Thin Lizzy - Live at the BBC

 As usual, after reading a fine bio on Phil Lynott, I started revisiting my Thin Lizzy albums, although, despite being a huge fan of Jailbreak and Fighting, I only have a couple of others. I put this one on my wish list a while back and finally got around to picking it up. I've got to say, it is fairly amazing to this American that BBC Radio really went out of their way to promote up'n'coming bands like Lizzy with a number of BBC sessions well before they truly became popular. I was always a bit jealous at the national media coverage that less-popular bands received in England as opposed to the States, but that's a whole 'nother story...

This collection begins early on in the career as a trio, with lesser known songs that are fun and have some nice riffs'n'songwriting touches, but sound a bit thin and a little disjointed at times. Some early rockers mix with their "hit" with the trad "Whiskey In The Jar" along with ballads like "Saga of the Ageing Orphan" that then moves into the upbeat (but awkwardly phrased) "Things Ain't Working Out Down on the Farm" and one of my faves, "Suicide" is given a slower, slide treatment and, very strangely, an intro quoting "Jailhouse Rock"! Other highlights include "Slow Blues" which starts off extremely strongly and then becomes a raggae-infused blues, of all things! Of course, "The Rocker" is absolutely rockin', while "Little Girl In Bloom" has some sweetly melodic guitar lines, "Showdown" is a funky slow tune, "Little Darling" and "Black Boys On the Corner" are both strong, powerhouse rockers.

Disc 2 includes some of the more familiar (to me, anyway) numbers, with greats like their cover of Bob Seger's "Rosalie", "Sha La La", "Jailbreak", "Cowboy Song", "Don't Believe a Word", "Bad Reputation", "Dancing in the Moonlight" and, of course, the finale of "The Boys Are Back in Town". Some of the later tracks in front of a live audience sound essentially the same as the versions from Live and Dangerous, though I don't think they're the same cuts, just from the same period, with similar raps and audience interaction by Lynott. 

This set is chockfull of music - each CD being pretty lengthy - and well worth the price. Lizzy fans will certainly dig this one!