Thin Lizzy - "Black Rose: A Rock Legend" (1979) - Warner Bros.
Hello Friends,
Black Rose: A Rock Legend is Thin Lizzy's ninth record and probably their last great album.
Produced by Tony Visconti, the lineup for this record features Lizzy's three "core" members: Phil Lynott on bass & lead vocals, Scott Gorham on guitar & Brian Downey on drums, plus occasional collaborator, Gary Moore, on second lead and back-up vocals.
What can we say? It's a great line-up and great album to close out the decade!
Also, iff we weren't shut-ins, this would probably be a great album to put on before getting ready to go out at night!
Actually, there's lots Thin Lizzy music which is good "getting ready to go out" music, but probably the best example is the albums rawking opener, "Do Anything You Want To Do".
Man, if I didn't have this ankle bracelet on, I'd fill a flask, walk down to some dive bar, smoke some cigarettes, knock over some garbage cans, cause a ruckus and start making out with cute hipster girls in converse sneakers and arm tattoos.
(Oh and by "ankle bracelet" I technically mean if I didn't have Tiki T. staring daggers at me right now!)
Anyways, this "get up and go" feeling does not dissipate with the second song, "Toughest Street In Town".
After a trip down the toughest street in town, we get funky, sleazy and sticky with "S&M" about a woman of the night who is relentlessly beat by her sugar daddy. Brutally honest, like a Lou Reed song.
We go from Lou Reed to the Hold Steady on "Waiting for an Alibi", an impossibly catchy tune about a two-bit booky named Valentino who's on some epic losing streak.
Side One's closer, "Sarah", written by Lynott for his daughter, is a sugary sweet and tender ballad. Is there anything this band can't pull off?
Flipping it over, Side Two is just as good.
"Got To Give It Up" is an in-your-face straight-up rock tune about Lynott's drug use.
I've been messing with the heavy stuff
For a time I couldn't get enough
But I'm waking up and it's wearing off
Junk don't take you far
Produced by Tony Visconti, the lineup for this record features Lizzy's three "core" members: Phil Lynott on bass & lead vocals, Scott Gorham on guitar & Brian Downey on drums, plus occasional collaborator, Gary Moore, on second lead and back-up vocals.
What can we say? It's a great line-up and great album to close out the decade!
Also, iff we weren't shut-ins, this would probably be a great album to put on before getting ready to go out at night!
Actually, there's lots Thin Lizzy music which is good "getting ready to go out" music, but probably the best example is the albums rawking opener, "Do Anything You Want To Do".
Man, if I didn't have this ankle bracelet on, I'd fill a flask, walk down to some dive bar, smoke some cigarettes, knock over some garbage cans, cause a ruckus and start making out with cute hipster girls in converse sneakers and arm tattoos.
(Oh and by "ankle bracelet" I technically mean if I didn't have Tiki T. staring daggers at me right now!)
Anyways, this "get up and go" feeling does not dissipate with the second song, "Toughest Street In Town".
After a trip down the toughest street in town, we get funky, sleazy and sticky with "S&M" about a woman of the night who is relentlessly beat by her sugar daddy. Brutally honest, like a Lou Reed song.
We go from Lou Reed to the Hold Steady on "Waiting for an Alibi", an impossibly catchy tune about a two-bit booky named Valentino who's on some epic losing streak.
Side One's closer, "Sarah", written by Lynott for his daughter, is a sugary sweet and tender ballad. Is there anything this band can't pull off?
Flipping it over, Side Two is just as good.
"Got To Give It Up" is an in-your-face straight-up rock tune about Lynott's drug use.
I've been messing with the heavy stuff
For a time I couldn't get enough
But I'm waking up and it's wearing off
Junk don't take you far
"Get Out Of Here" is another Thin Lizzy megahit that never was!
And the same can be said for "With Love". Man, this album just refuses to quit!
Not ones to shy away from their Irish roots, the record ends the title track, a seven-minute suite of hard-rocking Irish standards ("Shenandoah", "Will You Go Lassie Go", "Danny Boy", "The Mason's Apron".)
A forgotten classic! Perhaps Thin Lizzy's best!
RATING: 5 Tell My Sister I'm Sinking Slow Now And Again I Powder My Nose out of 5
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