Album Pick of the Year
02. Thin Lizzy Bad Reputation 1977 (Vertigo)
Hard Rock
Bad boys with a dangerous reputation.
Overview
Thin Lizzy just missed top spot here, with an album that could’ve taken it quite easily in another year. The band were at the height of their powers and were probably the finest hard rock band around with an ear for pop. The band had the amazing ability in putting out a sound that completely satisfied all aspects of the rock spectrum, from listeners of hard rock, soft rock and then onto popsters. They were also able to be as commercial sounding as they wanted to as well and without ever really isolating their hardcore fanbase, history tells us that this is no mean feat to achieve! Much of
Bad Reputation was recorded with the trio of Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham and Brian Downey, largely because the other half of their moody and mean guitar team of Scot Brian Robertson was unable to play on more than three tracks, due to an injury that he had received in a brawl prior to the main recording of the album. As you can see, the band members not only played hard on stage but also off it as well! Unfortunately for him, this would be his last studio album with the band and an end to the fabled line-up. He later went on to form the hard rock band White Horses with Jimmy Bain who had previously featured on the Rainbow album
Rising! (see review) before going onto an even bigger gig with Motorhead in the 1980s. In regards to the album cover, it always struck me just how ruthless bands could be, unless they did this sort of thing as an in-band joke and that was to often leave the band member that hadn’t played that much on the album, off the actual album cover despite being a member of the band! In Thin Lizzy’s case Brian Robertson doesn’t appear on the album cover, which kind of reminds me several years back when the head of Harry Shaw was left off the Hard Stuff debut
Bulletproof album cover as well. The album was produced by Tony Visconti one of the biggest producers around, who had an enviable discography of having produced the likes of T.Rex (in their various forms) the Stawbs, Wings, Gentle Giant, Badfinger, Sparks and Argent amongst many others, but of course it was his tenure with David Bowie where he had truly made his reputation in the 1970s. But his work with Thin Lizzy, would’ve surely have been the heaviest thing he had worked on up to this date and his natural flair for getting the artist to express themselves, certainly paid dividends on
Bad Reputation.
Phil Lynott- Bass/Vocals
Scott Gorham- Guitar
Brian Robertson- Guitar
Brian Downey- Drums
Production- Tony Visconti
Album
Soldier of Fortune- A melodic band classic that has an almost film soundtrack start to the song and it flows through its allocated 5 plus minutes with elegant ease.
Bad Reputation- After the melodic flow of the opening track, it’s all hell bent for leather here on the title track, as the song is one thumping mother of a track, with guitars, bass and drums in powerful unison here and some damn heavy playing! (also the attached video is one of the best I’ve ever seen of any band from the decade in a live setting!)
Opium Trail- We’ve had both melodic and heavy, so now it’s the turn of pure energy and this song is something special from beginning to end, and the song title suggests the subject fare of the song as well!
Southbound- Locking onto the melody of the opening track on the album, this song is fairly standard and easy on the ear Thin Lizzy style, who always seemed to have a sprinkling of such tracks on their albums. To be honest though, the song does have a tendency to drag for a little too long towards the end.
Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight)- With its cheeky and catchy intro, this is one of the band’s most recognizable tunes and a timeless classic, that accounts another one of Phil Lynott’s great stories and is blessed with some great guitar playing in its latter section, and a song that has been covered by the Smashing Pumpkins over the years.
Killer Without a Cause- A strong album track that combines the melodic side and hard rocking sides of the band in perfect harmony.
Downtown Sundown- One of the few songs on the album solely written by Phil Lynott, which again veers on the album’s softer side, not a bad song at all, but the band have done this kind of thing better elsewhere.
That Woman’s Gonna Break Your Heart- By now the band are just punching out catchy numbers and as always they make it seem so easy, it’s like they can write and play this stuff in their sleep.
Dear Lord- A somewhat lordly goodbye to the album.
Verdict
When I listened to this album again to see where I would place it for the year, it quickly became apparent to me that I was listening to the band’s finest ever hour, as everything seemed to sound surely how the band had envisaged it to sound and I imagine that Tony Visconti had a lot to do with this as well. If
Jailbreak is regarded as their most famous album then
Bad Reputation is their very best quality wise, and the two sit side by side as towering band achievements. Any type of trepidation that could’ve been expected with Brian Robertson not performing on the majority of the album, can be quickly alleviated as Scott Gorham puts in the performance of a lifetime here and basically does the work of two men where it matters, it was known as doing ‘double duty’ at the time. Phil Lynott as I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions, was one of the great rock poets of his generation and here again he is in full flow on delights such as the album opener “Soldier of Fortune” the side one closer “Southbound” and probably the most recognizable of them all in the classic single “Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight)”. Then there is the mesmerizing “Opium Trail” without doubt one of the band’s very best efforts ever! This is a song of both great vocal poetry and vitality which doesn’t let up for a second, and shows just how comfortable the band were with playing faster tracks, it’s basically a song I can listen to everyday. “Killer Without a Cause” certainly a play on Rebel Without a Cause, is a strong album track that marries the heavy and soft leanings of the band in perfect unison. But the heaviest song on the album is certainly the title track “Bad Reputation” which is a monster of song and shows what being heavy is all about and that alone is worth the entry fee. As an album
Bad Reputation also kicks from pillar to post, as one of Thin Lizzy’s most cohesive efforts song for song and certainly their richest sounding as well……depending on your opinion of course. The songs are melodic gems played by a gritty no-nonsense band and when they decide to get heavy on songs like the title track “Bad Reputation” and the gritty and energetic “Opium Trail” few can touch em’. Few looked as good as Phil Lynott in black leather and the man was a legend along with his band, and few bands could encompass so many subtleties and yet please so many.