Thin Lizzy is the first studio album by Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...

, released in 1971.

Track listing

Side one

1. "The Friendly Ranger at Clontarf Castle" (Eric Bell
   Eric Bell
   Eric Robin Bell is a Northern Irish rock musician and guitarist, best known as a founder member and the original guitarist of the rock group Thin Lizzy.-Early career:...
   
   , Phil Lynott
   Phil Lynott
   Philip Parris "Phil" Lynott was an Irish musician who first came to prominence as a founding member, principal songwriter, and frontman of the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy....
   
   ) – 3:01
2. "Honesty Is No Excuse" (Lynott) – 3:40
3. "Diddy Levine" (Lynott) – 7:04
4. "Ray-Gun" (Bell) – 3:05
5. "Look What the Wind Blew In" (Lynott) – 3:23

Side two

1. "Eire" (Lynott) – 2:07
2. "Return of the Farmer's Son" (Brian Downey
   Brian Downey (drummer)
   Brian Michael Downey is an Irish drummer.Downey is the drummer and a founding member of the rock band Thin Lizzy, and a friend from childhood of co-founder and frontman Phil Lynott. Along with Lynott, Downey was the only constant member of the pioneering hard rock group until their break-up in...
   
   , Lynott) – 4:14
3. "Clifton Grange Hotel" (Lynott) – 2:26
4. "Saga of the Ageing Orphan" (Lynott) – 3:40
5. "Remembering" (Lynott) – 5:59

According to the album liner notes, recording of the original debut album began on 4 January 1971. Exactly fifteen years later, Phil Lynott died on 4 January 1986. When the album was repackaged for CD in 1990, the four tracks that comprised the rare "New Day" EP were added:

1. "Dublin" (Lynott) – 2:26
2. "Remembering, Pt. 2 (New Day)" (Bell, Downey, Lynott) – 5:04
3. "Old Moon Madness" (Lynott) – 3:52
4. "Things Ain't Workin' Out Down at the Farm" (Lynott) – 4:29

Remastered and expanded release

On 11 October 2010, a new remastered and expanded version of Thin Lizzy was released. This version features the following bonus tracks:

1. "The Farmer"
2. "Dublin"
3. "Remembering Pt. 2 (New Day)"
4. "Old Moon Madness"
5. "Things Ain't Working Out Down at the Farm"
6. "Look What the Wind Blew In" (1977 overdubbed and remixed version)
7. "Honesty Is No Excuse" (1977 overdubbed and remixed version)
8. "Dublin" (1977 overdubbed and remixed version)
9. "Things Ain't Working Out Down at the Farm" (1977 overdubbed and remixed version)

Singles

• "The Farmer"/"I Need You" (John D'Ardis) - 31 July 1970 (Ireland only)
• "New Day" EP - 20 August 1971 (UK and Ireland only)

Reception

Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic described the album as "surprisingly mellow", but that a number of songs sound "confused and unfinished". However, he did describe "Look What the Wind Blew In" as a "hint of things to come", and that the bonus track "Dublin" from the "New Day" EP contained "Lynott's first great lyric".

Personnel

Thin Lizzy

• Philip Lynott
  Phil Lynott
  Philip Parris "Phil" Lynott was an Irish musician who first came to prominence as a founding member, principal songwriter, and frontman of the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy....
  
   – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  
• Eric Bell
  Eric Bell
  Eric Robin Bell is a Northern Irish rock musician and guitarist, best known as a founder member and the original guitarist of the rock group Thin Lizzy.-Early career:...
  
   – lead guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  , twelve-string guitar
• Brian Downey
  Brian Downey (drummer)
  Brian Michael Downey is an Irish drummer.Downey is the drummer and a founding member of the rock band Thin Lizzy, and a friend from childhood of co-founder and frontman Phil Lynott. Along with Lynott, Downey was the only constant member of the pioneering hard rock group until their break-up in...
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  

Additional personnel

• Ivor Raymonde
  Ivor Raymonde
  Ivor Raymonde was a British musician, songwriter, arranger and actor, best known for his distinctive rock-orchestral arrangements for Dusty Springfield and others in the 1960s.-Life and career:...
  
   – mellotron
  Mellotron
  The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
  
  on "Honesty Is No Excuse"