Album Review: Thin Lizzy, The Acoustic Sessions

The first new Thin Lizzy album in over 40 years, these acoustic re-imaginings pair Phil Lynott’s original vocals with new guitar parts from founding member Eric Bell, who left the band after throwing his guitar into the audience on New Year’s Eve 1973.

These new versions breathe new life into some old classics. Thus, on the wonderful ode to Lynott’s hometown, ‘Dublin’, the intricate, acoustic arrangement places the emphasis on the lyrics, as Lynott wonders, “How can I leave the town that brings me down, that has no jobs, that’s blessed by God?”

Lynott was also capable of penning the most tender and vulnerable of love songs, as evidenced by the glorious ‘A Song For While I’m Away’, also the title of the wonderful documentary about the singer: “You are my life, my everything, you're all I have / You are my hopes, my dreams, my world come true”.

Before they turned into a hard-rocking gang, Lizzy were at their heart a blues outfit, and there are two versions of ‘Slow Blues’ included here, one a tribute to Gary Moore. ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ still sounds great, but ironically, it’s probably the least effective of these reworkings.

Highlights include the seven-minute epic ‘Shades Of A Blue Orphanage’ and the brilliant ‘Mama Nature Said’, an environmental anthem decades before the world had heard of global warming. ‘Remembering Pt 2’, meanwhile, is a swirling fugue of intricate acoustic solos. All told, this is of far more than mere curiosity value and a welcome addition to the Lizzy canon.

7.5/10

Out now