It's Thin Lizzy Thursday! Episode 14: My Album Ranking

[@MyMusicCorner]

Bravo! Another band, as I have mentioned before, I need to take some time to listen to!

[@ericrobertson2024]

All in the panel + chat on Grant's show raved about the WhiteSnake 87 album , but Thunder & Lightening is nearly as strong.

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thank you John! Jailbreak is the most popular and accessible but I believe nearly every album is strong. Even the albums I rank lower have some good tracks on them. Cheers!

[@JakesMusicState]

Thank you for doing this series, it was so much fun to jump in and listen to this catalog for the first time. That first album is great. I think Phil’s bass playing is so underrated as everyone is always talking about his songwriting and singing. This has been so much fun! I look forward to your next shows!

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thank you Jake! I am happy that you are discovering Thin Lizzy's rich catalog. You are so right about Phil's bass playing. To me, the man was a quadruple threat as a musician, songwriter, vocalist, and live performer. I appreciate that, Jake. You know I won't stay in one place for too long. Cheers!

[@Thunderstruckzzz]

Hi John … fantastic ! Thank you so much for doing this series . Like I mentioned before I have their last 7 albums but wasn’t that familiar with their first 5. This series opened my eyes to those first 5 and you also mentioned things on the albums that I have that I missed. This was great ! Thank you John ! Chez

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Hi Chez! You're welcome and thank you for your contributions throughout the series! This was such a joy to do and I also picked up some things I missed when I really dug deeper on these releases. Cheers!

[@ZRATAN69]

Well John you know how I feel about them Lizzy😅.. they're one of my favorite bands and I agree with your ranking and you did amazing job with this review on all the albums congrats. 😎👍💯🎼🍻👋

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thank you so much Ernesto! And yes I certainly do! 😄Cheers! 💯🎸🥁😎☘🎼

[@DCToonTime]

Nicely done, John! Our #2 is the same and THAT is unusual for most TL fans to have that album anywhere in their Top 3. MY Top 5 ... (drumroll please) 1) Jailbreak 2) Night Life 3) Bad Reputation 4) Fighting 5) Black Rose.

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thank you DC! I remember you loving Nightlife when I reviewed this and you're right, it is unusual to have this high in our album rankings! Great Top 5 and Fighting is aging like a fine wine for me. Cheers!

[@benedictdonald4338]

Although I disagree with some of your rankings, Lizzy is one of my top ten bands and I love nearly all of their releases.

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thank you and welcome aboard @benedictdonald4338! We do agree that Thin Lizzy is one of our ten favorite bands though! Cheers!

[@delorangeade]

If I only had to listen to the catalogue of a single band, that band would be Thin Lizzy. They rank alongside Deep Purple as my favourite bans of all time. Black Rose would be my pick for the band's best studio album. I don't think it's the best set of songs Phil ever wrote, but I think it's the best recorded of their albums and I love the way it punches out of the speakers. Chinatown is probably my least favourite, not a complete write-off, but a crashing disappointment after its predecessor. I think Brian Downey was the best all round rock drummer of his era, or I'd put him on the same level as Ian Paice. He had the chops, but he also had the feel and the versatility that Neil Peart, for example, lacks. If I listen to a Thin Lizzy cover, it's the drumming I listen to first, because that feel is what will make or break it for me. Brian Robertson was my favourite of the guitar players. He brought the fiery attitude the band needed, but he was also a better team player alongside Scott Gorham than Gary Moore was. I think there were two Phil Lynotts: the poet and the rock star. As time went on the former was swallowed by the latter, a good career move but maybe artistically a disappointment. I love his writing on the Eric Bell albums in the same way I love Bruce Springsteen's first two albums. It has the same small town intimacy coupled with wide-eyed naivety. Van Morrison being the common thread between them. I think there's a real honesty to Phil's writing on those albums that maybe became tempered with a more cynical edge as he progressed. So I always have the sense that, as great as Phi and Thin Lizzy were, they still could have done more. And I think that slight sense of underachievement is actually part of the appeal of the band, The band of the street fighter, the underdog and the broken-hearted.

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thank you and welcome aboard, @delorangeade! I agree with the letdown of Chinatown after Black Rose. I should have mentioned Ian Paice when discussing Brian Downey. It seems that Ian was that underrated drummer for many years but now he gets the respect that he deserves. I hope one day that Brian does. I agree with you on Phil as well as your assessment on his more intimate writing on those albums with Eric Bell. As much as I love the first 5 albums by Bruce Springsteen, I go back to the first two quite often and The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle is my favorite Bruce album. I believe that what you expressed in your last 3 sentences sums up the thoughts of a lot of us who love this band. Thank you for your post! Cheers!

[@danielmcevoy976]

Wow! Nightlife is my # 2 and my #1 Johnny the Fox…Cool

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thank you and welcome Daniel! That's awesome! Cheers!

[@ericrobertson2024]

My top 10 of 87 on Grant's episode was TL related...WhiteSnake - Here I Go Again / Anthrax - I Am The Law / Laura Branigan - Shadow Of Love / The Cars - You Are The Girl / Waylon Jennings - Falling Out / Patty Smyth - Call To Heaven / Armored Saint - Raising Fear / Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now / Testament - Haunting / Helloween - I'm Alive..... Several other WhiteSnake tracks were picked also.Even a Gary Moore song zzzz lol

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thanks Eric! Great list and I see the TL correlation here as well. Oh I love me some Armored Saint and Anthrax too. Yeah, I watched the show later on. I have a Top 10 but no Whitesnake in mine and here it is: 10. Swing Out Sister - Breakout 9. Joe Satriani - Satch Boogie 8. Paul Carrack - Don't Shed a Tear 7. Guns N' Roses - Nighttrain 6. John Hiatt - Memphis in the Meantime 5. Helix - Love Hungry Eyes 4. U2 - Bullet the Blue Sky 3. Cure - Just Like Heaven 2. Husker Du - Could You Be the One? 1. INXS - Never Tear Us Apart Cheers!

[@ericrobertson2024]

@JohntheMusicNut Interesting how Patty Smyth, Kreator, WhiteSnake, Laura Branigan all had albums i thought were perfect yet nothing from 87 entered my ongoing Kasem rankings from 80-87. I love all of those you picked,Nighttrain and Out To Get Me were my favorites at 13 and I Despised Paradise City.I missed part of the episode but no one mentioned Garage Days.Just Like Heaven is the best Cure song,even if The Forest was/is the live highlight.

[@JohntheMusicNut]

@@ericrobertson2024 Thanks Eric! Well hey had some mighty competition from those previous years, some really stellar stuff. Oh man, Nightrain kills. Love that as much now as when I bought the cassette in 87. No, Garage Days Revisited was not mentioned. I agree with that on the Cure. Cheers!

[@ericrobertson2024]

Ed McMahon will bring you a cash prize if you don't utter "My top 3 could easily switch on any given week" LMAO.That may have been the cliche of 24 on "Tier" and Ranking videos for sports,music,etc...Lizzy was an act with several very strong LPs though,so I'm sure many do legit swap their favs around.There was clear distinctions for me , for example Bad Reputation & Black Rose were the closest, ranked #5/6 yet I clearly liked Bad Rep more as it has more tracks within my 20 favorites. I've loved Opium Trail more every time,every version.

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Good one Eric! I don't say that exactly but I do mention that I have had a different #1 over the years. So in honor of the late great Ed McMahon, the Prize Patrol must come to the sticks in PA and give me the $1.25 million! And a future appearance on Star Search! Cheers!

[@ericrobertson2024]

@JohntheMusicNut Admittedly I do flip flop on some bands such as the Molly Hatchet debut/No Guts No Glory, both are so good,it's difficult to pick a true favorite,same with Blondie - Eat to The Beat + Parallel Lines...I forgot which comedian claimed he got letters from Publishers Clearing House saying "You may already be a loser." LOL,, probably Dangerfield.

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Haha, I think it was Rodney!

[@thomaswery3087]

My top ones are 1.Black Rose,2.Chinatown,3.Jailbreak,4.Vagabonds,and 5.Bad Reputation

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thank you Thomas! Great to see that you have Vagabonds up high. Cheers!

[@domielakrabi3276]

Thin Lizzy is one of my top three rock bands, so there are no really bad albums IMO, but of course some are stronger than others. I'll do it in group of threes for my ranking, because some are too close to rank them one above the order: 12-10 - Debut, Shades of a Blue Orphanage and Thunder & Lightning (definitely the best of the three) 9-7 - Vagabonds, Nightlife, Fighting - all three pretty much on the same level 8/10 6-4 - Chinatown (8/10), Bad Reputation (9/10), Jailbreak (9/10) 1-3 - Renegade (9.5/10), Johnny the Fox (10), Black Rose (10) I just got the box set 1976 - highly recommanded! It was really the highpoint in their career. I also like Lizzy when they are doing mellow stuff. Lynott was a romantic at his heart, maybe this is one reason I don't like Thunder that much. It was a fun series, I enjoyed it! Thanks!

[@JohntheMusicNut]

You're welcome and thank you so much Domi! I agree that Thin Lizzy didn't make a bad album. Great ranking! Yes, I have to look into getting that box set and like you, I love their mellower material. I should have the Songs For While I'm Away CD/DVD sitting in my mailbox later today. Cheers!

[@ericrobertson2024]

I rated Jailbreak 9/10.. Fighting,Thunder + Lightening = 8.. Fox, Bad Rep = 7..Most of the others a 6, except the debut + Shades = 4/10.. Only albums I rate 10 are compilations + live,which done properly represent the peaks of an act.So I guess Lizzy scored 10-2 with me,even my favorite acts VH, Kiss, Nazareth, Floyd have duds,such as the most recent Kreator album.

[@JohntheMusicNut]

Thank you, Eric, for your ongoing rankings throughout the series! Nice to see that you have Fighting very high. Yeah, when we have these bands that we love and they have a long catalog (10 albums or more), it's rare that you're going to think highly of every album. I have said this before but I am actually more critical of bands that are my favorites. Cheers!

[@ericrobertson2024]

@JohntheMusicNut I became more critical as I got older,I never would've admitted the Simmon's tracks on the 1984-89 Kiss albums suck at the time.. I will also defend some contrarian releases like Walking Through Fire - April Wine, sure it's got the mid 80s synths and weird noises throughout, yet it has 7 strong tracks and wasn't the first time they did a more pop oriented LP, or even the 5th time.I had trouble just placing one track from it in my top 10 last month during Grant's episode for 1986 which was a ground rule for me lol...I have very little defense for Shades,but an album like Renegade does have bright spots like Pressure & Angel.

[@JohntheMusicNut]

​@@ericrobertson2024 Yes, I did as well but I believe it had to do with learning more as I went older. So as for the 84-89 Kiss tracks from that era, I preferred Paul's more from the get go.The Gene tunes that grabbed me had cool riffs. I loved "Burn Bitch Burn" and "Murder in High Heels" but now, I can only say love the riffs but not the songs. Then you had songs like "Trial by Fire" and most of his songs on Hot in the Shade that did little for me then or now. Speaking of more pop oriented records, I appreciate Crazy Nights more than I used to. It's weird! "Hell or High Water" and "Good Girl Gone Bad" are so cheesy lyrically (what a corny bridge in the latter) but there is something catchy about those for me now. Yeah, I am with you on Renegade and Shades has part of the interesting yet different dynamic that I dig on the debut but no bangers and Phil's vocals aren't recorded well.