this is gonna be a long one, fellas. bout to get down with one of my alltime favorite bands.
lotta time people write thin lizzy off as “the boys are back and town” type riff rock. i mean, that stuff’s damn good, but they had this thing going with the first three records that absolutely are up there with all that great, smart sixties rock that people are always creaming themselves over.
they were totally this tight freaking power trio, all experimenting and advanced and stuff. their original guitar player, eric bell, is underrated as hell and by far one of my favrite guitar players out there. brian downey had mitch mitchell style chops and did some really interesting drum moves that you don’t see in his later drumming for the band. and phil lynott is arguably at his best on these, songwriting wise. in those days he was deep into being poetic and introspective and irish and storytelling. he kinda got whack with that storytelling type character stuff in the later albs, but he’s right on most of the time with the early lps.
so i’m gonna talk about these fine albums, one at a time, because they’ve had a huge impact on me and not enough of my record geek acquaintances out there seem to really dig on this stuff.
_self titled_
the first one is very, very much unlike any other band i’ve heard. it’s not like they’re way out there or anything, it’s just rock music for the most part, but still it’s destinct enough to where i can’t immediately draw any comparisons. eric bell throws down some really excellent lead guitar lines, and proves that the wah pedal can be a massive freaking bomus. he covers enough ground with overdubs on there to encompass the skills and ideas of three lesser guitar players (makes clapton and crew look like babies). not only is he really nimble and skilled, he’s tasteful as hell and has really great tones.
the songs on here are for the most part really great. the dynamics work perfectly, and the sentimental moments hit hard. this is the kind’ve morose poetic-but-earnest-and-not-cheesy irish songwriting that doesn’t show up enough, one of the few other places i’ve heard it being van morrison’s _astral weeks_. it’s a vibe that i can’t very well explain, but that also shows up in great irish literature.
this one has probably the best “band playing as a band” type stuff, the second one being more based on the songwriting and the third being a mix of the two. they play really, really well together. ah, but how can i explain it? they’re tight, they’re not afraid to try new things, they’re fresh into the world and all raucous and ready. solid gold/god, this one.
_shades of a blue orphanage_
the second one has the most ups and downs. it’s got, like, “baby face” and a ridiculous trying-t-be-elvis song, which are terrible, but it’s also got songs like “chatting today” and “brought down.” like i said, it’s really song-based, so has more departures into overdubs of strings and such. it’s also way mathier than the other two. however, the mathiness is more intentional and forced seeming, and therefore not as good.
all in all, the quieter moments on here are the best. i’m gonna have to say this is the weakest of the holy trinity. still, the good songs make it very much worthwhile. i’d recommend checking it after the other two.
_vagabonds of the western world_
for a while i swore this was the best album ever created (although now i think it’s far from it, still). we named our old band (vagabonds) after it. this one was the first of the three that i heard, and it hit me real hard.
it’s by far the most accessible, because it’s the most complete. like, they needed the first two to figure out what they were doing, and then they got to a point where they could do whatever they wanted and decided to make a great rock record.
it’s got an excellent beginning: “mamma nature said.” comes in with some nicely distorted slide guitar and proceeds to rock in a most tasteful manner. eric bell, while not playing things as interesting as the first lp, is definitely at top form here. his solo on “the hero and the madman” is one of my alltime favorites, as are the ones on “the rocker” and “little girl in bloom.” his solos in general totally have plot and tension/release and all that great stuff that you don’t hear often enough in guitar solos. in fact, the only other guitar solos structured this well that i can think of are richard lloyd’s on _marquee moon_.
the lyrics are maybe a bit less advanced/interesting/engaging. you can kind’ve see lynott going in the songwriting direction that permeates the later, cheesier stuff. but still, this one is damn solid.
guess that’s all i’ve got to say on this matter. a good place to start on these would be _vagabonds_. there’s also a good early years best of called _the hero and the madman_. so if yer not one of my few good friends who knows all this stuff already, i suggest you check it. it’s really good summer/fall music, and i haven’t come close to describing the impression it makes on me, or the way it sounds like no other rock music.
