Monday, March 30, 2009

Lizzy!!

This one was fun…my review of a one of the world’s best rock bands, playing live at or near its historic best. It runs today at Blurt.

Still Dangerous comes from roughly the same period as Thin Lizzy's first official live album, Live and Dangerous, which went to #2 in the UK and cemented the band's reputation as a ferocious performer. Yet unlike the sanctioned "live" album, this one is actually live, no retouching, no overdubs. As you might expect, its versions of classics like ‘Boys are Back in Town’ ‘Jailbreak’ and ‘Cowboy Song’ are far rougher than the studio incarnations - but they are also more evenly mixed, so that you can hear the bass and drums. The cartwheeling guitar interplay is still there, still exhilarating, and Lynott's singing is just as wonderfully soulful and warm even at its loudest. But here, you get more of a band sound than you ever heard on the radio, an intimation of just how heavy and propulsive Lynott's bass playing was and how integral Downey's drumming. (‘Massacre’ turns almost tribal in this version.)”

More

“The Boys are Back in Town”


“Dancing in the Moonlight”

4 comments:

MikeD said...

Oooooh yeah, Jenny! I was just listening to Live and Dangerous Saturday, and I liked the Black Rose album so much, on rediscovering it a couple of years ago, that I got a tat of the cover on my arm. Might have to check out Still Dangerous. Screw The Boys Are Back - a good song, but far from one of their best.

Mike (multiply mogroith)

jenniferpkelly said...

Hi Mike...a tattoo, that's commitment.

My son puts this on every time we go anywhere, it'll dominate my last.fm profile by mid-summer at the latest.

But it's a really good live album. I like some of these songs better here than I did on the original albums.

And I contest your "Screw Boys Are Back" (how would anyone do this anyway?), but nice to hear from you.

robp said...

At the end of the full review you mention Lynott's cred among punks. This sort of cred also shows in his appearance on the Johnny Thunders album So Alone, where he not only helps anchor the rhythm section but takes one of the vocals (along with Johnny and Steve Marriott) on an amazing cover of Daddy Rollin Stone.

Damn Jen, this must be an extra-special post, you got Mike to show up.

jenniferpkelly said...

And you, too, Rob. It's like old home week.

Except no 5k race.