Vagabonds Of The Western World, we hear, ‘is widely regarded as Thin Lizzy’s breakthrough album’. More accurately, it’s the album that just so happened to be released during the band’s breakthrough era.
The album’s original eight-song version was, and remains, an erratic affair. It was issued in September 1973 after a period of frustration for Phil Lynott, Eric Bell and Brian Downey. Lizzy had finally won success the previous year, when Whiskey In The Jar soared to No.6 in the chart. But the track – a variation of an ancient Irish folksong – wasn’t included on Vagabonds… Another absentee was its b-side, Black Boys On The Corner – one of Lynott’s defining compositions. The jaunty, Spanish-y Rudolph’s Tango single didn’t make the cut either. There’s little doubt that the inclusion of that particular trio – replacing the schizophrenic Slow Blues, the ecoboogie of Mama Nature Said and the cloying ASong For While I’m Away – would’ve elevated Lizzy’s third studio album to legendary status. (Still, all of the above are present here, in various shapes and forms.)
As an aside, one has to recall the atmosphere of those early 70s music times. Rock combos despised being known as ‘singles bands’; albums of allnew material were the
