[.ca] Thunder And Lightning

Very Disappointing Sound....:
Don't get me wrong, the music here deserves at least a 4 star rating. "Cold Sweat" & the title track, "Thunder & Lighting" are two of Thin Lizzy's all-time rockers. I just wish John Sykes could have uncorked a few more solos; Sykes is very under-used on this release (as Gary Moore was on "Black Rose"). Anyway....the sound....I swear it is almost like Wounded Bird has "demastered" this recording; the sound is very thin, tinny and very compressed. After listening to the Wounded Bird release of the "Renegade" album, the sound quality here is really weak. The classic right channel/left channel twin guitar attack is almost non-existent and all the instruments seem to blend together. The sound here is no better than the orignal Warner Brothers product. As a side note, none of the Wounded Bird Thin Lizzy releases provide any information on whether the albums were indeed remastered. The artwork looks like a shrunk down Xerox copy of the original album covers and sleeves, nothing special and very lame. Considering the greatness of Thin Lizzy it is a shame to see the music and packaging treated with such disregard. For Thin Lizzy fan-atics, ya' gotta get this one for the two songs mentioned above. For any buyers interested in starting a Thin Lizzy collection, start with "Jailbreak" and work chronologically in both directions from there.

Phil's Swan Song:
The first five songs on this album are all great. The last four are not so bad either. Not Thin Lizzy's best album (See Johny The Fox) but this album featured the searing guitar of John Sykes. It's such a shame that one of the greatest songwriters of all time passed away. Phil had such a great sense of melody and phrasing. Check out the lyrics to Cold Sweat. He was one of a kind!

Not Lizzy's best effort...:
"Thunder and Lightning" is a fantastic showcase for the talents of John Sykes - he is a truly gifted guitarist, and one of the best soloists ever. However, as a Thin Lizzy album, it misses the mark. Sykes is brilliant - but he is showcased at the expense of Scott Gorham. Sykes handles nearly all of the solo duties, while Gorham sits comfortably playing the rythm track, and an occassional harmony. Gone is the brilliant two man guitar work of songs like "The Cowboy Song", "Roisin Dubh", and "Do Anything You Want To". As a result, the disc sounds like a hundred other early 80's hard rock bands with a hotshot lead player. Secondly, Phil Lynott is nearly a non-factor on this CD. His voice is buried so low in the mix that one can barely tell that it's him. Sadly, it hardly matters, as Lynott is not on his game, lyrically ("Like Thunder/Like Lighting/Goddam, it's so exciting" is not one of Phil's finer moments). Even worse, the songwriting that made albums like "Johnny the Fox" and "Jailbreak" so wonderfully eclectic is gone here. What made Lizzy great (besides Lynott's marvelous lyrics) was its ability to transition from a balls out rocker to a blues groove or a slow song. There's a token ballad here, but the rest of the tracks are over-produced, and obviously pandering to a new market Lizzy hoped to capture (the burdgeoining MTV generation). As an example of early 80's hard rock, it's not a bad disc - but I expect more from Thin Lizzy.

Lizzy's Last Stand...:
Everything that made Thin Lizzy the great rock band it was is in this album...the great lead harmonies, excellent song writing, great performance, and dead on guitar leads from some of the best players of their time. There is some over the top 80's metal production that makes the album more of a "glam" piece than it should have been but don't let that fool you...it's a rock and roll album from start to finish. It opens with the hard hittin' title track and doesn't let up until the closing chords of "Heart Attack". The songs show what Phil Lynott was all about...writing songs with great melody, harmony, and strong back beat. Just take time to listen to "Holy War", "Baby Please Don't Go", or "Bad Habits" and you'll get it.

Heavy Lizzy!:
Thunder and Lightning is a surprisingly very good album, which turned out to be the last studio album by Thin Lizzy. John Sykes` guitar work gave Thin Lizzy some new energy and a more updated sound at the time. It really complements Phil Lynott`s vocals. The only thing that keeps Thunder and Lightning from ranking with Lizzy`s classic albums is the use of the synthesizer, which impedes the songs. The album would`ve been leaving it out and focusing more the strong guitar playing.

• Thunder and Lightning
• This Is the One
• Sun Goes Down
• Holy War
• Cold Sweat
• Someday She Is Going to Hit Back
• Baby Please Don't Go
• Bad Habits
• Heart Attack