Black Rose: A Rock Legend
would prove to be
Thin Lizzy
's last true classic album (and last produced by
Tony Visconti
). Guitarist
Brian Robertson
was replaced by
Gary Moore
prior to the album's recording.
Moore
had already been a member of the band in the early '70s and served as a tour fill-in for
Robertson
in 1977, and he fits in perfectly with
Lizzy
's heavy, dual-guitar attack.
Black Rose
also turned out to be the band's most musically varied, accomplished, and successful studio album, reaching number two on the U.K. album chart upon release.
leader
Phil Lynott
is again equipped with a fine set of originals, which the rest of the band shines on -- the percussion-driven opener
"Do Anything You Want To,"
the
pop
hit
"Waiting for an Alibi,"
and a gentle song for
Lynott
's newly born daughter,
"Sarah."
Not all the material is as upbeat, such as the funky
"S&M,"
as well two grim tales of street life and substance abuse --
"Toughest Street in Town"
and
"Got to Give It Up"
(the latter sadly prophetic for
).
closes with the epic seven-minute title track, which includes an amazing, complex guitar solo by
that incorporates
Celtic
themes against a
hard rock
accompaniment.
is one of the '70s lost
rock
classics. ~ Greg Prato