Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! This year I thought I'd round up a Thin Lizzy tribute comprised of covers in a celebration of the rocker legacy Phil Lynott & friends gifted to inspired vagabonds the world 'round.
I am firm believer that there might not have been a "Run to the Hills" if it weren't for Thin Lizzy. Here is Iron Maiden's rather straightforward yet bad-ass version of "Massacre" from Lizzy's Johnny The Fox album. This track appears on the b-side of Maiden's "Can I Play With Madness" UK 12" single.
"Massacre" covered by Iron Maiden
The Cure covering Lizzy came as a bit of a surprise but I think they really pulled it off. Again from the Johnny The Fox album, here is the Cure's take on "Don't Believe A Word," keyboards 'n' all:
The Cure covering Lizzy came as a bit of a surprise but I think they really pulled it off. Again from the Johnny The Fox album, here is the Cure's take on "Don't Believe A Word," keyboards 'n' all:
"Don't Believe A Word" covered by The Cure
For a band that is seemingly so often compared to Thin Lizzy, it comes as no surprise at all that The Sword have gotten in on the homage. Here is their version of "Cold Sweat" (a very popular Lizzy tune for hard-rockin' cover jams) from the final Thin Lizzy record, Thunder and Lightning. Dig that pencil-on-notebook-paper artwork tribute to the original Thunder and Lightning album sleeve as well!
This track released as a limited 45rpm vinyl single:"Cold Sweat" covered by The Sword
Click these links to check out some other versions of "Cold Sweat" like the throaty metal of Kalmah and the much tamer Sodom jam.
Motorhead, having shared the stage with Thin Lizzy in the past, make every effort to keep the legacy alive with their frequent covers of Lizzy jams, most notably "Rosalie," the Bob Seger penned single from Lizzy's Fighting. Check out this slick capture of Motorhead doing the "rock 'n' roll band" thing at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Indeed!
"Rosalie" covered by Motorhead at Montreaux 2007
Here is another cover I hadn't expected, however much sense it makes: Mastodon
doing one of Lizzy's epic action-adventure jams, "Emerald," from the classic Jailbreak album.
doing one of Lizzy's epic action-adventure jams, "Emerald," from the classic Jailbreak album.
The cover originally appeared as a bonus track on Mastodon's Japanese release of their album Remission.
"Emerald" as covered by Mastodon
Check out another triumphant cover of "Emerald" by Dragonlord here.
In keeping with the recurring western themes of cowboy life and hard
livin' on the wild American frontier, here is a cover of "Genocide (The Killing of the Buffalo)" from the Chinatown album by Running Wild as it appears on their Little Big Horn EP."Genocide (The Killing of the Buffalo)" - Running Wild
By far it seems that the proto-metal Thunder & Lightning garners the most cover jams of all; here's yet another one:
"The Sun Goes Down" covered by Sinner
But I've saved the best for last, and no, I'm not talking about Metallica's cover of "Whiskey in the Jar"...
I remember the first time I saw Huey Lewis talking about his friendship with Phil Lynott in a documentary, he seemed really touched by Phil's creative spark and, like so many others, offers a fresh (okay, I admit this video is kinda tired) perspective on the breadth of Thin Lizzy's influence on rock 'n' roll from top 40 pop to metal's sludgy bottom feeders. "The Boys Are Back in Town," yes, but I have a feeling they'll never really leave.
Still want more? Here's Pearl Jam and Bon Jovi's covers of "Boys Are Back In Town" plus Anthrax's take on "Cowboy Song" (I was disappointed) and, fuck it, click here for Metallica's vid. Cheers!
Still want more? Here's Pearl Jam and Bon Jovi's covers of "Boys Are Back In Town" plus Anthrax's take on "Cowboy Song" (I was disappointed) and, fuck it, click here for Metallica's vid. Cheers!
