Vagabonds Of The Western World
(33/100 Greatest Irish Albums)

The third and final album recorded by the original Thin Lizzy line-up of Philip Lynott, Eric Bell and Brian Downey, Vagabonds Of The Western World was the first to feature sleeve design by Dublin artist Jim Fitzpatrick. The record was the familiar Lizzy mix of sensitive poetic songs – notably the wistful ‘Song For While I’m Away’ and ‘Little Girl In Bloom’ – and ballsier rock’n’roll like ‘Black Boys On The Corner’ and ‘The Rocker’, a track which would become a Lizzy classic.
The album also contained the atmospheric single, ‘Randolph’s Tango’, and the band’s breakthrough 45, ‘Whiskey In The Jar’, which saw Thin Lizzy on Top Of The Pops for the first time. With Nightlife, to some extent Philip Lynott would leave his fascination with Ireland behind – making this the Irish Thin Lizzy album par excellence.