RECORDS

Rip It Up, Issue 15, 1 September 1978, Page 12

RECORDS

Thin Lizzy Live and Dangerous Vertigo Early last year Thin Lizzy were seen locally as guest act on a Rod Stewart T.V. special. Playing live, they damn near blew the miming, mincing singer off his own programme and we were left gasping for more. Well now we’ve got a live album to quench our thirst, a four-sided tour de force which completely confirms the impact they made on T.V. Lizzy are a classic four-piece working in the hard rock mainstream. An American critic once dismissed them as "another bunch of 60’s power-chorders” which may be true but it’s a little like calling Henry Rono "a middle distance runner.” Not only are Lizzy, on comparing this album with the Stones' Love You Live and Led Zep's movie, probably a number one in their field, but they have brought renewed vigour to a format which was falling comatose under a blanket of heavy-metal drones. Many of the HM brigade have become lumbering dinosaurs under the onslaught of punk (oops) power-pop, but not Lizzy. They swagger and dance where other H-M plods, and command a dynamic sense so often lacking in the modern buzzsawguitar gangs. This album boasts a powerhouse rhythm section and one of the greatest guitar teams in rock (although unfortunately Robertson has since departed). Lizzy can coddle you with mellow sweetness, roar and sting as if gone berserk and then suddenly stop on a dime, under complete control.

But their ultimate trump card is Philip Lynott. A very capable bassist and clear, expressive singer, the black Irishman is also an excellent songwriter. (That’s as in real songs: you know, strong melodies, snapping riffs, intelligent words.) Lynott is a thoroughgoing romantic whose residual Catholicism often surfaces in his lyrics and, while he can write slow love ballads of aching sweetness, here we are more often treated to his macho swashbuckler stance. Fittingly the majority of tempos are fast. Of his role as writer and performer Lynott has commented: “Anybody can be anybody in rock ’n’ roll. It allows people to exist within and live out their fantasies. I mean I certainly do.” “Warrior” . . . “Johnny the Fox meets Jimmy the Weed” . . . “Jailbreak’’ . . . “The Boys are Back in Town.” The material here is drawn from the last four albums, plus a couple of new songs and Bob Seger’s “Rosalie’’ (performed with skullcrushing force.) Sides One to Three are superb but unfortunately Side Four lapses through weak compositions, crowd cajoling and overextended solos. However a storming version of “The Rocker" returns the concert to its earlier, exhilarating heights to close the album. Now that Parker has graced our shores, Thin Lizzy, (along with Bruce Springsteen,) would be the band I’d most like to see perform here. Until then Live and Dangerous is the next best thing. Peter Thomson