Shades Of A Blue Orphanage

Thin Lizzy

Decca / London Records, 1972

http://www.thinlizzyband.com

REVIEW BY: Eric E5S16

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/08/1997

Thin Lizzy - best known for the hit "The Boys Are Back In Town," was one of many bands that didn't get enough exposure when they were around. Philip Lynott, bass player, was the frontman/singer. Like Jimi Hendrix, he was the leader of a group consisting of himself and two white musicians. The only difference was that Lynott played bass, Hendrix played guitar. The common ground both Hendrix and Thin Lizzy shared, was that they both knew how to ROCK!

More than ten albums were recorded before Lynott (like Hendrix), died of complications of a drug overdose in 1986.

The two songs that I remember getting a lot of radio airplay by this band, was (of course) "The Boys Are Back In Town" from 1976's Jailbreak, and "Dancing In The Moonlight" from 1977's Bad Reputation; (not to be confused with King Harvest's tune of the same name; both songs are different). Also, "Jailbreak" did get some minor airplay too.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

After listening to the Jailbreak album, my conclusion was that this band really knows how to ROCK! Grabbing my rock encyclopedia, I found out this band released more than two handfuls of albums: 12 studio albums, 2 live). Obviously, I wanted to hear more of this band from Dublin, Ireland.

The band's second album, Shades Of A Blue Orphanage, was released in 1972. This album starts out with a 7-minute rocker: "The Rise And Dear Demise Of The Funky Nomadic Tribes." As the lyrics in this song state: "Got to keep-a- movin', got to keep-a-movin' on," it really DOES gets you movin! Another great tune in this same vein is "Call The Police." These two songs just plain ROCK!

"Buffalo Gal" and "Sarah (Version 1)" are slow numbers; they slow down the pace for the other upbeat/rocking tunes. The title track is also a slowie. The short two-minuter "I Don't Want To Forget How To Jive" has a Stray Cats/50s beat. "Chatting Today" showcases just Lynott on vocals and lead/rhythm acoustic guitars.

"Brought Down" is a half-slow/half-rockin number, featuring some cool chorus vocals with cool vocal sound effects. "Baby Face" is another cool rockin' tune, and like "Brought Down," also has vocal sound effects; in a way, they're kind of psychedelic. Shades Of A Blue Orphanage is pretty evened out -- there are some rockers, and slow-based tunes throughout.

Thin Lizzy had many personnel changes throughout the years, just as long as Philip Lynott was there to front the band. Original guitarist Eric Bell would be replaced by a future great guitarist, Gary Moore. In fact, Moore would leave the group and later rejoin, more than once. Original drummer Brian Downey remained throughout the years of the group's existence.

To describe Thin Lizzy in one word, is just plain cool. Their "hard-nosed" rock and masculine/macho lyrics is definitely a man's band. Any of their albums are definitely worth the price. I don't think I've heard any of their albums that received a less-than-fair review. Their music is exciting and never boring. Some of their album covers are incredible: Jailbreak, Vagabonds Of The Western World, and Chinatown.

Again, this band rocks, and if you want to discover a band from rock's past, Thin Lizzy would definitely be somewhere at the top of that Rockin' List.

Rating: A

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


Comments

 








© 1997 Eric E5S16 and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Decca / London Records, and is used for informational purposes only.