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For all the great songs Thin Lizzy cut in the studio like “The Boys Are Back in Town,” “Jailbreak,” “Dancing in the Moonlight,” “Waiting for An Alibi” and “Killer on the Loose,” the Irish rockers really did shine as a live unit. At the top of 2023, Universal’s U.K. label UMC will truly show fans how with an expanded box set and sought after CD reissue of the two live albums they released during the lifetime of frontman/bassist Phil Lynott.

1978’s Live and Dangerous was the culmination of two years of life on the road in the wake of Thin Lizzy becoming international superstars with “The Boys Are Back in Town” in 1976. Lynott’s astute songwriting and the twin-guitar attack of Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham made a powerful combination, rounded out by the rhythmic force of drummer Brian Downey. The album came out of necessity: the band began 1978 soliciting Tony Visconti, who’d produced their breakout Bad Reputation. With a limited schedule, Visconti encouraged the group to assemble a live record from some 30 hours of tapes, selecting performances from dates in London, Philadelphia and Toronto. (On one of those dates, the group was joined on “Baby Drives Me Crazy,” which often came near the close of those sets, by a then-unknown American musician who spent the early part of the decade busking his way around Europe and learning blues harmonica. The ’80s would be good to this “Bluesy” Huey Lewis.)

Live and Dangerous spotlighted a few great things the band did not achieve on record, notably a common practice of segueing “Back in Town” into “Cowboy Song,” and a more dramatic, slower arrangement of “Still in Love with You.” While it was a massive success upon release, peaking at No. 2 on the U.K. charts, the LP has been dogged for nearly 45 years by conflicting claims of overdubbing. Visconti maintained that most of the record, save for the rhythm tracks, were recreated in the studio; the band has come to deny this, stating that re-recording was minimal and done only when necessary. The new Live and Dangerous box set attempts to put this issue to bed: the 8CD set will feature the originally-assembled album next to all seven shows that were used for the album. They’ve been newly mixed from the original multitracks by Ben Findlay and remastered by Andy Pearce, all under the guidance of Gorham. They’re packed in a 12″ x 12″ box with a new booklet featuring rare photos, memorabilia and liner notes that include new band interviews by journalist Mark Blake.

Thin Lizzy continued to enjoy success in the wake of Live and Dangerous, but the band line-up was ever changing. Drummer Downey sat a few tours out, Darren Wharton was added as a keyboardist in 1980, and Robertson’s acrimonious departure immediately after the release of the live record meant a revolving door of guitarists, including Gary Moore (who’d played with the group in the early ’70s) and Snowy White. When Lynott decided to end the band after 12th album Thunder and Lightning and a subsequent tour, hard rock guitarist John Sykes (later a member of Whitesnake) was heading up the axes alongside Gorman. As tapes rolled during a set of triumphant dates at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, Lynott paid tribute to Thin Lizzy’s pioneering sound by having five guitarists take the stage: Gorham, Sykes and guest appearances by Robertson, Moore and Eric Bell, the group’s first guitarist from 1969 to 1973. The album Life-Live was assembled from those dates and also featured several performances at the same venue from 1981 featuring White, offering a complete history of the group’s studio guitarists.

Out of print in both the U.K. and the U.S. for decades, UMC will also pay tribute to Lynott’s band by remastering Life-Live “from the best sources available” and reissuing it on CD alongside the Live and Dangerous box set. Both will be available in stores on January 20, and can be pre-ordered at the links below. (U.S. import links are expected to populate soon.)

Live and Dangerous (Limited Edition) (Mercury/UMC, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Original album (released as Vertigo 6641 807 (U.K.)/Warner Bros. 2BS-3213 (U.S.), 1978)

1. Jailbreak
2. Emerald
3. Southbound
4. Rosalie
5. Dancing in the Moonlight
6. Massacre
7. Still in Love with You
8. Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed
9. Cowboy Song
10. The Boys Are Back in Town
11. Don’t Believe a Word
12. Warriors
13. Are You Ready?
14. Suicide
15. Sha La La
16. Baby Drives Me Crazy
17. The Rocker

Disc 2: Hammersmith Odeon, London – 11/14/1976

1. Jailbreak
2. Massacre
3. Emerald
4. Johnny
5. It’s Only Money
6. Still in Love with You
7. Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed
8. The Boys Are Back in Town
9. Rosalie/Cowgirl’s Song
10. Suicide
11. Warriors
12. Sha La La
13. Baby Drives Me Crazy

Disc 3: Hammersmith Odeon, London – 11/15/1976

1. Jailbreak
2. Massacre
3. Emerald
4. Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed
5. The Boys Are Back in Town
6. Rosalie/Cowgirl’s Song
7. Suicide
8. Warriors
9. Sha La La
10. Baby Drives Me Crazy
11. Me and the Boys Were Wondering How You and the Girls Were Getting Home from Here Tonight
12. The Rocker

Disc 4: Hammersmith Odeon, London – 11/16/1976

1. Jailbreak
2. Massacre
3. Emerald
4. Johnny
5. It’s Only Money
6. Still in Love with You
7. Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed
8. The Boys Are Back in Town
9. Rosalie/Cowgirl’s Song
10. Suicide
11. Warriors
12. Sha La La
13. Baby Drives Me Crazy
14. Me and the Boys Were Wondering How You and the Girls Were Getting Home from Here Tonight

Disc 5: The Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, PA – 10/20/1977

1. Soldier of Fortune
2. Jailbreak
3. Johnny
4. Warriors
5. Dancing in the Moonlight
6. Massacre
7. Still in Love with You
8. Cowboy Song
9. The Boys Are Back in Town
10. Opium Trail
11. Don’t Believe a Word
12. Emerald
13. Bad Reputation
14. Baby Drives Me Crazy

Disc 6: The Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, PA – 10/21/1977

1. Soldier of Fortune
2. Jailbreak
3. Johnny
4. Warriors
5. Dancing in the Moonlight
6. Massacre
7. Still in Love with You
8. Cowboy Song
9. The Boys Are Back in Town
10. Opium Trail
11. Don’t Believe a Word
12. Emerald
13. Bad Reputation
14. Baby Drives Me Crazy
15. The Rocker

Disc 7: Seneca College Fieldhouse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – 10/28/1977

1. Soldier of Fortune
2. Jailbreak
3. Emerald
4. Dancing in the Moonlight
5. Massacre
6. Still in Love with You
7. Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed
8. Warriors
9. Opium Trail
10. Cowboy Song
11. The Boys Are Back in Town
12. Don’t Believe a Word
13. Bad Reputation
14. Are You Ready?
15. Me and the Boys Were Wondering How You and the Girls Were Getting Home from Here Tonight
16. The Rocker

Disc 8: The Rainbow Theatre, London, England – 3/29/1978

1. Jailbreak
2. Emerald
3. Southbound
4. Rosalie
5. Dancing in the Moonlight
6. Massacre
7. Still in Love with You
8. Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed
9. Don’t Believe a Word
10. Warriors
11. Cowboy Song
12. The Boys Are Back in Town
13. Suicide
14. Are You Ready?
15. Sha La La
16. Baby Drives Me Crazy
17. The Rocker

Life-Live (originally released as Vertigo VERD6 (U.K.)/Warner Bros. 23986 (U.S.), 1983 – reissued Mercury/UMC, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1

1. Thunder & Lightning
2. Waiting for An Alibi
3. Jailbreak
4. Baby Please Don’t Go
5. Holy War
6. Renegade
7. Hollywood (Down on Your Luck)
8. Got to Give It Up
9. Angel of Death
10. Are You Ready

Disc 2

1. The Boys Are Back in Town
2. Cold Sweat
3. Don’t Believe a Word
4. Killer on the Loose
5. The Sun Goes Down
6. Emerald
7. Black Rose
8. Still in Love with You
9. The Rocker

Tracks recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, England – 11/27/1981 and 3/10-12/1983