[.ca] Dedication: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy

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While looking through the reviews, I noticed that all of the reviews were written by americans and most were not complimentary. You dont seem to realise that Thin Lizzy were pioneers and their music was conceived when our country was in the deepest of deppressions. So picture this, you are living in a small island, an island with a tiny income, an island with a backward industrial system, an island with massive unemployment and an island with outward emmigration so high that the population of ireland had not grewsince before the great famine! (Phil Lynott was actually born when his mother was in england looking for work).And then Thin Lizzy emerge, a group of extremly talented musicians, fronted by the showman and patriot, Phil Lynott. This does not happen often, when these individuals meet and produce music of the caliber contained in dedication. Thin Lizzy were the light at the end of the tunnel for several million Irish. And in further defence of the group, I recall that someone accused Thin Lizzy of being Folk Rock... But that is exactly what they are musicians for the folks, musicians for the people, musicians for the Irish. And so I draw my review to a conclusion, that my review is an imposter, it really is a patriotic message for people to understand that Thin Lizzy were much more than musicians.

GARGLE!!!!!:
Oh, what a weird album! First of all, Thin Lizzy ain't metal. I don't care what anyone says (listen to Dancin' In The Moonlight) The first few songs are pretty bad and un-metal. Then, they start getting louder and tougher. Then comes the atrocious Danicin' In The Moonlight, which I never really listened to. The songs after that are very good, then closes with the best song on the album, Dedication. I would reccomend this album to any 70's hard rock fan, but I think Jailbreak would please me more.

Electric Folk-Hard Rock:
Thin Lizzy was one of the most popular rock bands of the late 70's. Although they have a reputation to be heavy metal, they most certainly are not. They are folk rock, with some hard rock influences. And although many of the songs on here are great, some of them are pathetic. Starting with The Rocker and ending with Fighting My Way Back, all those songs are hard to be called rock, let alone metal. But unlike most compilations, the second half is MUCH better, including Boys Are Back In Town and Dedication, my personal favorite. But a word of warning,: these guys aren't has metal as they are made out to be.

An appetizer or an introduction to Thin Lizzy:
I would say that this compilation is a teaser or an appetizer. With many bands and artists there will be enough with a "best of" album but that's not the case with the great Thin Lizzy - the world's most underrated rock band. Most of the hits are included like "The boys are back in town", "Waiting for an alibi", and "Don't believe a word". One cd is way too little or short to really capture the greatness of Thin Lizzy, and the fact that "Dedication" have the ambition to cover the band's whole career makes it obvious that some songs shouldn't be included, and many more are sadly excluded due to time space. The main reason to get "Dedication" is for that particular song (previously unreleased) and for those who really like Thin Lizzy there's no other way than getting all their work from 1975 to 1983. In my opinion the early years (1971-1974) were categorized by a lack of musical direction, and it wasn't until the release of "Fighting" in 1975, Thin Lizzy found their classic sound. Before that, the band had obvious problems finding their identity and even 'tho I know that some people love the early Thin Lizzy you should be aware that it sounds almost like a different band.

"I'm a rocker. I'm a roller, too, baby.":
This was my first Thin Lizzy CD and it introduced me to a bunch of loud, fun, rock'n'roll tunes. This, as with any other "greatest hits" collection, can be faulted for not including this or that, but as an initiation to the band (which is what this should primarily be looked upon as) this certainly fits the bill. This compilation may not encapsulate every musical styling that the band produced over the years, but it does capture the sense of fun and contains some musically strong selections. The songs on here are a linear look at Thin Lizzy's progression over the years. While their eponymous first album is not represented, we can still see them turning from a hard bluesy/folk combo to a guitar-lead sound with very strong metal influences. The testosterone and macho posturing are there from the beginning though, and they greatly contribute to the overall fun. This is music to listen to in the car with all the windows rolled down. Power-chords, strong bass-lines, and lyrics to shout along to. What more does good rock'n'roll need? Thin Lizzy underwent many lineup changes over the years. The liner notes show six different sets of musicians created the music here, the only two constants being drummer Brian Downey, and, of course, singer, song-writer, bass-player, guitarist, keyboard-player and black Irishman, the late, great Phil Lynott. It's Lynott's musical presence that held the band together through massive personal changes. Lynott's lyrics bounced between surprising sensitivity all the way to complete over-the-top masculinity. We go from "Still In Love With You", a nice bluesy song with heartfelt lyrics about lost love, over to "Fighting My Way Back" which is (unsurprisingly) a song about how much fun kicking up can be. Other topics that the lyrics touch on include busting out of jail, the lure of being a cowboy, and a wild woman who's one step ahead of the singer. There's also a cover of a Bob Seger song, and a reworking of a Traditional Irish folk song. For a band that often seems to be remembered for only one song, Thin Lizzy covered a lot of musical ground. DEDICATION is a great place to start. It's where I started, and since then I've been slowly collecting more of Thin Lizzy's back-catalog. Re-listening to this album before and during the writing of this review reminded me that I really need to dig out some of my other Thin Lizzy CDs for a listen. I can't wait.

• Whiskey in the Jar
• Rocker
• She Knows
• Still in Love with You
• Showdown
• Rosalie
• Wild One
• Fighting My Way Back
• Jailbreak
• Boys Are Back in Town
• Cowboy Song
• Don't Believe a Word
• Bad Reputation
• Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)
• Do Anything You Want To
• Waiting for an Alibi
• Chinatown
• Dedication