Thin Lizzy – Live and Dangerous

In the mid-70’s, hearing any guitar-dominated music on the normally insipid AM radio was a blessing, so when “The Boys Are Back in Town” came blasting out, Thin Lizzy became a massive hit. Their Jailbreak album – with artwork by comic book artist extraordinaire Neil Adams – was a must-have and every aspiring guitarist marveled at the melodic twin guitar attack of Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham.

This live recording captures that fabulous line-up – along with drummer Brian Downey and, of course, lead singer/bassist Phil Lynott. The set list is dominated by tunes from their blockbuster, but also has some great songs from several of their other records.

While their hit is now over-played due to its appearance on some silly car ad, it is still a terrific song, as are most of these. Lynott could really tell a tale and capture a nice melody while still allowing the guitars to wail around him. This is commercial oriented hard r’n’r – not crazed punk or Detroit mania – but is great stuff and will get your head banging and your feet moving! And Phil was even hip enough to guest star on Johnny Thunders’ So Alone album!

The band is augmented on a couple of tunes by Graham Parker’s sax player and even Huey Lewis (pre-News) on harmonica! This collection pretty much captures everyone’s favorites – Jailbreak”, “Emerald”, “Cowboy Song”, their superb take on Bob Seger’s “Rosalie”, “Dancing in the Moonlight”, “Suicide” and many more.

Despite being a Lizzy fan since the days of “The Boys…” I hesitated on buying this record because I wasn’t sure of the line-up or of the song choices, but this is quality stuff from start to finish and different enough from the studio versions to keep your interest. This is a fine representation of an extremely talented 70’s hard rock band at its peak!