The early part of 1978 was a prolific period for members of Thin Lizzy. The late January / early February sessions yielded most of Black Rose (1979) along with tracks that appeared on Gary Moore’s solo disc Back on the Streets and Phil’s Solo in Soho CD.

To echo the same thing that I said about the Bad Reputation deluxe edition, the Andy Pierce remaster sounds great and one can clearly hear all of the subtleties and dynamics within the music. It has been years since I’ve heard this album and it has aged well to my ears. The somewhat dated 70’s funk/boogie of Johnny the Fox has been left in the past and this is classic arena rock featuring some stellar song writing and the twin guitar leads of Gary Moore and Scott Gorham. Even the casual Lizzy fans will know “Waiting for An Alibi” and “Do Anything You Want To” but other tracks like “Got To Give It Up” and Gary Moore powered “A Roisin Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend” shouldn’t be missed.

I’ve got mixed feelings on the bonus tracks. While it is great to hear the embryonic versions of tracks that ended up on Black Rose and Gary Moore’s Back on the Streets (specifically “Don’t Believe a Word”) albums, I have nine of the disc’s ten tracks on the eighteen track “Black Rose Sessions” bootleg CD. The issue isn’t that these tracks were bootlegged but rather than the legitimate release doesn’t include half of the Black Rose sessions. It seems both curious and arbitrary that the slow version of “Don’t Believe A Word” (from Gary Moore’s Back on the Streets disc) was included and "Parisienne Walkways" wasn’t. (…or that “Rockula/Rock Your Love”, which was probably intended for Solo in Soho, was included and “Hate” wasn’t).

My view is that the recent slew of 2CD Deluxe reissues (from all bands) are targeted to the longtime fan as an “upgrade” rather than new fans. Given that the limitation (from the 80’s) of a maximum of a ~40 minute running time for CD is long in the past, this is a decent upgrade but it falls short of what it could have been.

Track List for Black Rose Bonus Disc

1. Just The Two Of Us (Do Anything You Want To B-Side)
2. A Night In The Life Of A Blues Singer (longer version)
3. Rock Your Love (unreleased)
4. Don't Believe A Word (slow version)
5. Toughest Street In Town (different version)

1978 Nassau Session
6. S & M
7. Got To Give It Up
8. Cold Black Night (unreleased)
9. With Love
10. Black Rose

Thin Lizzy – Black Rose Sessions Bootleg

1-21-78 Rampart Studios
1) Rockula [aka “Rock Your Love”] (unreleased/written by Jimmy Bain)
2) A Night In the Life of a Blue Singer (long version)

1-22-78 Rampart Studios
3) Cold Black Night (Unreleased)
4) Hate (Unreleased)
5) With Love (with Huey Lewis on harmonica)
6) Parisienne Walkways (with Huey Lewis)
7) Black Rose (with Huey Lewis)
8) Got to Give It Up (slower / different lyrics)
9) Toughest Street in Town (lyrics dubbed too nasty by record company)
10) Don’t Believe a Word (slow version – Lynott / Moore vocals)

Good Earth Studios 2-1-78
11) Ode to a Black Man (Original version)
12) Spanish Guitar (demo / different lyrics)
13) Parisienne Walkways (demo)
14) Are You Ready (Unreleased Studio Version)
15) Blackmail (Unreleased by Lizzy – on first Wild Horses Album)
16) Waiting for an Alibi (Slower / different Lyrics)
17) Fanatical Fascists (Lynott vocals)

Unknown Date / Location
18) Leaving Town (Unreleased)
19) Just the Two of Us ("Do Anything You Want To" b-side)



Links:
Thin Lizzy