  Hats off to you Ricky.   Really.

So with that said, what have we got here?  A killer set of fantastic Lizzy songs, fired up and ready to bring Phil's music and the Lizzy sound to a new generation.  "Jailbreak" is as mean and fierce as ever.  "Don't Believe a Word", one of my favorite lost Lizzy cuts, sounds razor sharp.  Killer and to the point.  "Massacre" another mind-blowing highlight is on fire, with that spectacular guitar work lighting up the night sky.  Ricky really shines here, pulling the spirit of Phil out of rock and roll heaven right back down to the stage. 

"The Boys are Back in Town," is pulsating and pounding, "Rosalie" is inspired, and "Bad Reputation" is street grit and pulsating sex.  In between we get the whole spectrum of Lizzy's catalog, 19 tracks in all. 

Phil is gone and missed.  No one can ever replace him.  But let me tell you, Live in London 2011 stands true as a fine Lizzy album, the music sounding fresh and new, ready to incite the fire in a new generation of fans.  If you're a Thin Lizzy fan, you won't be disappointed.

--Racer