release date: Sep. 21, 1973
format: cd (1990)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Nick Tauber
label: Decca / Deram Records - nationality: Ireland
Track highlights: 1. "Mama Nature Said" - 4. "The Rocker" - 5. "Vagabonds of the Western World" - 6. "Little Girl in Bloom"
3rd studio album by Thin Lizzy originally released on Decca Records following the album Shades of a Blue Orphanage (Mar. 1972) is also produced by Nick Tauber. The album was made after the band experienced its first real success with the cover single "Whiskey in the Jar", which they appear to have been pushed into making much against their will because the style of the song didn't match their own ideas. Nevertheless, the song became a hit, and it paved the way for the making of this very album.
Stylistically, the band touches on some of its later characteristic sonics, although, there's still a lot of more traditional blues rock and various other influences around making it a bit of a mixed experience as had been the case with the predecessor. That said, Vagabonds of the Western World stands as a more cohessive album and it also foreshadows some of the stronger original tone that would materialize somewhat later.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]
