After achieving success, hitting Top Ten, with their rock version of the Irish pub ballad song, “Whiskey in a Jar,” Thin Lizzy never stop working hard and started a new project, called the Vagabonds of the Western World.
Vagabonds of the Western World was their third and final album for their label, Decca Records. The success of “Whiskey in a Jar,” gave the band an upper hand in bargaining for more power and demand for more money and time for recording which resulted in more success, and the most satisfying album they ever had.
The first track kicks off with one of the best slide guitars there is by Eric Bell, “Mama Nature Said” is an environmental friendly song that gives the album a good start. “The Hero and the Madman” and the “Slow Blues” were somehow overblown and were out of taste, but with the classic “The Rocker,” you just know that all is well.
The band was brimming with awesomeness and their combination of talents makes the whole album a total classic, with explosive songs, and with the title track, Lizzy gives his respect to his Irish heritage. Vagabonds proved that it was Lizzy’s most outstanding album, even with his next album, “Night Life,” even if it was often considered as their most important album.
Thin Lizzy, of course, will always be remembered by their mid-late 70s’ albums Jailbreak, Bad Reputation, Johnny the Fox, Fighting, and Live and Dangerous. But it was their third, Vagabonds of the Western World that actually introduced as with the hard rock Lizzy era.
Listen to the full album below: